copyright / comments

To find out about copyrigt truthfully, you'd need to consult a copyright lawyer. I'm not one of those. (I'm not a lawyer of any description.) But here are a couple of suggestions. Copyright laws in Britain and America differ significantly. It's worthwhile researching those differences, if only for your personal information. As far as I know, and I'm speaking from my experience, in Britain, creative writing is copyrighted by submitting it to: The Agent for Copyright Libraries 100 Euston Street NW1 2HQ And not, as far as I know, by posting it on abctales.com My webpage is at: http://www.bookscape.co.uk

Oh, I thought a writer automatically owned the copyright to their work merely by producing it. The only trouble being, that to prove a case of plagarism, the writer would have to be able to prove that their work was produced first. In which case, having material dated and published on-line would be a benefit, imo. I may well be wrong, but that is how I've always understood it. The only material I've submitted to the Copyright Libraries, has been the five copies of a self-published book with an ISBN - the legal requirement for anything printed and distributed to the public. There is, as yet, no statutory requirement to deposit non-print/electronic publications. I always assumed this process was more to do with holding a national archive than protecting authors. ~ www.fabulousmother.com

I think that this is the point at which professional advice is required. I understand that Americans own their copyrights by dint of merely typing work. My vague understanding is that: British authors have no such luck, and that extra effort is required to seek and establish a copyright where one is required. That's my vague understanding. My webpage is at: http://www.bookscape.co.uk

from: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/copy.htm Automatic protection There is no official registration system for copyright in the United Kingdom (UK) and most other parts of the world. There are no forms to fill in and no fees to pay to get copyright protection. So long as you have created a work that qualifies for copyright protection, that is it falls into one of the categories of material protected by copyright, you will have copyright protection without having to do anything to establish this. It is a requirement of various international conventions on copyright that copyright should be automatic with no need to register. To help protect your copyright work, it is advisable to mark it with the © symbol, the name of the copyright owner and the year of publication. Although this is not essential, it will let others know when the term of protection started and hence whether it is still covered by copyright, and indicate who to approach should they need to ask permission to use the work. I believe the traditional approach, if you're worried, is to mail yourself a copy of your work by recorded delivery (and then not open the envelope).