PANIC AT THE: COPYRIGHT!

The IPO say: 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 ... who to approach should they need to ask permission to use the work. I dream of the day someone will consider one of my stories worth stealing.

"Have just read something in a writing magazine advising me to put a copyright on every piece of work I post on the web, to cover myself. Have never done this, assumed it was automatic." It is automatic. I would advise you to definitely not put a copyright symbol on your poems if you're planning to send them to reputable small press magazine for publication. If we (at Brittle Star) have stuff in our 'maybe' pile, any suggestion that someone is the kind of writer who spends a lot of time worrying that their work is going to be stolen gives their work a big push in the direction of the 'no' pile. The reason being that - from an editor's point of view - you expect these to be the writers who will look up your number and ring you several times a week to check if you've decided whether you want their poem and who may also come round your house if they don't get the answer they want. Dan's quote is entirely correct but it's most relevant in instances when the details listed are not conveyed in some other way.

Interesting perspective. Thinking about it, the reason I've never put a (c) notice on anything (so far as I can recall) is mainly fear of looking like a twat.

That too.

I've been coptyrighting my work ever since I started putting my work on the internet simply because I was advised to by a friend, I've been doing it so long now that it's become a habit and has nothing to do with vanity or being pushy, at least with me. If I'm subbing to a magazine ie Reach/ Dawntreader et al they usually tell you in their blurb whether or not to do it . Usually it's not, so I don't and I certainly wouldn't do it if I was submitting work to a publisher. If people really think I'm being a... what was that word? oh yes a twat! then I think I'd beter stop, although I am a female I would certainly not like to be thought of in those terms. Val

I've always heard that for submissions it's a no-no and for anything else... pretty pointless. It's being able to prove the date that counts. Personally, I take a photo of myself with my manuscript in one hand and the morning's newspaper in the other. I've never been ripped off yet, so it must work. ~ www.fabulousmother.co.uk

By posting the work on ABCtales you are automatically claiming copyright. You grant us the right to publish it on the site - but you retain the copyright to the original. Once posted you have dated and timed it and it is yours - you could use posting on ABC as proof of your ownership of the material if it ever came to that. You really don't need to put the little 'c' in a circle on it!