Do I need to copyright my free resource PDF?

[BobGW]

Hello,

We're creating a free resource on how to choose a product for our niche. I'm trying to make this as non-commercial as possible, but in light of competition using it, do I need to put a copyright statement at the very bottom of the pdf?

[Ryan-Bradley]

If it's a resource that you pride yourself in creating then yes.  Copyrighting this would only run you about $30 so it is always worth it in the long run.  It's always better to protect yourself.  Or at the very least, put the copyright symbol at the bottom like you mentioned, just to scare off anyone from ripping you off.