Writing crit group/collaborations, how can we protect our intellectual property?

Question

Hey all. I'm thinking I'd like to try some collaborations, re-write work or things like that to broaden the scope of my writing, but I'm wondering what all the members of the group can do to protect themselves from having their ideas stolen were anyone less than scrupulous to cross our path?

Answer 1

IDEAS are never protected by copyright. Only works in finished form. So if you are sitting around and someone says "I think I want to write a story about three ghosts that travel across the country looking for their stolen bodies" and someone else decided to jump and write that story, there is not a lot you can do about it.

I'm not real clear on what you are planning. A Collaboration is generally two or more people who agree to work together and share the copyright on a finished form. I don't think THAT is actually what you are looking for, is it?

In a writing group, each writer brings there own work to share with the group. The work is already in a finished format, and therefore already protected by copyright. You read and discuss each others work, offering suggestions and comments. Rewriting each others work is counter-productive, as it really doesn't do the original author any good. And unless you are actually TRAINED in editing, you probably do more harm than good.

Answer 2

Protecting your intellectual property from copyright infringement is easily done. You don't have to apply for copyrights. When you first create a document in Word, it generates a date of creation. When you make changes and save them, it then has two dates. The date of creation and the date it was last saved with changes. But as has been pointed out, you can't avoid plagiarism because there will always be people too lazy to give anyone credit for their work.

Answer 3

The truth is you cannot be 100% safe from plagerism - that's why it's very important to develop a really deep sense of trust when developing a partnership - and then go to a lawyer and have a contract drawn up anyway. I sometimes write with a partner. We have had our share of fights, but we do trust each other implicitly. Pax - C.