How do I copy right?
- Thread starter J.B.
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rexfelis
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You can find everything you need to copyright your work right here.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/
Weird Harold
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JailBait said:
Rexfelis is absolutely correct if what you're looking for is a "registered copyright," but posting your story at Lit time stamps it as claimed by you which is really all that's required to claim copyright protection -- a time stamped copy of your story that is time stamped earlier than any other claimant's version.
Another method of time stamping a story is to mail it to yourself and leave it unopened until proof is needed.
The thing is, the copyright is inherent in the story and all you really need is a copyright notice to show you intend to enforce the copyright.
rexfelis
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Re: Re: How do I copy right?
Wierd Harold is absolutely correctl until you take it to court, where the "poor man's copyright" concept has already fallen before idiot judges. If you want your work copyright protected, do it the right way.
Wierd Harold is absolutely correctl until you take it to court, where the "poor man's copyright" concept has already fallen before idiot judges. If you want your work copyright protected, do it the right way.
Weird Harold said:
Monazwx
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Thanks!!!
I am also writing a story for Lit. and was wondering about the same thing. Rexfelis, thanks for the link. However, what is time stamping? I don't really understand the mailing the story to oneself thing. Will someone please clarify for green, old me? I would really appreciate it.
I am also writing a story for Lit. and was wondering about the same thing. Rexfelis, thanks for the link. However, what is time stamping? I don't really understand the mailing the story to oneself thing. Will someone please clarify for green, old me? I would really appreciate it.
Weird Harold
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Re: Thanks!!!
"TimeStamping" is creating some proof that the story existed at a given time -- the time and date of the postmark on a sealed envelope or the posting date here on Literotica, for example.
Either will provide proof that you have laid claim to a particular piece of work as being yours on that date and time -- ie "stamping" that date and time on your story.
Mona said:
"TimeStamping" is creating some proof that the story existed at a given time -- the time and date of the postmark on a sealed envelope or the posting date here on Literotica, for example.
Either will provide proof that you have laid claim to a particular piece of work as being yours on that date and time -- ie "stamping" that date and time on your story.
rexfelis
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Wierd Harold, if you have some evidence that I am wrong, please share. I do not claim infallibility. I do know that my college English professor told us that there have been cases where time stamped materials had not held up in court, and that the only way to protect your work was to register it with the copyright office.
Weird Harold
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rexfelis said:
You basically explained the ground rules when you said, "Is this piece of writing worth going to court over?
"If the answer is yes, copyright it the way I pointed out.
"If the answer is no, don't."
While timestamped materials have on occasion NOT stood up in court, there are also some rather hefty awards being made on the basis of timestamped materials, too. I'm sure a it of research would find a few registered copyrights that haven't endured the scrutiny of the judicial process as well.
If your work is worth the fees and paperwork required to register a copyright, then by all means go that route. However, the Berne convention (cited at the bottom of each ASSM submission) and US copyright law both are very clear that copyright is inherent in the work, and registration of said copyright is NOT a prerequisite to defending it.
For stories here at Literotica, simply claiming the copyright is usually sufficient. Registration of the copyright is only an added expense that isn't offset by what we're paid for posting here.
The only time a problem likely to arise is if the story is stolen for a pay site and the author wishes a cut of the profits.Copyright and intellectual property laws exist to protect an author's income from his work. How well an author wishes to protect intellectual property should be based on how much income needs to be protected.
Snork Maiden
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copyrights and plagarism
Just my 2 cents worth.
As a technical writer copyrighting comes up almost as a matter of course.
But these are my observation..
Copyright and Intellectual Property are two different beasts
You automatically have copyright to anything that you create or do that is original, but it is your responsibility as the copyright owner to ensure that your rights are protected.
Intellectual Property is waived based on the situation under which the article is produced. If I produce an article based on someone else product, for example a Programmer's Guide to Threads and Fibres in SQL Server, then the intellectual property is both miine and that of Microsoft's. I don't need permission to publish such abstracted material about the product but I do have an obligation acknowledge the relevant parts as being derived from their product. I on the otherhand have full copyright to the article, unless again I have included with, permission extracts, verbatim or precised from another authors work.
The only way I know of this is to apply for a copyright protection by registering your work with the appropriate office.
You have to apply for an individual copyright for each item you produce, and remember you have to pay for this privelige.
You are advised to have a copy of your work placed in security, normally a bank or other recognised institution which will provide a record of your deposit, date etc and usually carries two witness signitures.
If your work is such that you feel it has considerable valuable then you would be advised to seek legal representation and submit your work to a publisher that will have its own legal team to protect its investments.
SQL Server and Microsoft are register trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.
This message is copyright no portion of it may be reproduced without the expressed permission of the original poster.
<smirk>
SM
Just my 2 cents worth.
As a technical writer copyrighting comes up almost as a matter of course.
But these are my observation..
Copyright and Intellectual Property are two different beasts
You automatically have copyright to anything that you create or do that is original, but it is your responsibility as the copyright owner to ensure that your rights are protected.
Intellectual Property is waived based on the situation under which the article is produced. If I produce an article based on someone else product, for example a Programmer's Guide to Threads and Fibres in SQL Server, then the intellectual property is both miine and that of Microsoft's. I don't need permission to publish such abstracted material about the product but I do have an obligation acknowledge the relevant parts as being derived from their product. I on the otherhand have full copyright to the article, unless again I have included with, permission extracts, verbatim or precised from another authors work.
The only way I know of this is to apply for a copyright protection by registering your work with the appropriate office.
You have to apply for an individual copyright for each item you produce, and remember you have to pay for this privelige.
You are advised to have a copy of your work placed in security, normally a bank or other recognised institution which will provide a record of your deposit, date etc and usually carries two witness signitures.
If your work is such that you feel it has considerable valuable then you would be advised to seek legal representation and submit your work to a publisher that will have its own legal team to protect its investments.
SQL Server and Microsoft are register trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.
This message is copyright no portion of it may be reproduced without the expressed permission of the original poster.
<smirk>
SM
WhiteRose
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This is really good information! Thanks
I have another question or two about copyrighting. A poem of mine was accepted for publication in an anthology. The book itself is copyrighted, but I retain rights to the poem. Would that serve as proof of my authorship if a question came about?
How about poems written for a class? I took an online college poetry class a few years ago, in which we wrote and discussed our poems in detail and made corrections and submitted final copies. I've kept printed copies of all of the discussions which took place in a messageboard format. And papers or poems written for regular classes that have been dated, reworked, notes on them by professors, etc. Would that be similar to time stamping?
I have another question or two about copyrighting. A poem of mine was accepted for publication in an anthology. The book itself is copyrighted, but I retain rights to the poem. Would that serve as proof of my authorship if a question came about?
How about poems written for a class? I took an online college poetry class a few years ago, in which we wrote and discussed our poems in detail and made corrections and submitted final copies. I've kept printed copies of all of the discussions which took place in a messageboard format. And papers or poems written for regular classes that have been dated, reworked, notes on them by professors, etc. Would that be similar to time stamping?
Last edited:
Weird Harold
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WhiteRose said:This is really good information! Thanks
I have another question or two about copyrighting. A poem of mine was accepted for publication in an anthology. The book itself is copyrighted, but I retain rights to the poem. Would that serve as proof of my authorship if a question came about?
How about poems written for a class? I took an online college poetry class a few years ago, in which we wrote and discussed our poems in detail and made corrections and submitted final copies. I've kept printed copies of all of the discussions which took place in a messageboard format. And papers or poems written for regular classes that have been dated, reworked, notes on them by professors, etc. Would that be similar to time stamping?
Being published is probably the next best thing to registering a copyright, since a published book usually has a registered copyright for the whole book even if the individual poems aren't registered.
The poems written for a class situation doesn't provide a timestamp except in that it provides potential witnesses that the dates on your printed copies are accurate. The whole idea of a "poor man's copyright" by mailing yourself a copy is that a sealed and postmarked package shows that you haven't tampered with the date in any way on the final form of your poem.
You can't really copyright a "work in progress." You have to fix it in its final form in some tamper-proof way -- sealed and postmarked, notarized, registered with the copyright office or published, are the methods which have a history of being acceptable if you need to defend it.
