Comment

Comment by Ginger McKnight-Chavers on June 27, 2012 at 6:59pm

@Emily & Dianne, in the US and most countries, you own the copyright in your work by virtue of having created it.  You register your work with the copyright office for two reasons: (1) it puts people on notice & creates a record that it is your work, in case you ever have to fight over that fact, and (2) if you want to use the federal courts to sue someone for copyright registration, you are required to register your work.  Check out www.copyright.gov.  The copyright is what gives you the right to reproduce, distribute, perform, make other types of creative works based on your work ("derivative works") etc. a work that is an original expression, like a song, a book, a play, a film, a work of art, etc.  I practiced law, including arts law, in my other life.

Comment by Dianne Baines on June 24, 2012 at 5:47am

Thank you Emily for your answer to my question on copywriting. I guess that there are differing laws in each country too? 

Comment by Emily Kennedy on April 20, 2012 at 6:53am

Dianne, I don't think this site gets visited very often, if dates below are any indication.  I sent my work to the Library of Congress copyright office, and it took about a year to get notification.  However, I was informed that my copyright was legal from the day I sent the manuscript.  That all having been said, Kristen Lamb, who is a published writer, editor, and blogger with a huge following, told me recently that even mentioning this to agents reveals that you are naive and do not understand the law.  She said your work is legally yours and is protected just by being on your computer or wherever you have it stored.  I'll have to look for her exact words.

Comment by Dianne Baines on April 20, 2012 at 5:07am

Hello ladies, for those of you that I haven't met my name is Dianne and I hail from Queensland in Australia. There that's the intros over, I would like to know the answer to a question that you'll probably think is rather naive however I would like to know how to go about this copyright thing. How do I copy right my work? thanks.

Comment by Lucille Joyner on October 13, 2011 at 10:08am

Will someone with copyright knowledge please tell me if it's legal to include an encouraging sentence from the letter of a famous writer on your back cover?

If it's illegal to mention a famous person's name, can you mention the encouragement by a famous person without mentioning the name?

I need to know right  away.

 

Comment by Monica Epstein on March 15, 2011 at 6:52pm

I have no legal experience so this is coming from my gut only. Maybe tell them if they don't remove it from the website they'll be hearing from your lawyer. If you gave them permission to post it they might argue, but it shouldn't be posted in editable form.

Comment by Laura Kotti on March 14, 2011 at 8:23pm

I placed second at a conference for top paper, and also received a "publishing opportunity." They in actuality posted a Word document of my essay--accessible to anyone and with the abilities to manipulate it. I asked them to remove my essay from the website, which I was under the impression they did.

 

I have checked their website and seen no link to my paper; however, I Googled my paper and found a direct link to the Word document of it! I just emailed the people in charge of the conference about this and have yet to hear. I am very nervous given this essay is actually the first chapter to my masters thesis. What should I do if they do not remove this link? Thanks!

Comment by Zetta Brown on February 5, 2011 at 2:49pm

EPIC - the Electronically Published Internet Coalition has their annual EPICon in March. This year it's in Williamsburg, VA.
Here's a list of key speakers including a rep from the Library of Congress and the Copyright Alliance
http://ebooks.epicauthors.com/?p=433

Comment by Nonqaba waka Msimang on January 24, 2011 at 6:16am

There are three sections i read carefully in the contract to publish Sweetness:

1. subsidiary rights

2. author's copyright protection

3. Term of Contract

www.sweetnessthenovel.com

Comment by Lucille Joyner on October 15, 2010 at 5:41am

I just received an email from Tate Publishing offering a publishing contract for me to review. Is there anything I should look out for? Can anyone give me some advice?

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