Copyright Misconceptions

The Writing Forge

Lawyer, author, and publisher Thea Rademacher, of Flint Hills Publishing, joins Bonnie and Miranda to talk about common copyright misconceptions writers have as well as ways to protect and strengthen your copyright.

Tips and Tricks:

• As soon as you’ve written something original, you own the copyright to it. Copyright law, under the umbrella of intellectual property law, protects the intangible asset of your writing.
• Make sure to provide for your writing in your will. Can your heirs publish your unpublished works? Who gets the royalties for published books? Etc.
• Three best practices for strengthening your copyright:
• Register it with the US Copyright Office—perhaps not on your very first rough draft, but once you have a respectable draft that you’re ready to pitch to agents and publishers if you’re traditional publishing.
• For self-publishing, buy your own ISBN instead of using Amazon’s free one.
• Apply for a Library of Congress control number
• Tech solutions to help protect your copyright
• Bowker’s CopyrightsLock service (though it might be overkill for most authors)
• The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act) of 2020 provides new options for authors
• Check out Thea’s book, Authors Beware: Arm Yourself With Knowledge to Avoid Legal Pitfalls! for a ton more information about common legal issues writers run into.
• Always consult an actual lawyer before making legal decisions!

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Cover art by Maggie Walker