Ask HN: I'm a first time freelancer with some questions?

I am a web developer freelancer and just got my first client, and I feel very in the dark about a lot of things. Does anyone have advice or links to resources that would help me? Some of my main questions are: - How does a copyright work? I have heard that I should copyright my work and only transfer the copyright upon completion of payment, but I don't know anything about how to do register the copyright myself OR transfer one. - How should I value my time? This is my first time so I'm inclined to start lower than others, but I don't really have any idea how to do that. Is my time worth $20 an hour? $40? Less? More? - I know I should write a contract between my client and me, and I've found several examples online, but how can I make it officially binding? Anyone can forge a signature so how can I make it so the contract would hold up in a court, if, for example, they refused me payment? - Is there anything else I should know?

I'm sure many of you have been in my same situation, so any advice would be wonderful!! Thank you!