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Things You
Might Like to Know about Copyrights
by Jan K.,
The Proofer
You
may be under the false impression that before you can get your text published,
you must “get the copyright” to your own written material. You might also
think that in order to get the copyright, you must “apply” for it. This
is just not so. In the following few paragraphs, I’ll give you some simple
facts about copyrights that may help you in your quest to get published.
First, it is important
to understand that you cannot “copyright” an idea; you can only
copyright what you have written. That is, you might have just written
the greatest self-help manual on how to breed guppies. And you did, indeed,
file for your copyright with the Library of Congress. Three weeks after
completing the formal copyrighting process, you find out that the manager
of your neighborhood pet store (where you’ve been buying your guppies)
has just sold the TV rights to a new hit show “Breeding Guppies” and he
is using many of the same principles that you’ve outlined in your manual
on how to go about guppy breeding.
So, naturally,
since this is the 21st Century and you live in America, you want to sue
the guy. You think you have a sure thing, and you are dreaming of the million-dollar
award that the jury is sure to give you. But…you’d better not put a down
payment on that Guppy Farm in Iowa just yet.
The manual you
wrote, the exact words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters that
you wrote, belong to you. It is illegal for anyone to reproduce
or use any of that text, in part or in whole, for profit without your permission.
However, you must be able to prove that your exact words have been
stolen before you can get an award for copyright infringement. So, you
know that guy with his hit TV series? Well, unless he’s reading from your
manual word-for-word, or attempting to sell your manual as a supplemental
text that he’s written, then he’s probably doing nothing illegal. He’s
just using the idea of breeding guppies.
You do “own” the
copyright to your text, all its words and clever phrases. And you don’t
even have to file with the Library of Congress in order to have the copyright
on your text. The copyright is conferred upon you the minute you write
your New York Times Bestseller. All you have to do is be
able to prove, beyond any doubt, the date that you wrote the material.
For your protection, then, it is wise to print and date your material,
and establish with a third party through a written communication that you
have just finished your text. At that time, you can legally affix the copyright
symbol (the letter c inside a circle) to your work.
Now here’s where
a formal copyright comes in. By filing with the Library of Congress (and
paying them their required application fee), you can establish definitively
a date of copyright that will stand up in any court of law. Any judge or
jury will defer to your date over someone else who can merely claim by
word of mouth that his text came before yours. It’s a good idea to formally
copyright any text that you are planning to market. So, if you’re convinced
that the world population-at-large is in desperate need of “Breeding Guppies,
What Every Ichthyologist Needs to Know” and you plan to sell it on Ebay
for $19.95, you should apply for a formal copyright.
Just having the
copyright, however, doesn’t mean that other people can’t quote your work.
They may do so, as long as you are given full credit for having written
it prior to their use. This is called a “reference” or a “citation” and
generally, whatever passage is being quoted will appear offset in quotation
marks (so that the reader can visualize which words belong to someone other
than the author of the text in which the quote appears). Of course, at
present the contingent of Copyright Police is not up to tracking down every
single instance of copyright infringement, and chances are that not everyone
cites original authors as scrupulously as they should, so beware of whom
you casually let look at or read your text (or to whom you give a copy).
Copyrights are
not forever. Typically, a copyright lasts for 50 years past the natural
life of the original author. Authors’ heirs may sometimes re-apply for
copyrights, but generally written texts that are this old are considered
“public domain” and may be reproduced without paying the author’s family
a royalty fee.
In the publishing
world, you will find that many publications require that you relinquish
your copyrights to the work in return for having your work published. This
is a fairly standard procedure—unless your name happens to be Stephen King
or Danielle Steele. Once you’ve relinquished your copyright to a given
work, you can not sell or submit that text again unless you get express
approval from the publisher that now owns the copyright.
There are sites
on the World Wide Web where you can post your work for others to read or
use as they see fit, so-called “free sites.” In cases such as this, there
should be a disclaimer that anyone who uses or reproduces your work must
give you full credit. Whether this happens all the time is certainly a
matter for some speculation, but your safeguard is that you own
the copyright and if you find that someone is profiting from your work
and that you have not been compensated, you can file a copyright infringement
suit against them.
As of the date
of this article, the current copyright fee is $30. All the instructions
and necessary forms can be found on U.S. Copyright Office’s web site:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ .
I have copyrighted several texts and advise that you mail your application
with a “Return Receipt Requested” from the U.S. Post Office. This is your
proof that the Copyright Office has received your copyright application.
Jan K., The
Proofer is a full-time freelance proofreader and copyeditor. In business
since 1995, she has enjoyed working for a diverse world-wide clientele,
covering subject matter including academic research, medical law, consumer
surveys, and self-help materials. Please visit http://www.janktheproofer.com
for more information.
