HOME
NEWS
WHO ARE WE?
WEBZINE
MAILING LIST
FREE ISSUE / SURVEY
FORUM
SUBMISSION
GUIDELINES
CONTACT
COPYRIGHT
LINKS |
|
|
|
Copyright and "Use Rights"
|
| |
|
Copyright
|
| |
| For informational purposes only -- The webzine is closed |
| |
There used to be a time when one had to register their creation with the copyright office in order
to be able to claim copyright. That is no longer the case, all countries, which chose to heed
the Berne Convention have agreed that copyright exists the moment a creative work is put
into tangible form. A sculpture, a painting, a file in a computer or a page in a type writer.
The United States and most western countries have agreed to the statues and laws set forth
by the Berne convention.
Your work is copyrighted the moment you put it into tangible form. What that means is
that legally nobody can copy your work, in any shape, way or form. If it does happen
you have the right to press charges against any person or persons who do. Registering
your work at the copyright office makes proving your case in a court of law a lot easier
but it isn't necessary. Instead of paying the fee to register it, you can just write
a copyright notice on your work, it's not as good as registering it, but it does help in case
you want to go to court. Example: Copyright © 2005 by Jessica Taylor. The symbol is not
strictly necessary, the word "Copyright" is enough. If you further write: All rights reserved,
you are saying that you retain all rights to your work. Obviously, if you sell some of them
you can not state that any longer.
What is important for the newbie creator is that the idea for a work of art or a story is not
copyrighted, only the actual work is. The Harry Potter books are copyrighted and so
are the movies, but the idea of "an orphaned little boy finding out that he is a wizard" is not.
But if somebody were to base their stories on the Harry Potter world it would be an infringement of copyright
and against the law. So, if you want to call your villain "Lord Voldemort" and the wizarding
school "Hogwarts" and Jonni Kotter's best friends are Hermione and Ron, you'd probably have a law
suit on your hands.
So, you can't steal an idea, you can only steal the actual work of art or story. And chances
are that you are not the first person to have that idea, a thousand people had that idea or
a similar one before you. Everything together, the idea, the circumstances, the plot, the
characters, the words written down on the page, those are yours alone. And nobody is allowed
to base their stories on yours.
So, you own copyright to your work but how do you transfer it and what rights do you transfer? There
are a lot of terms defining copyrights and some publishers define them differently than others.
It's important for you to find out exactly what rights your publisher is getting or buying, because even
if you'd win a case against the publisher, what writer actually has the money to do so?
|
| |
|
"Use Rights"
|
| |
|
What rights do we (Science & Sorcery Magazine) buy or have assigned to us?
|
| |
We buy and/or have assigned (we use the term "buy" loosely, because at this point we don't have the money to do so)
Exclusive First Internet and Electronic Rights and Archival Rights for six months, which we need for the webzine. You also have the option
of assigning to us your Exclusive First North American Serial Rights and Exclusive First International Serial Rights for six months, which
we need in order to be able to print your story in a print issue.
In addition we offer the option for assignment of Exclusive Anthology Rights for six months, which we would need
to print your work in an anthology.
OK, let's break that down a bit.
| |
|
Exclusive vs. Non-Exclusive
| |
| |
Exclusive means that we buy/have assigned to us the right to be the only ones who publish your work for a given time.
In case of Sorcery & Science that means you give us exclusiveness to your work starting on
the date you sign the "Copyright Assignment Form" until six months after date of publication. After
that six months you can resell the piece.
Non-Exclusive means that you can publish a piece in more than one publication at the
same time.
| |
|
First Rights
| |
| |
First Rights means that we buy/have assigned to us the right to be the first to publish your work. No one else
is allowed to publish your work before we do. Usually, if the rights are non-exclusive,
the rights revert back to the author as soon as the piece is published.
Since we also want the exclusive right, no one else may publish it for six months.
If you sell/transfer your "First Rights" without further defining exactly which first rights,
you lose all first rights to your work. That means the work can be published worldwide, in any
format and in all languages first. You still retain all other rights, like anthology, electronic,
reprint etc.
| |
|
North American and International
| |
| |
North American Rights refer to the right to publish your work in all of North America (including
Canada).
Internationl Rights refer to the right to publish your work worldwide.
| |
|
Serial Rights
| |
| |
Serial Rights means that your work will be published in a periodical of some form, e.g.
newspaper or magazine. It doesn't give us (the publisher) the right to print it in an
anthology or put it up on the internet.
| |
|
Internet and Electronic Rights
| |
| |
Internet Rights gives us (the publisher) the right to publish your work on the Internet. Since
the Internet can not be divided into countries, there is no need to mention geographic locations. We also
buy/have assigned to us your Electronic Rights, which include publishing in files, on disks and CD Roms,
or in any other electronic form.
| |
|
Archival Rights
| |
| |
Archival Rights have become very important because of the internet. Again there has been
a lot of controversy recently concerning archiving of stories. Essentially, if a publication
archives your story indefinitely, you'll have trouble selling other rights to it to other publishers.
We buy/have assigned to us the Archival Rights for six months. So after six months your story will no longer be available
on the internet.
| |
|
Anthology Rights
| |
| |
|
If you choose to sell/transfer to us your Exclusive Anthology Rights, you give us the right to publish your story in
an anthology. A real, honest-to-God, book!!! Of course, when you do, you
can't sell your story to another publisher for an anthology. If we print it, you can only sell reprint rights and only
six months after publication. Usually, though, if we don't print it, we'll give you your rights back.
|
| |
|
Let us point out that at this time we are unable to pay a single dime for the publication of your work.
Which in no way influences your copyright or that we have to have you transfer certain rights
to us so that we may publish it. Money has nothing to do with copyright!!!
|
| |
Below are some useful links to read more on copyright and assignment of rights.
An article by Moira Allen on
Writing-World.com with a lot of easy to understand explanations and tips for writers
An article by Marg Gilks on
Writing-World.com
An article by Michael Landau
about Electronic Publishing and the controversies surrounding it.
An article on bambooweb dictionary explaining
all copyright, not just for writers. Very informative.
11 Myths about copyrighting.
US Copyright Office
|
| |
| |
Disclaimer:
Sorcery & Science Magazine and Jessica Taylor do not assume responsibility for information or content
of the linked sites. We provided links to these sites because they have information that may be of
interest to our users. Sorcery & Science Magazine and Jessica Taylor do not endorse any products
that may be advertised on the linked sites, nor do we assume responsibility for any damages
incurred through use of these sites. If you choose to leave this site via the links provided,
you do so at your own risk.
|
| |
Disclaimer:
Neither Sorcery & Science Magazine nor Jessica Taylor claim to have any legal expertise in the matter of
copyright. We do not assume responsibility for the accuracy and/or correctness of the
information contained on this site pertaining to copyright and assignment of rights.
|
| |
|
|
|
