I let him see paper copies of a couple chapters of a novel I've been writing for almost three years. After we broke up, he refused to return the pages. I'm afraid he'll try and sabotage my (potential) writing career. How can I protect myself? Or how can I get my pages back? Any advice? Please help me. I have worked really hard on this.
2007-03-03 17:54:32 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
I have plenty of copies, of course. I'm just afraid of him using what he has to hurt me.
2007-03-03 18:02:21 · update #1
Have you copyrighted them? If you have then there's nothing much else you can do and you shouldn't worry much either. Don't ask for them back again and he will most likely forget about them, by the sounds of it he's only looking for a reaction and something to use against you.
My advice is that in future, always copyright your work, especially if you're looking into publishing them.
Sorry to hear about this, this is one of a writers many worst nightmares (along with being forced to destroy your own work).
Good luck.
2007-03-03 20:33:47 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
How could he use your pages to sabotage anything? Two chapters is nothing. If you like, rewrite them slightly and then put the thing out of your mind. Never mention them to him again. He'll think them worth holding onto ONLY if you show any interest. If your novel is finished, and it ought to be, after three years, get it off to a publisher.
2007-03-03 18:05:26 · answer #2 · answered by sallyotas 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
File a police report about stolen property. Explain who has them and will not return them and they should follow-up. If he claims he doesn't have them and they could get a subpeoana to search his house but a judge probably won't permit it because it's hard to prove that you indeed did give them to him.
He could claim he doesn't have them anymore and that you said he could have them. Then you'd have to take him to court to recover damages. Can you discover an amount for damages? Probably not. Can you prove that you didn't give them to him? That's hard but could be done.
Can you afford an attorney to represent you? Or are you able to maneuver the justice system and represent yourself?
Unfortunately, it looks like he holds all the cards. And you pages.
Copyrighting them does nothing (technically they're copyrighting the instant you create it -- but that's hard to prove as well). It's not like he's going to write a book out of them. He's having way to much fun keeping them from you.
2007-03-03 22:17:58 · answer #3 · answered by i8pikachu 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
There's little he could do with them. He seems to just like having some power over you and you're letting him by reacting. Just forget about them. After revisions, if any, those chapters he has won't be the same anyway. He's powerless - don't let him think he has any power over you.
2007-03-03 18:28:49 · answer #4 · answered by §Sally§ 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
get some legal advice
2007-03-04 03:53:07 · answer #5 · answered by love_fool 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
just publish your book and if he uses them tell your editor to sue him
2007-03-04 03:49:15 · answer #6 · answered by dark 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
go to the police they would help!
2007-03-03 18:05:04 · answer #7 · answered by tellia a 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
it hasn't been published, so i don't think there's anything you can do. didn't you save it on a computer disk?
2007-03-03 17:59:25 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋