Copyrights (lets get rid of the confusion!) - Writers Forum

Graff · 11-14-2005, 06:44 PM

Ok, I spent a half hour today researching copyrights, and I want to clear up some of the confusion that I see a lot of around here.

This is for U.S. and Canada only.

How to obtain a copyright on your work:

All you have to do to get a work copyrighted, is write it. As long as you wrote it, it's yours. The only reason people register a work with the copyright office, is for use in a court of law. In case someone commits infringement on your work. This is what is called "Automatic Copyright", and is a fairly recent thing.

Copyright Notices:

Copyright notices are the little things you see on some works that look like this: "©2005 John Doe". Putting this on a work is totally optional, as all it is doing is letting everyone know that the work is yours, and copyrighted. It helps prevent infringement.

Duration of Copyrights

Any copyright lasts for the authors life, and 70 years after his/her death. In Canada, it's 50 years after death. After that time is up, your work becomes part of the "Public Domain", which means anyone can use it.

If anyone has anymore questions, feel free to ask! I learned a lot today

A longer, and far more detailed version of what I just said, can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyrig...yright_notices

Hope this helps a bit!

P.S. To write a copyright symbol, just hold Alt and press 0169 on the numpad.

And if someone has already posted something like this, I'm sorry!

Brasstwister · 11-14-2005, 07:02 PM

Thank you very much, I was doing some looking around too after I posted, and if someone has posted on this I missed it lol, iam sure it always good to school us newbieson on this from time to time.

mammamaia · 11-15-2005, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Copyright Notices:

Copyright notices are the little things you see on some works that look like this: "©2005 John Doe". Putting this on a work is totally optional, as all it is doing is letting everyone know that the work is yours, and copyrighted. It helps prevent infringement.

...you should have added that putting the notice on your work can only be legally done if you have registered with the us copyright office... and that doing so marks you as an amateur, so don't do it!... anyone in the business knows that all work is copyrighted... besides, doing so dates your work and, if it doesn't sell for years, shows that you couldn't get it published/produced...

...for the official skinny on copyrights, you should go to www.copyright.gov ... and the best comprehensive collection of copyright info can be found at: http://www.publaw.com/interview.html

Kira the wanderer · 11-15-2005, 09:03 AM

Ok I have a question i wasthinking on asking for a while now.

We all knnow that stealing names and making things more thn similar to original works and claiming it as your own is illegal. Such as, for example, when Disney came out with the lion king. They were sued by the company that created or had rights to the Kimba the White Lion tv show (I forget which one it was. I'm not if they createdit or not.) They sued because of the similarites.

Hence the story line of Kimba the White Lion: A young lion whose father was the king of the jungle. He was called the "Great lion king" and died protecing his family. So now Kimba the white lion tried to take on the task of following in his father's footsteps.
And we all know the Lion King: Simba is a lion prince born to the "King" and his father was killed trying to save him (sound familiar?) so Simba tries to become king in his footsteps.

Now since the story line was more than simliar to Kimba (Which came out first) they sued Disney. I don't know if they won or not though. Now if you can sue for similar story plot and so forth as the above case has can you get sued if you want to name something that has the same name as something else even if it has no relation to what it is you've gotten the name from?

Like I was thinking up a plot line and it all sort of came to me at once. I want to call a ertain place Eternia but the problem is that I got that title from a game called Tales of Eternia. I was just inspired by that name and wasn't sure if I could use it. The thing is the game was brought to America from Japan but its title was changed to Tales of Destiny 2. So would it be technically illegal for me to use that name? It would play as the main plot line so its not like I'd mention it only once. I'm not sure if it would be considered illegal due to copyrights and if it was what the rules would be about if it comes from another country and hasn't been brought over by that title. Sorry if I'm confusing...

mammamaia · 11-15-2005, 09:23 AM

basically, if the name isn't trademark/tradeword protected, you can use it... titles and character/place names can't be copyrighted, but some things are protected under the other umbrella... you can go to www.copyright.gov and http://www.uspto.gov/ to check out whatever you are concerned about...

Graff · 11-15-2005, 11:40 AM

If you can only put the copyright notice when you register it, how come when you get published, the publisher automatically puts the copyright notice on your work?

Julianne · 11-15-2005, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graff

If you can only put the copyright notice when you register it, how come when you get published, the publisher automatically puts the copyright notice on your work?

Because commercial publishers - as a standard part of publishing a book -- register the book's copyright in the author's name.

mammamaia · 11-15-2005, 11:49 AM

that's right... and it's the main reason book writers don't register their copyrights before they send out the work... it's not really needed... only exception is for screenplays, where it's expected that you'll register with wga... it's also a good idea to do that with song lyrics and plays...

Graff · 11-15-2005, 11:49 AM

Ok, thank you

Brasstwister · 11-15-2005, 12:19 PM

Ahh thank you , iam such a newbie

CroZ · 11-15-2005, 07:43 PM

This would make a good sticky to avoid the same question being asked again.

Graff · 11-15-2005, 07:44 PM

I agree

bobothegoat · 11-15-2005, 07:54 PM

The first section of the "Writing 101" section has something about copyright in it, if I'm not mistaken. Unfortunately, I don't know if people really read it.

Graff · 11-15-2005, 07:59 PM

I'll have to take a look at that. Thanks Bobo

TimK · 11-16-2005, 11:06 AM

I think I can clear up a little of the confusion here. Please note, however, that I am not a lawyer, and nothing I say should be construed as legal advice. If you are facing legal issues, please consult with an attourney who specializes in intellectual-property law. Also note that I live in the U.S., and these comments will be localized therein.

There are different types of intellectual property, and several may apply to a piece of work, in different ways:

Copyright protects the words, sounds, and motions used in a work. It allows you to control copying and distributing the work and creating derivative works. If I print your short-story, for example, I'm infringing your copyright. Two people can independently create very similar works, and each is fully covered under copyright by its author. Copyright law does have exceptions, such as fair use. For example, if I quote a small portion of your story in order to analyze or review it, I am not infringing your copyright. A copyright automatically comes into existence whenever a work is reduced to tangible form, such as typing it out on a page or recording it on tape. But registering your copyright with the U.S. Library of Congress is relatively inexpensive and will put it on record, which could help you if you need to sue an infringer.
Trademarks identify brands. A trademark is one or more words and/or symbols that identify a particular product or service. Company names, logos, titles, and names of characters can fall into this category. Trademark protection means you can use the trademark to brand your product or service, and no one else can use this brand name. Registering a trademark with the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) is more expensive than registering a copyright, but it may not be necessary. A registered trademark applies to the entire U.S. and uses the R-in-a-circle to identify it, whereas a non-registered trademark uses a superscript TM and applies only to the geographical region in which the product or service is traded. There are special requirements for trademarks, too. They must actually be used in trade, and they must be protected or else the trademark holder forfeits his rights to the trademark's distinctiveness. This is why companies sometimes seem militaristic about protecting their trademarks; they have no choice. Trademark infringement is also not always a clear-cut issue. The real question in trademark infringement is whether an average participant in the market would be confused by the similar trademark. This depends on whether the two trademarks are used in the same geographical region and the same market, and how unique and distinctive they are.
Patents protect ideas. Originally intended to protect mechanical and similar inventions, patents are now being applied to any creative idea, including storylines. That's right. Story patents are here, they're real, and they're horrifying. I'm actually doing the premier episode (which will be posted Monday at bethestory.com) of my new podcast on the subject of story patents. In order to get patent protection, one must apply, a long, expensive process that usually requires a lawyer. The patented idea must be useful, nonobvious, and never before done. If you hold a patent on some idea and someone else later comes up with the same idea, even if he doesn't know about your patent, you can then sue him for patent infringement. In court, however, he could prove that your patent is invalid and should never have been issued. However, in these cases, frequently the only winners are the attourneys.

There's also the right each of us has to our own identity and image, which is not intellectual property but does concern writers. You should not use an actual person in a fictional story, and standard disclaimers are there so no one has reason to think you did. Libel law is also a potential concern, if you're reporting on real people and organizations.

See Nolo Press http://www.nolo.com/ for more information.

-TimK