How can I copyright my books ideas?

Question

i'm a young writer hoping to publish my books any advice on publishing is much needed as well but i really need to know how to copyright so please help, i'm a bit stuck :~(

Answer 1

First you need to go to this site. It has everything you need about copyrighting.
U.S. Copyright Office:
http://www.copyright.gov/

More information:
Copyright & Fair Use - Stanford University Libraries
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/index.html

Also check out this site:
10 Big Myths about copyright explained:
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

PUBLISHING:

Try this site for some information:
http://www.caderbooks.com/pubfaq.html

The best thing to do is to get an agent. Having an agent is very helpful in a lot of ways. Go to this site to learn more:
http://www.spacejock.com.au/LiteraryAgent.html

Make sure you do lots of research, there are a lot of people out there wanting to scam people trying to publish something. Good luck to you!

Answer 2

There is also an implied copyright on your intellectual property when you publish it to the web, UNLESS the site you publish to has a clause in the agreement that makes them the owners of whatever is published on their webspace. (I think that George Lucas had either tried or done this with material on starwars.com but I haven't checked my facts; this was a rumor from years ago). But I do think that there is a protection on web-published works of this sort, as the citation format for formal papers requires not only the web address to be cited but also the date of access (as the site may have been updated since then.) This helps establish date of creation and update and would also help (via online admin records) to establish date of initial upload and thus the origin IP address.

Also, when you sign a contract when you have a submission approved to a magazine, you should pay attention to what rights you are granting the magazine. Most ask for first serial rights, although some may ask for the right to include it in later anthologies or even film rights, just depending. If you're really interested in publishing your book, talk to an agent (be ready to provide samples of your work--the agent will want to know if you're worth the time to represent).

Answer 3

Your writing can be copyrighted and protected thus, but ideas are not copyrightable, and once ideas have been presented to the public they are no longer yours for exclusive presentation. Others who are respectable authors will cite your book as the source of their information, but your ideas presented in that book are no longer exclusively yours.
For example, say I did detailed research on an important yet obscure local figure. My biography of that person is protected by copyright, and no one else can publish that same work, but another author can take the information presented in your book and re-write it into his own biographical work and there ain't diddly you can do about it!
A respectable author, though, would cite your pioneer work on that historically significant person, but short of not being able to locate all the sources you used when you did a biography, there is little to stop others from writing on that same subject.
So it comes down to this: Your writing can be copyrighted, but not your ideas.
Your work is automatically copyrighted upon publication. There used to be a stipulation that you fill out forms and submit two copies of the published work to the copyright office, but that no longer applies. Now, your work (once published) is automatically protected from reprinting/republication by anyone but you. Whether you send copies of your work to the copyright office or not, your work is copyrighted. Be sure that you (or the printer) place the copyright notice (©) followed by the year you published it in the work. If you write a poem, for example, and publish it yourself---say on a website or a blog---that protects the work, that is, it lets others know that the work is not a poem available for use freely by anyone who wants to use it, but that it is your intellectual property that can only be used elsewhere by your permission.

Answer 4

When a story is done, mail it to yourself, and keep the envelope after you receive it - that protects the story. Copyrighting ideas is a different thing, and much harder - I suggest you consult a lawyer specializing in copyright law for that. For publishing, go buy "The Writers' Market 2007" - it includes markets separated by subject, and some chapters on agents and publishing in general.

Answer 5

As you probably already know, reading is just as much a part of writing as the writing. You need to go to the source of sources when it comes to Copyright and, or Patents and Trademarks.

I can tell you this because I was just on the sites today, you have to know the "ins" and the "outs". It is there for our protection, but we have to know where, when and how so we can use it effectively.

You can spend hours on the sites, it is all the information you can imagine and then some things you had no idea you could imagine! As writers it is our source and our tool.

You need to know go to www.copright.gov

And check out www.uspto.gov
(US Patent and Trademark Office)

You have to look at both, you never know if your work might be a "C" (Copyright), or might be a "R" (Registered Trademark).

Best Wishes. Meet 'cha on Oprah's Book Club next year :)

Answer 6

You automatically have copyright on anything you write, so you don't need to register it. However, two wise precautions are:

1. On everything you write, put Copyright Joe Bloggs - and maybe the year - automatically. Word-processing packages have thebig C for copyright available.

2. After you've finished something (whole or part) put it in an envelope, seal the envelope, and then put this into another envelope that you post to yourself and keep. Then in the event of any dispute you'll have proof that you had created it on or before the date on the postmark.

Answer 7

To copyright what you write, put in the book a statement of copyright; you can use any copyrighted book as an example. There's no registration of copyrights like there are for patents; simply stating that something is copyrighted is all that is required for any document, program, or other intellectual property.

Answer 8

Anything you write is automatically copyrighted when you write it. You can REGISTER your copyright through the Library of Congress. That just makes it easier to prove your claim. I'd suggest that instead of worrying about copyright, that you be concerned about getting your ideas on paper in a form that other people will want to read. Good luck.

Answer 9

Copyright automatically exists in any intellectual property - all you have to do is prove you wrote it first. Send a copy of your manuscript to yourself via mail - the postmark will date the work - just don't open or in any way tamper with the package! Better still, give a copy to someone of import, eg a solicitor.

Answer 10

Google the U.S. Copyright Office