intellectual property – Almost An Author

Guarding Your Words: A Writer’s Guide to Intellectual Property Protection

As a writer, it’s always important to recognize your value. This isn’t just about appreciating your level of talent. There’s also tangible worth to your words. Intellectual property (IP) — in this case, your literary creations — can have significant financial worth.

This is something that extends beyond monetizing publishing and distribution rights. Many movie studios are on the lookout for the next potentially profitable IPs to option for movies, TV shows, and other media. Unfortunately, unscrupulous people also recognize the value of your IP. As a result, it may be at risk of misuse or plagiarism, particularly if you’re regularly posting content online in blogs and other media.

Copyright Protections

Copyright is one of the most powerful tools you have as a writer to protect your IP. However, it’s also one of the elements that too many writers don’t fully understand.

So, what is copyright? Well, the way of asserting that you are the creator or owner of a work in a legal sense. It’s designed to prevent disputes over who produced a work and therefore owns the rights associated with it. If you own the copyright, not only can you sell, distribute, and license the work and derivatives of it. It also means that if somebody uses your work without permission, you can issue cease and desist notices and pursue lawsuits for compensation.

There are exceptions, though. While your idea for a character or work might feel like your IP, it is not usually recognized as such legally. You can only copyright a fixed — meaning permanent enough to distribute or reproduce — work. There are also fair use exemptions, which in itself is fairly complex. However, you may find it difficult to defend your IP when people create parodies of your work or use it in news content.

Technically speaking, you gain copyright over your work as soon as it’s created. However, you’ll find you have a stronger case if you need to pursue a lawsuit against someone stealing your IP if you register your copyright with the U.S. copyright office or via an attorney. This creates a clear record of who created an IP and when.

Safeguards During Collaborations

Protecting your IP can be relatively straightforward when you’re a writer working on your own. But in collaborative situations, you might be working on concepts with publishers. Movie and TV production studios will also often put together writer’s rooms to collaborate on creating scripts. With various people involved, this can muddy the waters of who owns IP and how you can protect it.

Your best approach here is to work with your collaborators to establish clear boundaries here. No matter who you’re working with, take the time to talk about who owns the material you produce during sessions. Ask for clarity about whether it’s a work-for-hire situation where the studio owns all materials, or whether you keep work that is unused in the final product.

Particularly in the case of materials that are unused in the final product, one way to help safeguard your IP is to get evidence that you created it. Reliable team collaboration management software can be an effective tool here. These don’t just support smooth project communication. They also tend to keep track of what tasks specific project contributors perform. There’s usually a date stamp for when you upload documents and perform tasks, too. In essence, you’re creating a record of what you provided and when. This can help safeguard against other collaborators claiming your IP as theirs.

Seeking Legal Assistance

There’s only a certain amount you can do individually to protect your IP when it’s stolen. Yes, you can issue a direct complaint to the person breaching the property or send a form cease and desist notice. However, you’ll have more impact when you’re supported by an experienced copyright attorney.

Part of the benefit here is that they can do a lot of the leg work on your behalf. They’ll have professional-level cease and desist letters that they can issue and — importantly — follow through on. They also know the most effective ways to gather a packet of evidence when petitioning the courts if you seek compensation.

Additionally, your attorney may use advanced technology to protect your IP. Some law firms are starting to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to perform a range of tasks. AI-powered legal assistance platforms can analyze legal texts to identify information or precedents most relevant to support your lawsuit. Some AI software will swiftly and accurately scan contracts to spot unusual or unfair terms related to your IP. However, it’s important to make certain the lawyer
you collaborate with uses such tools ethically and that they do their due diligence to verify the work of their AI tools.

Conclusion

Protecting your IP can take some work, but it’s vital if you want a sustainable writing career. This should include registering your copyright and potentially collaborating with an attorney in theft or plagiarism cases. Even if you’re at a relatively early stage of your career, don’t think your work isn’t suitable for protection. There may be a kernel of something in your work that needs to be nurtured over time. Taking steps to safeguard it now empowers you to utilize it to its fullest in the future.

Amanda Winstead is a writer from the Portland area with a background in communications and a passion for telling stories. Along with writing she enjoys traveling, reading, working out, and going to concerts. If you want to follow her writing journey, or even just say hi you can find her on Twitter.

Do You Understand Copyrights?

As writers, we are concerned about protecting our work from theft or misuse. That is why we should have a general understanding of copyright laws.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer. This post is intended as a guide to understanding the basics of this topic. If you have actual copyright questions, please contact an expert.

What is a copyright?

According to the Wikipedia entry for Copyright:

Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form.

(Although lengthy, this article provides a good foundation for understanding what the concept of copyright is all about. I recommend you take a look.)

Do I need to apply for a copyright to protect my work?

No. Under current law, as soon as a creative work is “fixed”, or recorded in some tangible way, then copyright protection is automatically in force. Therefore as soon as you write your ideas down or type them on your computer, they are theoretically protected. Authors do not need to apply for a copyright or include a copyright notation on their work. (An older version of the law did require authors to include a copyright notation.)

However, an author’s protection is enhanced when the work is officially registered with the Copyright Office. This can be done online at copyright.gov, but it requires a fee.

Note: A registered copyright only protects the copy you registered. Therefore it makes no sense to apply for copyrights for unfinished works.

What constitutes copyright infringement?

This is where many of us may run into problems. We know better than to plagiarize another author’s writing, but what about grabbing a photo off the web to use in our blog, or borrowing a song to use in a video?

Like writing, other forms of intellectual property are protected by copyright laws. Artwork, photos, music, videos, and performances are considered copyrighted. Which means we don’t have permission to use them unless that permission has been granted by the owner.

How can I use copyrighted material?

You can contact the owner and ask for permission.
You can purchase the rights, such as buying a stock photo.
The law makes an exception for fair use. (See below.)
Also, some material has been assigned a Creative Commons license. This is a standardized way for copyright owners to grant permission for others to use their work. (See below.)

What is fair use?

The Copyright Act of 1976 allows for limited copying and distribution of copyrighted material under what is termed “fair use.” However, it can be tricky to determine what does or does not qualify as fair use. Factors to consider include the purpose for which the copies are being used, the proportion of the work that is being used, and how the use might affect the market value of the work.

What are Creative Commons licenses about?

There are six different types of Creative Commons licenses, each of which have different stipulations about what uses are allowed and how the owner of the work should be attributed. These are clearly explained on the Creative Commons website.

Reputable sources of photos, music, or other creative works will indicate which license applies to each item. You should assume that anything on the web not labeled public domain or marked with a CC license is not available for use.

Like most of the information on Wikipedia, the copyright definition I copied in this post falls under a Creative Commons license. Specifically CC 3.0 (CC BY-SA) which states that credit must be given to the author, as I have done by including a hyperlink to the original article.

What is a derivative work?

Some CC licenses do not allow derivative works. A derivative work is something that has been derived from the original. In other words, a work that adapts the original work in some way. For example, taking a photo and adding text to it, as is demonstrated by the featured image on this post.

Some CC licenses specify non-commercial use only. What does that mean?

Non-commercial uses refers to using the material for personal or educational purposes only, without the end product being sold or used for the marketing of a salable product.

Commercial use includes the obvious: the material is being used on or in a product. It also includes any instance where the creative property is being used for any purpose that enables you to make money.

For example, a book trailer is commercial use because it is advertising a product. A blog that makes you money, such as one with affiliate links, is also considered commercial use.

If you are working on a website or anything that may be connected with selling your work, now or in the future, it’s a good idea to stay on the safe side and limit yourself to works that allow commercial use.

I hope this helps you understand the world of copyrights, so that you can honor the intellectual property of others as ethically as you wish your rights to be honored.

Award-winning writer Lisa E. Betz believes that everyone has a unique story to tell the world. She loves inspiring fellow writers to be more intentional about developing their craft and courageous in sharing their words. Lisa shares her words through speaking, leading Bible studies, writing historical mysteries, and blogging about living intentionally.

You can find her on Facebook LisaEBetzWriter Twitter @LisaEBetz and Pinterest Lisa E Betz Intentional Living.