The Write Way.

(this is part three of a three part series on freelance copyrights)

An email I received offering to save the soul of my work for cold cash was from one of hundreds of slightly off-center entrepreneurs trying to make a bunch of bucks from anything they can put into html code. Copyrighting your work is not hard to do.

Those nice guys on the ‘Net just wanted to help by filling out some copyright forms for me at a pretty high cost. If it’s worth it to you to save the few minutes it takes to register your copyrights, by all means, hire someone – in fact, I’d be pleased to take your cash.

Otherwise, read on to find out how easy it is to routinely register your writing.

Copyright tips

You might want to register your copyright on certain work:

• Registration establishes a public record of your authorship and the copyright claim.
• In the U.S. you can’t file an infringement suit until your copyright is registered.
• Register within five years of publication and that registration is acceptable in court as proof of your claim and of the facts stated in your certificate.
• You can register even after someone has stolen your work. Do it within three months after publication of the work or before an infringement and you may be able to collect additional damages and attorney fees in court.
• Registration allows the owner of the copyright to record the registration with the U. S. Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies. For additional information, request Publication No. 563 “How to Protect Your Intellectual Property Right,” from: U.S. Customs Service, P.O. Box 7404, Washington, D.C. 20044. This information is from the U.S. Customs Service Website at and the Copyright Office.

Final copyrighting tips

This basic information was borrowed from the Copyright Office. Because it is the creation of a U.S. Government entity, it cannot be protected by copyright and I am free to use it in part or in whole.

Register Your Copyright on Tangible Works

To register a work by U.S. Mail, send the following three elements in the same envelope or package to:

Library of Congress

Copyright Office

101 Independence Avenue, S.E.

Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

1. A properly completed application form.
2. A nonrefundable filing fee of $30 for each application.
3. A nonreturnable deposit (copy) of the work being registered.

The deposit requirements vary in particular situations:

• If the work was first published in the United States on or after January 1, 1978, two complete copies or phonorecords of the best edition.
• If the work was first published in the United States before January 1, 1978, two complete copies or phonorecords of the work as first published.
• If the work was first published outside the United States, one complete copy or phonorecord of the work as first published.

If sending multiple works, all applications, deposits, and fees should be sent in the same package. If possible, applications should be attached to the appropriate deposit. Whenever possible, number each package (e. g., 1 of 3, 2 of 4) to facilitate processing.

What happens if the three elements are not received together?

Applications and fees received without appropriate copies, phonorecords, or identifying material will not be processed and ordinarily will be returned. Unpublished deposits without applications or fees ordinarily will be returned. In most cases, published deposits received without applications and fees can be immediately transferred to the collections of the Library of Congress. This practice is in accordance with section 408 of the law, which provides that the published deposit required for the collections of the Library of Congress may be used for registration only if the deposit is “accompanied by the prescribed application and fee….”

After the deposit is received and transferred to another service unit of the Library for its collections or other disposition, it is no longer available to the Copyright Office. If you wish to register the work, you must deposit additional copies or phonorecords with your application and fee.

eCO online system – electronic copyright registration

File a copyright registration for your work through the Copyright Office online system. Advantages include:

• Lower filing fee of $35 for a basic claim (for online filings only)
• Fastest processing time
• Online status tracking
• Secure payment by credit or debit card, electronic check, or Copyright Office deposit account
• The ability to upload certain categories of deposits directly into eCO as electronic files

Registration with downloaded fill-In form CO

The next best option for registering basic claims is the new fill-in Form CO. Using 2-D barcode scanning technology, the Office can process these forms much faster and more efficiently than paper forms completed manually. Simply complete Form CO on your personal computer, print it out, and mail it along with a check or money order and your deposit. The fee for a basic registration on Form CO is $45.

Read Copyrights, part one

Read about copyrights, part 2

Who can own or claim rights to your freelance work?

(This is part 2 of a three-part series on copyrights for freelancers. Part 1 covers the basics.)

A variety of entities may be eligible to register or claim rights attached to protected material. The author – defined in regulations as “the person who originally created the work or, if the work was made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared” – comes first. Be sure you know how you are being contracted to produce an assigned work. Know what rights you retain after producing a piece for anybody.

Then, depending on what you, as author, decide to do with your work, and what agreements are made about the long list of rights that can be protected, others may have some claim. The copyright claimant is the author or someone to whom the author has transferred or otherwise bestowed rights. A writer needs legal advice if the work is significant – those publishing contracts are detailed, more than a little cloudy, and not to your benefit.

The owner of exclusive rights may claim a chunk. That may be a magazine publisher who contracts for First American Serial Rights of your article. They can register that piece of the rights, though the rest of the rights are reserved for you or someone else. This is where it gets murky. Have legal help on your side before you sign any contracts – it doesn’t cost much to have an attorney to read fine print; you’ll build a relationship to serve you well as your writing life gets more complex. You will learn a lot about choices.

The duly authorized agent working for the author, the claimant, or owners of rights may file a registration. That means your literary agent or lawyer can do the legwork for you, but there is no regulation compelling you to fire someone to do it.

Copyrights may be registered by letter via surface mail, by a downloaded form or electronically – part 3 of this series covers those issues.

Is copyright forever?

The most often misunderstood component of owning the rights to a created work is this one: How long does the copyright last?

Subquestion – what do you have to do to keep the sweat of your brow, the product of long hours slaving over a demon keyboard, from becoming public domain?

You’re going to love this answer – thanks to the change of copyright law in 1978, your work is yours for your entire lifetime, plus 70 years. Remember, that happens automatically from the moment you document the creation of your work. And registered or not, you may display the copyright symbol on your work. But you don’t have to.

If you do it, there’s protocol, just like when you fly the American flag and rules apply. The symbol is, of course, a letter “c” in a circle. You may also choose to use the notation “Copr.” Or even “Copyright.” But that little circled “c” is such a recognizable badge, and it feels so good to see it branding the fruits of your labor, that most writers use it. Whichever way you go, the notation should be reasonably visible and followed by the year of first publication, if applicable, plus the name of the entity that holds the rights. Like this:

© 2004 Jane Author What do copyright experts suggest?

Eugene R. Quinn, Jr, patent attorney and law professor and of-counsel to the firm Hiscock & Barclay, underlines the need to be reasonably concerned about ownership and control of your work. No need to get so paranoid that you display the copyright symbol on work you’re submitting to a magazine or newspaper publisher – they’ll just see you as an amateur.

But the writer’s path, as we all know, is long, and arduous with an assortment of pitfalls and tangles. The work isn’t easy. Rewards are inconsistent. Your rights are precious. Quinn says,

“As Internet usage grows, new legal questions associated with the technology continue to surface, as do certain bitter and painful business realities. The sad but simple truth is that digital communications and the digitization of information of all types make the infringement of intellectual property rights, particularly copyrights and trademarks, easier than ever before. For support of this statement one need look no farther than the myriad of examples of copyright piracy that are plaguing the Internet.”

This trend is not only affecting digital venues and electronic works, it’s escalating in other areas as a “bulletin board morality” creeps into our culture mentality. You only have to scan headlines to find instances of plagiarism and misappropriation of text – remember the case of Jayson Blair, eager young New York reporter who made a (short) career of stealing quotes, information and ideas from other work.

During the past 30 years, the copyright system has changed in your favor. It is easy and inexpensive to register your rights. In fact, doing it yourself should pose no problem. For everyday articles and snippets, or even a work-in-progress, recording evidence of its creation and existence is pretty simple, too, and should serve you well in general terms. Ask your legal adviser about details that may pertain to your particular needs, and keep your eyes and ears open to changes in the law.

If you’re interested in exact regulations and complications surrounding use of the diminutive circled “c”, check the Code of Federal Regulations (37 CFR Section 201.20), available on the Copyright Office Web site, or you may request a publication called Circular 3 from the same office.

They provide goodies like announcements affecting copyright, other circulars and application forms, and a newsgroup. You can write, via regular mail, to Library of Congress Copyright Office, Publications Section LM-455, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington D.C. 20559-6000. Phone number is (202) 707-3000.

Read Part 3 – How to register your copyrights

How do you secure the rights to your freelance work – written material you create?

An email from a vendor I have heretofore trusted flamed in uppercase declaration,

“Act NOW! Copyright your writings, your Web site, your very name. Thwart unscrupulous others bent on stealing your work for their nefarious purposes.”

That’s a fate freelance writers, artists and designers are concerned about. And the brilliance of the vendor’s scheme is – I can hire them to “copyright” my work for the low, low fee of $150 per copyright. Stiff on a freelancer’s budget. My experience as a writer, some paralegal training and research made me aware that I don’t have to plunk down my bucks to fully protect my work. Neither do you. Save those dollars to invest in your future.

This is part 1 of a multi-part look at copyright issues for freelancers.

You needn’t shell out a brass farthing to copyright writings or creations

It pays, especially in today’s blizzards of bogus, kinda bogus and really bogus email offers, to know the basics of copyright and how it does and does not apply to your work. What’s the cost? Anywhere from nothing to just under $50, depending on your personal goals and needs and the current U.S. Government fee. Here’s how it works.

Copyright is unalienable right if you author a work that exists in tangible form, according to the U.S. Government Copyright office. The right is linked to the U.S Constitution,and applies to published and unpublished works. You can’t copyright an idea, or an intent, your hopes for the future, or anything written by the U.S. Government (anything authored by the government is public domain in the U.S.)

But literary works, musical works, dramatic works, pantomimes and choreographic works, pictorial, graphic and sculptural works, motion pictures and audiovisual works, sound recordings and architectural works, qualify. You can, the government notes, consider these categories quite broadly – seeing computer programs as literary works and maps or plans or blueprints as graphics. Web sites might qualify if everything you put on the site came from your creation, not from a template or borrowed code, scripts or graphics.

Is there a catch? What can’t be copyrighted?

The snippets of dialog floating through your head as you showered this morning can’t be. The outline of your next novel or an email describing what you might write next week probably can’t. But rest assured, the government sees any completed, tangible creation you author copyrightable, if it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord and you can prove you created it. Again, the definitions of copy and phonorecord are very broad. Proving you created it is simply, in many cases, a matter of committing the work to paper or a computer file and securing proof of a date.

How do you secure copyrights?

Easy to do. If written on paper, take the document to the post office, buy a postage stamp for it and ask them to cancel the stamp on the document. Irrefutable proof that it at least existed on that date. Or mail the writing to yourself, label the envelope with title and details, and file it, unopened when your mail carrier delivers it to you. If the creation exists on a computer file, the software will date the original file the day you create it, and it will record each date that you alter it. Permanently copy the file, including date detail, to a CD, floppy, or DVD. Experts agree that will likely prove existence. Use your imagination.

The beauty of the whole system is that your work, your creations, are copyrighted, legally and forever more, on the day you commit them to a copy or a phonorecord. If it’s that simple, where do fees come in? Why do you need the government at all and what are you missing? The plain answer is you can register your copyright with the Government Copyright Office for under $50 if you choose to. Most publishers do – recording companies, magazines and so forth, because registration creates a public record of your rights, and you can specify which rights you are claiming.

The complicated answer is, as your legal expert will tell you, if someone steals your work and you want to pursue her in court know this: Date proof may be enough ammunition to warn off a would be interloper with a strong letter, but the rules say you can’t defend an unregistered copyright in court. The really slick component of this copyright situation is that you can register your rights at anytime during the life of the copyright. (Some lawyers hold that you can register your copyright after you are aware of an infringement.) Registration is done by mail, by downloaded form or electronically.

In days gone by, you could register an unpublished work but if it became published later on, you would have to re-register it. Now, one shot does it, though you can register a second time after publication if you choose to (which your publisher will do, if you have one, to protect their corporate rights).

Read part 2 of this series

Read part 3 of this series

Susan Hassett, tile installer and writer, is suing Elisabeth Hasselbeck, reality TV has-been and co-whatever of ABC’s The View. The battle is over Hassett claiming Hasselbeck’s alleged ghost writer allegedly purloined Hassett’s words verbatim out of a self published (by Hassett) book on Celiac’s disease.

Confusing? You can read more about the argument and the tactics being used at WomenDayByDay, an awesome website dear to my heart. We’ve looked at copyrights and at plagiarism in this blog because both topics relate strongly and frequently to writers’ work.

The claim in the Hasselbeck-Hasset fray is that Hasselbeck’s side received, read, and copied from Hassett’s book, which was self-published about a year ago. Hassett says she sent a copy of the book to Hasselbeck and claims to have a postal receipt confirming Hasselbecks’ receipt of the book.

Now, here’s the interesting piece. In my research on copyrights, I was told by more than one attorney that a non-registered copyright is nearly impossible to defend. The U.S. government copyright site says the same thing. It does say writers may register a copyright at anytime, including at the onset of or during a court process. So, will Hasselbeck prevail because she has more resources to fight with and more attorneys available to her ? Will Hassett take precedence because she was wise enough to register her rights (if she was!), her case is solid, and the little guy needs to win once in a while?

What do you think?

Writers used to use 3×5 cards and colored tabs to keep organized and focused and to keep their data in order. Computers make the organizing your writing neater and easier. To tame a large project, a writer needs to break the big project into small tasks. Submissions go more smoothly, tracking is easier and book projects stay controlled. Here are ten no-fail ways to tame the lion of disorganization as you write and sell your writing.

1. Use Outlook Tasks to set up projects with a follow up date and an assigned completion date. You can track progress with the completion meter. Outlook is not the perfect tool and it has its limitations, but working with it for a while, you’ll train yourself to respond to cues of due dates, follow up dates and so forth. If you need to collaborate with another writer or someone else, Outlook allows you to assign a task and deadline to that person, email it to them and then follow-up. Once you have those tracking skills down, you might consider purchasing a writers’ database program.
2. If you write from a home office, shut off the phone, ignore your doorbell and don’t surf the web unless you’re doing specific research.
3. Take the TV out of your office. No kidding – you can zone off and watch an hour of The View or half an hour of Jeopardy before you catch yourself. That was a few hundred words you might have written.
4. The rule is you can’t leave your desk until you finish today’s task(s). The exception is, take measured breaks for lunch, bathroom, stretching or a walk, just as you would in a company setting, because it makes you work smarter.
5. Motivation – from one who has worked freelance for two decades, making a terrific living. If you don’t meet your deadlines, you will see your stream of work dry up. Editors talk. Word gets around. Sloppy writer habits multiply and become infectious. Additionally, if you like what you do, you’ll probably take a strong sense of ownership in the the quality of your work. It represents you. If you don’t enjoy the work – it isn’t right for you.
6. Don’t use writers’ block as an excuse for laziness – an excuse for goofing off. Having trouble focusing? Set small rewards. If you finish writing the next 700 words by 11:00 a.m., run out to the coffee drive-through and get something really gourmet. If you get through a section of proofing in half an hour, you can play 15 minutes on Dsi or Wii.
7. Keep healthy munchies and ice cold water right next to you so you don’t start feeling sleepy and sluggish. Eat good little meals, frequently, away from your writing work.
8. Do something active right after work each day and you’ll be better able to focus on writing on the next day.
9. Set realistic, measurable goals, and refuse not to meet them. However, be practical and willing to reevaluate writing goals that are not attainable. .
10. If working on an overwhelming project, leave yourself enough time in the writing project proposal to step away from it time to time and tackle something you really love to write.

Even if you don’t adopt all these writer rules, pick up a few of the habits successful writers rely on and your writing career will swing in a new, positive, productive direction.