Meryl K. Evans, who blogs at Meryl.net pointed at an article (fist link below) in one of her tweets today.
Experienced writers in the U.S. have a pretty good sense of what’s copyrightable and what’s not. Newer writers need good information and all of us can benefit from a review and a looking at some of the newer forms of copyright:
- Holly Jahangiri blogs about copyright and her experience with people violating hers in an article called Copyright Essentials for Writers. Her definitions (scroll down) are truly helpful. It all applies to U.S. law.
When I look at the stats for this blog, I’m impressed to discover I’m getting visitors from 125 countries! The largest proportion are, not surprisingly, from the U.S. Which means I’ve got readers dealing with copyright law all over the place. Sorting out the similarities and differences is a nightmare.
- The best overview of copyright around the world I’ve found is Copyright on Wikapedia. Yeah, I’m aware Wikapedia isn’t considered a truly authoritative source. I was also please to see that the editors there have asked for additional information, so problem areas are pointed out. It is, I think, a good place to start if you want either history about copyright or pointers to copyright law around the world.
- Creative Commons is a form of copyright (sometimes known as copyleft) created to give copyright holders more options than the typical copyright. With a Creative Commons license you have more options about how your work is used. It has expanded to include licensing in various countries including Canada and the UK.
- Copyrights and Wrongs for Freelance Writers is an article on this site where I also tried to take an international view – some good links to more info there.
Do you have a favorite resource for copyright info?
Write well and often,
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
You could always go to the official U.S. source–the Web site for the U.S. Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/
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