You cannot copyright an idea, but once an idea is put in a tangible form, your copyright exists. The more detailed and complete the idea, the safer it becomes.1
If you have a copy of a story or any intellectual property in a tangible form that you have orginated, you have a copyright from the moment it is in that tangible form. If you copy and claim as your own the work of someone else, that is plagiarism and may constitute copyright infringement which has civil and criminal penalties that can be sought by the copyright holder.2
There are various ways you can protect your copyright. Publishing or registering are among the best. In the United States you can register your copyright for a fee with the Library of Congress. Rather than register many items for individual fees, you can register a body of works as a collection. For example: You could register all of your current work under the title, "Stories and Other Writes by (Your Name)" or perhaps simply "My Collected Works". There are different forms for different media. For example: There are forms for sound recordings, written music, and printed material. If you require more than one basic type of form, there would of course be more than one fee.3
Publishing is substantial evidence of your copyright. Internet publishing is publishing and does offer some protection as well as giving an avenue to display your work. It is true that stories on the internet can easily be copied and there are those who do copy work by others and claim it as their own. Most of those who copy the works of others do not successfully market them. Most of the sites that publish or display the works of writers are very careful to protect the copyrights of their members and Storywrite is no exception. There is, however, another publishing alternative that you can use to protect your copyrights at little cost.4
There is self-publishing. Lulu.com is an excellent resource for this type of publishing. Lulu prints and manufactures books and CDs. You can publish free and purchase as few as one copy at cost. If you are concerned with first publication rights, you can restrict the items you publish at Lulu to private distribution only. That way only you are able to get copies. You can give copies to friends or use them to market your work. Whether you offer the publication to the public or restrict it to private use, it serves as very substantial evidence of your copyright.5
Many agents, book, magazine, and film publishers want first publication rights and in many cases all rights. There are also many publishers who will purchase or publish works that have appeared in other publications. The best examples of this are film and television. When marketing your work, you should take into consideration the rights that you are offering. Some publishers consider online publishing the use of first publication rights. 6
For more information about copyrights, the Library of Congress offers publications and online information. See the link to the Copyright Office in the Author's notes. Most countries have international agreements to protect copyrights. These countries also have governmental agencies similar to the Library of Congress.
Author notes
Comments
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Thanks for putting this up Andy.
The information given is a godsend to those who are worried about 'losing' their work through plagliarism and this should ease their fears.
I always thought 'self-publishing' was second only to gambling as a way to hand over hard-earned money so I'll check this lulu thingy out
If it's 'free', who pays for the book cover? (Sorry, but being cynical is beginning to creep into my nature 
)
beginning: 5, language: 5, plot: 5, ending: 5, dialog: 5, characters: 5.
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Hi Lawrie!
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Lulu is free to publish and you can market you books through Lulu at whatever price you set, thus, if you are able to market your books well, you can make a profit.
If you want copies of the book yourself, you can purchase them at cost as few as one at a time. The cost for copies is very reasonable. The more copies ordered, the lower the shipping and cost per book. They offer quantity breaks, I believe beginning at 25 copies.
The book cover is a part of the cost per book. You can either supply your own art work, or use the art they have available.
Let me know if you have any other questions about it. The best source, of course, is Lulu.com about information regarding their site, but I have some familiarity with it.
Andy
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Thank you for this
*bookmarks*
Not sure if the same rights are valid in this country, but I might as well have this
Again, many thanks!
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Hi Soda!
As I understand, copyright laws are pretty much the same in most countries by international agreements.
Thanks for reading and all the applause.
Andy
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Howdy Andy,
I was just looking through your new stuff and this is a great introduction to the Story Write site. It covers all the basic copyright info that a new person needs all in one place. I know we have had conversations on this topic before, and they helped me feel safe about putting my work up on this site.
Just thought I would stop and let you know this is a thumbs up all the way.
Later
Renvek
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Hi !
Thanks for reading, commenting, and all the applause. I'm glad you like the way I listed the information here.
Andy
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Hey Andy - great info! I have had many occassions where I have had to pass similar information on to new members. Now I can also point them to this. Way to keep the communittee informed!
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Thanks Irish.
It's just a little basic information. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Andy
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I was just reading an article on Writer's Beware the other day that said most publishers no longer consider publishing online as use of first publication rights. They did back when it was all very new but apparently they've gotten used to this media.
It's a good article for those not in the know. Nice work Andy. -
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That's good to hear.
I don't consider sites, like Storywrite, the use of first publication rights. I consider it a place to improve my work and help to organize it.
Thanks,
Andy
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Good info, Andy; thanks for collating and condensing it. I wasn't aware of the "private distribution" option from Lulu.com. That's interesting!
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Hi Val!
You're welcome. I get questions every now and then about copyright, so I thought I'd provide a little information about it.
Andy
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Good information
Another way you can protect yourself if you haven't applied for your copyright is to mail yourself by way of certified mail your manuscript or story. Never open it and keep it in a safe place. If it ever comes down to a matter in court you have certified evidence that it was your original work being used.
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I've heard that.
In fact, I've actually done that. Now days I don't really worry much about it. It takes so much effort to make a living at writing, I really don't think anyone is likely to run off with anything I've got. Sure, someone might copy something I've written and post it on another website as their own, but they are not very likely to market it successfully. Even if they did, it's not going to matter to me unless I find out. For something like a novel, I doubt I'd have any difficulty proving it was mine.
Andy
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This is very true. I was pretty paranoid about my first novel (especially since I was sending it to a professional editor) that I looked into all this and also sent it to LOC. Thought about mailing it to myself but it wasn't that much cheaper.
Since then I haven't bothered. Like you said, it'd be pretty easy to prove all my writing is mine.
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very useful information Andy....i was quite blank about all these copyrights points but this column of yours quite informative and useful....thanks for sharing this knowledge with us.
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very useful information Andy....i was quite blank about all these copyrights points but this column of yours quite informative and useful....thanks for sharing this knowledge with us.
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Hi!
If you really want to know more about copyrights, you should check out the link. I'm glad you found the information helpful.
Andy
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