Hot answers tagged copyright
16
First off, "grok" is not copyrighted; you can't copyright individual words, even made-up ones. Therefore fair use (a defense against an infringement claim) does not apply. That doesn't mean it's impermissible, in fact it almost certainly is fine.
It's also not trademarked, as it is not being used by the Heinlein estate to identify a product or service. And ...
13
Use of trademarked names in fiction does not violate intellectual property laws. There are a couple of things to be wary of nonetheless.
Be careful with the light in which you depict real businesses. As explained here, if you have a character die from a bad hamburger at Burger King or hurt himself because of a defective pair of Reeboks, then prepare for a ...
11
IANAL disclaimer but generally character names themselves cannot be copyrighted. They may be trademarked but only if the literary work/movie/or a related product were named after the character. So, trademark would only come into play for secondary characters in widely merchandised works. In theory you'd be completely safe as long as your characters ...
9
In answer to the first question, you need to keep in mind that each book has different terms that are negotiated between the writer and the publisher. In some cases, the publisher will purchase first print rights or first US print rights. This means that they have the right to publish the works before anyone else. Generally, once this has happened, there is ...
9
The closest fit would be Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike". That will allow translations (and expansions, clarifications, electronic versions and so forth) but prevent commercial distribution of the original or any derived version.
9
I Am Not A Lawyer
But in the United States, according to the U.S. Copyright Office, copyright protection is not available for "names, titles or short phrases" Source (PDF).
But there are a few things you should take note of if you're concerned about accidentally using the same title as another work. For one, brand names, slogans and phrases can be ...
8
Technically you cannot copyright a plot. However, you can copyright a particular instance of that plot as long as it is not based on an older work in the public domain.
In your Harry Potter example if every chapter had exactly the same incidents and more or less the same dialogue with slightly altered character names you would probably lose in court trying ...
8
If you want to obtain the copyright for any artwork, you must put it in writing. Otherwise, the artist will retain copyright, while you will merely have a license to use the artwork in the book for which they were created, and the artist may bar you from using the artwork in other books, or even other editions of the same book.
Your contract should ...
7
Kindall tackled the legal aspect. As for reception/perception considerations, here's the rule of thumb I'd use:
If you're using the same word in the same way for the same thing, and your story is about that thing (or concept, or whatever) - you're crossing the line. That's like saying "I'm writing a story about the same Smeerps Albert J. Jones wrote about," ...
6
In response to your specific question, I would say that ghostwriting is NOT illegal. However, I would say that it IS unethical, unfair, cheating, and a violation of academic policies. We had a discussion on this topic on the meta site a short while back after someone had asked about how to lower his writing standards to make it seem more like he was a ...
5
It's going to be difficult to give an absolute answer to any legal question since laws and their interpretation vary widely by jurisdiction. Also, IANAL.
But, in general terms - are you looking for a way to see it as illegal to sell the papers? I can see buying (and using) the essays being seen as fraud, as well as being against academic honesty policies, ...
5
In fiction writing, it is common place to use real life businesses and location. It's also becoming common place to include a section in books that tells the reader who owns the trademark to those businesses. If you don't acknowledge trademarks, you can open yourself to lawsuits from businesses who are trying to protect their trademarks. If a business ...
5
Define what you mean with "safe".
If you invented them and publish them, then no-one can use them, if your creatures are specific enough to be recognized as your creation. I.e if you created a vampire, which looks like the standard vampire around the corner, then there is nothing worth to be intellectual protected here. If you create a vampire which carries ...
5
Usually a wiki is used for collaboration. Is that really what you're looking for, or are you thinking about creating an online reference?
If you're seeking collaboration, then yes that will impact copyrights.
If you want to create an online reference for yourself and your readers/fans/friends then I would suggest using a blog engine, rather than a wiki. So ...
5
Yes, this is violating copyright. You're essentially copying their book. And I'm guessing that you're doing it for financial gain, which makes it even worse.
Check the inside of their book for the copyright blurb. I bet there's something about 'no reproducing, in whole or in part, without permission'. Your website would be reproducing without ...
5
Generally no, you do not need permission from the patent holder to use text from their patent application. "Subject to limited exceptions reflected in 37 CFR 1.71(d) & (e) and 1.84(s) , the text and drawings of a patent are typically not subject to copyright restrictions." The exception referenced within deals with patent apps which themselves contain ...
5
You'll need to contact the original author and/or their publisher. Either one will direct you to the correct person to deal with - there's no blanket rule over who has which rights, so you'll need to check who's got translation rights in your specific case, and whether that person is willing to let you translate the material "officially."
Your case is even ...
5
Since the book you are translating was not written in the United States, it would be subject to the terms of the Berne Convention, which essentially is an International treaty concerning copyrights. In the simplest of terms, the countries that have signed this treaty basically agree that a copyright is intact until 70 years after the death of the original ...
5
While I am not a lawyer, if you purchase a physical CD (bit of a rarity these days, I know) and look at the booklet which has the liner notes, you should see copyright notices for each song. If lyrics have been provided, the notice will be at the end of each set of lyrics. (KISS used to copyright theirs under an entity called "Opporknockity Tunes," which ...
5
Yes. The lyrics are covered by copyright and you need permission to reproduce them. I think at least some of the "lyrics search engines" on the web pay their dues to the copyright holders (Wikipedia says: Lyrics licenses could be obtained in North America through one of the two aggregators; Gracenote Inc. and LyricFind.)
Translations are also covered by ...
5
Usual disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. Please do not construe this as legal advice. Etc.
But my understanding from my research and past experience is this. Oh, another disclaimer: I'm an American so my experience is with U.S. copyright law, but I think most of this is pretty much the same in all countries because copyright is controlled by a couple of big ...
5
Short answer: No. You are supposed to register only the "best edition" with the copyright office. They have a long list of criteria for what constitutes the best edition, but it's things like a hard cover takes precedence over a paperback. See http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ07b.pdf
5
DISCLAIMER: I am not a legal professional. The advice provided in this answer is not exhaustive and should not be considered complete.
This information is worth exactly what you paid for it - nothing. If
you want to do your own research, you may use this answer as a
starting place, along with other research tools (search engines,
etc.). If you are ...
4
CAVEAT: I am not a lawyer.
At the level you're describing, yes, this is copyright infringement.
Basically, if it's easy to demonstrate that your work is "substantially similar" to another piece, to which you had access, then infringement can be proved. Working with similar themes, plot elements, and tropes generally doesn't constitute such extreme ...
4
First: Here are no lawyers around, sorry.
Second: You could use a non-copyrighted. (More info)
Third: Why don't you just ask the copyright owner?
4
It depends significantly on what terms the work was published under. It is fairly common for different publishers to be listed for the same book in different markets; a common split is one publisher for US versions of the work, and another publisher for the UK version. Updated versions of the book may also be published differently than the original edition.
...
4
There ARE authors who don't want their work translated because they can't approve the work, or because they feel that the word choices of the translator wouldn't match the artistry of the original prose.
But there are also authors who have already sold the rights for translated works to their original publishers, and therefore cannot license someone else to ...
4
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is a complicated area of law, but I'll give you the 30,000 foot view to get you started.
By default (at least, under U.S. law), each co-author owns an equal interest in the work's copyright. This is irrespective of how much (or how little) each co-author contributed to the work. So, absent of any agreement, if there are ...
4
In principle, the author is copyright holder of a work, but this principle is often deviated from. When the work is commissioned by another party, some countries automatically transfer copyright, some leave it with the author. Some countries do not even allow copyright to be transfered voluntarily. International treaties such as the Berne Convention and the ...
3
Here's how it shook out with regard to my own project.
My illustrator wanted to retain the copyright, and grant me a limited-use license in conjunction with my creative work. When pressed, she gave me a second, higher price for relinquishing the copyright. I took the first option.
Here is the language we settled on:
The Artist grants the Client ...
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