Copyright: Part II

The U.S. Copyright Office has a set of videos up on their website, intended for teacher and students as an overview of copyright basics. I found one of those videos on YouTube (of course) and have embedded it as an intro for you. Click on the title of the set of videos to see all of them in this short series.



from "Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright" "COPYRIGHT EXPOSED"

Here is Michael Moore sharing his opinion about sharing art - his

movies, in particular, and art, in general.

This won't necessarily help you understand the laws, but I believe it's good

to look at others' opinions.

 

And, just for fun, here is a link to the Copyright Office Registration, Recordation, and Other Services. In other words, how much will a copyright cost and what are the various costs associated with getting a legal copyright?


Over at Writers Write, they have Basic Copyright Concepts For Writers from attorney Claire E. White. The sections of her summary are:
- What Copyright Law Covers

- How Do You Get Copyright Protection for Your Work?

- Registering a Copyright

- Can Foreigners Copyright Their Work in the U.S.?

- How Long Does the Copyright Last?

- Copyright Infringement

- Exceptions to the Infringement Rules


Creative Commons is another option for sharing digital creative ventures. I think of it as the Shareware or OpenSource for creativity sharing. It's worth taking a look at their guidelines and seeing how their process works.

Their mission statement: "Creative Commons helps you share your knowledge and creativity with the world. Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation."

What other resources do you like to refer to when questions of copyright come up?

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Copyright Basics

Recently I had posted an excerpt of another writer's content, which was posted on a writing website. I took a small piece of it and posted it, with the proper recognition of the author, with the intent of enticing my readers to go read her writing. It was cleaver and fun and was a good piece of writing.

A couple of weeks or so later, I received an email from the site, who was contacting me on behalf of the original author, who was requesting that I remove the content due to copyright infringement. And the potential loss of income due to duplicate information online. The website person was very kind and we had a good email conversation and I, of course, removed the content.

My intent was not to interfere with anyone's income nor did I pose as the author nor did I include all of the article nor even the entirety of my favorite part. And I understood that the author felt like I had crossed the copyright boundary.

So I've started looking. Trying to wade through some of the copyright lines and see what I can or can't do.

I can't plagiarize and I know what that is. Would never dream of doing it.

I also know, thanks to Ariel Gore, that there is a five word limit on including song lyrics. Which I find makes it pretty much pointless to include them. I have a really great piece I like, the song is clearly attributed to the original group and the writer. The story is distributed among the lyrics, they're woven together and the lyrics are particular to time and place. To remove the lyrics is to remove a significant emotional connection. Yes, then there would be the option of trying to contact the song writer, the group, to get permission. Yes, an option. Five words would be useless in that case.

So.

Here are a few links I've found for copyright information for writers:

First, of course, is the US Copyright Office

Here is a link to a free e-book about Online Copyright for Writers (I have not read this yet, and am not supporting nor refuting the accuracy)

And here is a trusted link, Poets and Writers magazine starts with a concise glossary of different rights and then has a few resources at the bottom of the page.

One more resource is an attorney. I did consult with one copyright attorney a couple of years ago about an issue related to the novel I'm currently revising. The information I'd found online was a little unclear and didn't seem to specifically address the question I had about something in the book. I'd rather consult an attorney earlier if I feel there is something potentially in error rather than later.

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Copyright Basics from Writer's Digest

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Writer's Digest has Online Writing Tutorials. There are short preview of the tutorials and there are several plans for purchasing - by month, over several months, or for individual tutorials. The one sent out in Tuesday's email is an overview of Copyright Basics, which is a timely topic.

I should say, copyright is always a timely topic for writers. And as I am on the threshhold of getting the memoir into print, this topic is top in my mind.

Copyright Basics

on-demand writing tutorial

from Writer's Digest



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