I've sent for a copyright on my hero-adventure picture book and have received my canceled check for the $30 fee. I know I have to wait perhaps six more months for the actual certificate. Is it safe to submit my manuscript to pubishers this early, or should I wait for the certificate to have in my hand when I approach the publishers?

It's not even necessary to have applied for the certificate before approaching publishers. Go ahead.

Scroll down to Copyright Protection.

http://www.geocities.com/iampaulnew/tips.html

Paul New

http://www.geocities.com/iampaulnew/index.html

Frankly, I am very skeptical of the claim on your website that sending yourself an e-mail has been used in two court cases to prove copyright. Everything about an e-mail can be spoofed, and it's not that hard to do. If you have references to specific cases, I would be very interested.

More importantly, though, is that newbie writers tend to exhibit an inordinate degree of paranoia about someone stealing their idea. Okay, yes, sometimes that happens. It is, however, extremely rare. If you deal with reputable publishers, they will be much too busy publishing to bother stealing your ideas. If you deal with disreputable publishers, they will have 100 other, easier, ways to part you from your money than stealing your ideas.

If you spend your time researching publishers so that you know who you're submitting your book to then you won't have to worry about spending time trying to protect yourself from them. If you're really worried, give a copy to someone you know (probably should not be a family member) and ask them to critique it. The critique can only help you to be a better writer (if you listen instead of getting defensive) and then that person will be able to testify that you they got it from you on thus and such a date. That'll be a lot better than some easily-hacked e-mail.

The original thread. You are welcome to read and or comment. I am merely trying to give more information to the person who posted here. In either case, they should do what is needed to protect their work.

http://www.lulu.com/forums/viewtopic.ph ... a246e7f115

Paul New

http://www.geocities.com/iampaulnew/index.html

From what I understand, you can put your story or drawing in an envelope and mail it to yourself so it has the date stamp on it. Then don't open it. If you ever have to fight it, I've heard that will stand up in court. Don't take that as the absolute truth because I don't know a lot about copywrite law, but it is an interesting idea, and cheaper than actually filing for copywrite.

Any thoughts from people who actually knows more than me about copywrite law?

Your work is copywritten when you write it, with or without the formal registration.

I posted this on another thread, but I think most of it applies here too:

I'd also add that you should research your markets very well. Most do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. I would be suspicious of any that did -- why should I pay to mail my 100 pages of printouts to someone if I don't even know whether or not they'd be interested? The most common procedure is to query, sometimes with a synopsis, then they ask to see chapters or the whole manuscript. (Added: which is your proof that they asked to see it.)

Also, keep in mind that the people reading these manuscripts are employees trading an honest week's work for an honest week's pay. The majority of them are not going to steal a manuscript because it does them no good. The author only costs a publishing company 10% or so in royalities -- that's all they'd save by stealing a manuscript, and in doing so would risk an expensive lawsuit. Saving that 10% might make the company or the stockholders a little extra money but it isn't going to do one darn thing for the editor reading it. That editor would have much more success discovering the next big writer than to steal a manuscript.

And I can't see how an editor stealing it and claiming it as their own would make much sense. They know that publishers and agents will have questions, ask for rewrites, and if all goes well, ask for a second novel. If that editor did not write the manuscript themselves, they would be caught during any one of these instances.

So the editor might steal your idea and give it to another writer or use it himself. In that case, there is nothing you can do because you cannot copyright an idea. And one thing you will learn early in the writing process is that there are no new ideas. Everything has been done. Everything. No matter how original we all think our work is, it is just a variation on something that has been done 100 times before.

Please see my previous post. I was under the same assumption but someone at Lulu corrected me. I was pretty shocked to learn the envelope deal would not hold up.

Paul New

If you're really that worried, register your copyright. It only costs $30. Sending yourself mail, or an e-mail, to try to protect yourself is, frankly, just silly. Neither method is a guarantee of anything. If your work is worth enough to worry about then it ought to be worth $30.

I have a question for you all that is along the same vein. I am working on a series of children's picture books, which I also illustrate. Is it important to copywrite the illustrations before I send them to a publisher or should I just go ahead and send the work? Thanks for any help you can give me. I haven't sent my first one to anyone yet because I'm struggling with whether or not I want to copywrite the drawings first.

You own the copyrights to the works that you create as soon as you create them and put them into a tangible form. Registering your copyright is merely a paperwork process whereby you identify the work as being your's and... well, register it with the government. But you own the copyrights even if you don't register them.

Here's a link to some fairly good information about copyright. Be aware that this website is owned by a law firm that would like to sell you their services for registering your copyright, so they tend to over-emphasize the importance of all the things that a lawyer might do for you.

http://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_ ... right_law/

I hear someone is suing Disney for stealing the Nemo story.

Zubbycat, when I filled out the TX form, it asked if my work is text + illustrations. I checked that one, as mine is a story told mainly through my original pictures, with some comic-book style speech balloons, and some explanation. So, I'm sure the copyright covers your artwork, as well. Also, want to say I used to be Skylynx on the forum here; but when I had to download windows XP again, I had to change my name to Tirzamax...in case anybody wonders. It has done wonders for me to have the great knowledge pool here at the forum. Keeps me going, too.

Automaticly your work is copyrighted but you can't formaly sue somebody for infringement until you get registered. In my mind I would just pay the $35 plus postage= $40. Don't forget if the ms is is good one and someone steals it you would be losing thousands or if it becomes a best seller hundereds of thousands.

http://www.copyright.gov

_________________
Jay Polansky, Young Writer
http://www.jaypolansky.com/

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
Carl W. Buechner