Things You Might Like to Know about Copyrights
You may be under the 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 or to feel confident about using your original material (content) on your website.
First, it is important to understand that you cannot “copyright” an idea; you can only copyright words that 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 have 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 multi-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 the hit TV series? Well, unless he’s reading directly from your manual word-for-word, or attempting to pass off your manual as something that he’s written, or claiming to have developed a "unique" breeding method that you can prove you developed and then documented in your manual, then he’s probably doing nothing illegal. He’s just using the idea of breeding guppies---and beat you to the punch.
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 claim the copyright on your text. The copyright is conferred upon you the minute you write your New York Times Bestseller. You can legally affix the copyright symbol (the letter c inside a circle) to your work. The work belongs to you. You should 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. Keep a copy of the original Word document that contains the internal computer date and time stamp, or a log of some kind about texts you've written and finalized.
Despite this "write now, own the copyright now" aspect, it is a smart idea to obtain a formal copyright. By filing with the Library of Congress (and paying them their required application fee), you can establish a definitive date of copyright that will stand up in a court of law. Any judge or jury will defer to your formal date of copyright over someone else who can only state, without substantiation, that his text came before yours. You should definitely copyright any text that you are planning to market. 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, then you need to 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,” “citation,” or an "attribution" and, generally speaking, whatever passage is being quoted should be 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 some specified length of time past the natural life of the original author. Authors’ heirs may sometimes re-apply for copyrights, but generally written texts that are extraordinarily old are considered “public domain.” However, it is always the best practice to formally cite any quoted text, especially if you are including a direct quotation in a larger work that you are planning to sell.
In the publishing world, you will find that many publications require that you relinquish your copyright 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 cannot sell or submit that text for publication again unless you get express approval from the publisher that now owns the copyright. This generally does not happen, so be sure that you "give away the copyright" only when you are sure that it is the right thing to do (like when a publisher hands you a nice big check and says, "Thank you"...).
There are websites where you can post your work for others to read or use as on their own websites as “free content.” 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 do own the copyright. If you find that someone is profiting from your work and has not compensated you, then you can file a copyright infringement suit against them.
At the time this article was originally drafted, the copyright fee per manuscript was under $50. All the instructions and necessary forms can be found on U.S. Copyright Office’s website: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/. I have copyrighted several texts and advise that you mail your application with a “Return Receipt Requested” or “Delivery confirmation” 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 freelance proofreader and copyeditor. Visit http://www.janktheproofer.com for more information about Jan’s proofreading and copyediting services and Jan's other free resources. Please visit Mom's Break (http://www.momsbreak.com/) for free printable crafts and projects. © Copyright 2005 to present. All rights reserved.