Jodé Millman's Blog, page 12
August 9, 2018
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The Tweet that changed my life
Last year, I read “Year of Yes” by Shonda Rhimes. Yes, the “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Scandal” and “How to Commit Murder” Shonda Rhimes. Usually, I avoid memoirs and self-help books, but I’m addicted to Shondaland. Besides, she’s a self-made Hollywood icon and I was hoping for some dish on my favorites television characters. Despite Shonda’s fame and fortune, she described herself as being socially paralyzed. She felt like she was living in a vacuum, dividing her time between her kids and her demanding television schedule. When on Thanksgiving 2013, her sister Delores remarked “You never say yes to anything” those words really hit home. After decades of refusing social, speaking invitations and awards, Shonda decided for one year to say YES to experiences and opportunities that she’d previously shunned. During that year, Shonda bravely put herself out there –giving a TED Talk (https://youtu.be/gmj-azFbpkA), meeting new people, finding love, accepting honors and sharing a box at the Kennedy Center Awards with the Obamas. Shonda’s Year of Yes transformed her life. In contrast to Shonda, I’m not afraid of social experiences. For the past eight years, I’ve been researching, writing and revising my debut novel, The Midnight Call. It’s a crime thriller about a pregnant attorney who risks her life, love and career to help her mentor when he’s accused of murder. In 2014, I entered it into the Clue Awards presented by Chantireviews.com, it was short-listed for the Clue and received the First Place Blue Ribbon for Best Police Procedural. However, I was paralyzed by insecurity when it came to with sending my novel, my baby, out into the world of publishing. Just thinking about the submission process caused my stomach to clench. The fear of rejection held me back, and as writers know, we are in the business of rejection. Motivated by Shonda, I decided that 2018 was going to be my version of the Year of Yes. It was going to be the Year of the ASK. I decided to submit my award-winning manuscript to agents and small presses specializing in my genre, mystery and crime fiction. After all, if you don’t ASK, you can’t receive a YES. My journey began in January 2018, when I combed the Internet, Facebook, blogs, writing magazines, contact from writing seminars and conferences, and my professional organizations for the names of literary agents and small publishers that would accept a manuscript without it being submitted by an agent. The process was time consuming, but during the winter I submitted The Midnight Call to thirty-three publishers and thirty-six agents. You can guess what happened next. Many, many rejections. Some of publishers and agents didn’t even respond. I have to admit that I felt pretty beaten up by the time that March rolled around. I even considered putting the manuscript in a drawer, locking the drawer and throwing away the key. I’m a bit old-fashioned and while I can handle Facebook, Twitter was another matter. However, after scouring the blogsphere, I came across www.Pitchwars.org, organized by Brenda Drake. Four times a year, she runs “Twitter Pitch Parties” known as #PitMad where writers pitch their ideas to agents and publishers in 144 characters. After researching how to make a twitter pitch, on March 8th, I jumped in. By the way, there are two left in 2018, September 6 and December 8. My pitch was:
Jessie’s got it all going on. A great job at a law firm, a hunky fiancé and a baby on the way. Then, it all goes down the tubes when her mentor calls, admit he’s killed someone and asks for her help. What’s a girl to do?#PitMad#S#T#M#RS
The various sub-hashtags denote that I was submitting to agents and publishers interested in suspense, thriller, mystery, and romantic suspense. To my surprise, Beth Buck of Immortal Works Press “liked” my tweet. Immortal Works is a cool Salt Lake City publisher of mystery, fantasy and science fiction, so I followed the submission guidelines on their website, www.immortal-works.com, and sent off my thirty pages to Beth. I was optimistic, and hopeful, that this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship with Immortal Works. A few days later, I received a full manuscript request from one of their acquisition editors, James Wymore, who’s also the author of the best-selling Actuator series. Subsequently, James contacted me again and requested that I make a few minor revisions to make it more compatible with Immortal Works readership. This initial revision process made me realize that I didn’t need the blood, gore, curse words and sexual content contained in my story. In fact, those changes made the plot and the writing stronger. So, on May 21st I resubmitted The Midnight Call, as a “revise and resubmit” and held my breath. Within a few weeks, James King, the president of Immortal Works, offered me a contract. My heart stopped when I received the email and my head is still in the clouds. It’s hard to believe that my debut novel will be published in 2019 by Immortal Works. I’m presently engulfed in the self-editing. I feel like a sculptor chiseling away at a mountain of marble. During the next few months, after working with one of Immortal Works editors, the rough edges will be polished away and I’ll have my masterpiece. As I continue through this process, I’ll share my trials and tribulations, my highs and lows. There’s a massive amount to be learned along the road to publication. I’m a little more than halfway through my Year of the Ask, and each day moves me closer to fulfilling my dream of seeing The Midnight Call published. As you can see, one tweet really did change my life.
June 26, 2018
Right of Publicity: Naming Names In my last ar...
Right of Publicity: Naming Names
In my last article, I discussed Copyright basics. I’d like to reiterate that just as someone else must obtain permission from you to reproduce your work, you must similarly oblige. Let’s say that you have a scene where your heroine is serenading the hero on guitar with “Just The Way You Are” by either Bruno Mars or Billy Joel. In order for you to use any lyrics from that song in your novel, you must get permission from the copyright owner (Billy or Bruno) unless the material is in the public domain and not subject to copyright protection. This is true even if you give them attribution. Licensing music lyrics can be awfully expensive, so you’re better off naming the song title for free than paying them all of your royalties. The same rule applies to text or quotes. Generally, works published before 1923 are in the public domain, and the status of copyrights works between 1923 and 1964 can be searched at Stanford University’s Copyright Renewal database, https://exhibits.stanford.edu/copyrightrenewals. A complete copyright search can be performed at the Copyright Office, copyright.gov. What about using the names of people in your book? Suppose you’re writing a novel about your character’s elicit love affair with Elvis Presley or Jimi Hendrix or Elon Musk. Do you need their permission to name names? Interestingly, this is not a copyright issue. Rather, this question concerns two different rights – the right of privacy and the right of publicity. The right of publicity is a right that we all possess in the commercial use of our name, likeness or picture. If you want to produce mugs with the words “World’s greatest Author” beneath your photo, you or your licensees have the right to do so. Only you have the right to the commercialization of You for as long as you live. In the case of Elvis or Jimi, you have the right to use their names in your works because the dead do not possess the right of publicity under New York State’s Civil Rights Law. That’s my jurisdiction, but conversely, California treats someone’s likeness and image as a property right. Thirty years after John Lennon’s death, Yoko Ono was still suing a bar in Scotland themed after her husband. As you can see, it’s one of those funky laws that changes from state to state, so check our your laws before naming dead people in your novel. However, you would need their estate’s permission to put their photo on a mug or tee shirt or the cover of your book. Paula McLain is an example of an author who has written several bestsellers reimagining the lives of famous deceased women such as Hadley Hemingway, aviator Beryl Markham, and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn in “The Paris Wife”, “Circling the Sun”and “Love and Ruin,” respectively. No permissions were required since her subjects were not alive at the time of publication. However, in the case of Mr. Musk, or any living person who you intend to mention in your novel, it’s best to get permission to use his name. Recently, a friend asked me whether he could license a photograph he’d taken in the 1980’s of a now infamous entertainment mogul. The guy is still alive and kicking, so my answer was an unequivocal “No”. In order for my friend to sell his photo of Mr. W, he’d have to get Mr. W’s permission, and the odds of that are unlikely. Only, Mr. W can profit from his photo, likeness or name even though he is considered to be a public figure. The right of privacy is held to a different standard. While not specifically created by law, the Supreme Court has been interpreted the right to exist in order to prevent the government’s unwarranted intrusion in the issues of marriage and birth control. Anyone who has seen the wonderful movie, Loving, understands this point. However, the right of privacy is closely related to the First Amendment’s protection of the freedom of the press and the laws of defamation. If you base a fictional character on a real person, generally, the public disclosure of private facts is prohibited. So, if you’ve woven an intimate fact about Mr. Musk’s sexuality, family life or medical conditions into your manuscript, which are not a matter of public concern, watch out! You could be the next Star Man spinning around the planet. You are permitted by law to disclose only matters of public knowledge. And if in your novel, you include information about Mr. Musk, knowing that it is untrue and holds him up to ridicule, public contempt or disgrace, you may be subject to prosecution under the defamation laws. There are two types of defamation: a) Libel is the written act of injuring a living person’s reputation, and b) Slander is the spoken act of defamation. Public figures are held to proving a higher standard of injury as they must show that the statement was made with actual malice. In order for a plaintiff in a fiction-defamation lawsuit to win, they must prove that the publisher and author of a defamatory statement knew or should have known that the “fictionalized” character was objectively identifiable as the real person. In other words, the details of your character must be so closely aligned that someone who knows that person would have no difficulty linking the two together. So, if you want to want to base your fictionalized character on Mr. Musk, or any living public figure, do your homework and go big or go home. Merely changing the name is not enough. Make certain that if you’re getting real, that your character is so outrageously over-the-top that no one could possibly believe that your fictionalized character was intended to be factual. A great example of conflating fact with fiction is the bestseller “Primary Colors.” This was a thinly veiled novel depicting Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential run. Originally published by an anonymous author, the columnist Joe Klein was ultimately unmasked as the novelist. At the time, this proved to be an effective marketing strategy, but with today’s social media, this stunt wouldn’t stand a chance. It wouldn’t hurt to add a disclaimer, which although self-serving, may support the defense that the identification of the real person is unreasonable. It should appear on the reverse title page of your novel, or be skillfully integrated into either the introduction or preface of your book. Placing the subtitle “A Novel” also helps. Most important, if you truly have questions about a potential defamation case, contact your attorney. Taylor Swift has made a career out from writing masterful lyrics about old boyfriends without naming names. And we are all still trying to figure out whether Warren Beatty or Mick Jagger was described in Carly Simon’s “You’re so Vain.” Keeping your readers guessing is half of the fun of writing and with a bit of creativity, you can do it too without naming names.
Right of Publicity: Naming Names &...
Right of Publicity: Naming Names
In my last article, I discussed Copyright basics. I’d like to reiterate that just as someone else must obtain permission from you to reproduce your work, you must similarly oblige. Let’s say that you have a scene where your heroine is serenading the hero on guitar with “Just The Way You Are” by either Bruno Mars or Billy Joel. In order for you to use any lyrics from that song in your novel, you must get permission from the copyright owner (Billy or Bruno) unless the material is in the public domain and not subject to copyright protection. This is true even if you give them attribution. Licensing music lyrics can be awfully expensive, so you’re better off naming the song title for free than paying them all of your royalties. The same rule applies to text or quotes. Generally, works published before 1923 are in the public domain, and the status of copyrights works between 1923 and 1964 can be searched at Stanford University’s Copyright Renewal database, https://exhibits.stanford.edu/copyrightrenewals. A complete copyright search can be performed at the Copyright Office, copyright.gov. What about using the names of people in your book? Suppose you’re writing a novel about your character’s elicit love affair with Elvis Presley or Jimi Hendrix or Elon Musk. Do you need their permission to name names? Interestingly, this is not a copyright issue. Rather, this question concerns two different rights – the right of privacy and the right of publicity. The right of publicity is a right that we all possess in the commercial use of our name, likeness or picture. If you want to produce mugs with the words “World’s greatest Author” beneath your photo, you or your licensees have the right to do so. Only you have the right to the commercialization of You for as long as you live. In the case of Elvis or Jimi, you have the right to use their names in your works because the dead do not possess the right of publicity under New York State’s Civil Rights Law. That’s my jurisdiction, but conversely, California treats someone’s likeness and image as a property right. Thirty years after John Lennon’s death, Yoko Ono was still suing a bar in Scotland themed after her husband. As you can see, it’s one of those funky laws that changes from state to state, so check our your laws before naming dead people in your novel. However, you would need their estate’s permission to put their photo on a mug or tee shirt or the cover of your book. Paula McLain is an example of an author who has written several bestsellers reimagining the lives of famous deceased women such as Hadley Hemingway, aviator Beryl Markham, and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn in “The Paris Wife”, “Circling the Sun”and “Love and Ruin,” respectively. No permissions were required since her subjects were not alive at the time of publication. However, in the case of Mr. Musk, or any living person who you intend to mention in your novel, it’s best to get permission to use his name. Recently, a friend asked me whether he could license a photograph he’d taken in the 1980’s of a now infamous entertainment mogul. The guy is still alive and kicking, so my answer was an unequivocal “No”. In order for my friend to sell his photo of Mr. W, he’d have to get Mr. W’s permission, and the odds of that are unlikely. Only, Mr. W can profit from his photo, likeness or name even though he is considered to be a public figure. The right of privacy is held to a different standard. While not specifically created by law, the Supreme Court has been interpreted the right to exist in order to prevent the government’s unwarranted intrusion in the issues of marriage and birth control. Anyone who has seen the wonderful movie, Loving, understands this point. However, the right of privacy is closely related to the First Amendment’s protection of the freedom of the press and the laws of defamation. If you base a fictional character on a real person, generally, the public disclosure of private facts is prohibited. So, if you’ve woven an intimate fact about Mr. Musk’s sexuality, family life or medical conditions into your manuscript, which are not a matter of public concern, watch out! You could be the next Star Man spinning around the planet. You are permitted by law to disclose only matters of public knowledge. And if in your novel, you include information about Mr. Musk, knowing that it is untrue and holds him up to ridicule, public contempt or disgrace, you may be subject to prosecution under the defamation laws. There are two types of defamation: a) Libel is the written act of injuring a living person’s reputation, and b) Slander is the spoken act of defamation. Public figures are held to proving a higher standard of injury as they must show that the statement was made with actual malice. In order for a plaintiff in a fiction-defamation lawsuit to win, they must prove that the publisher and author of a defamatory statement knew or should have known that the “fictionalized” character was objectively identifiable as the real person. In other words, the details of your character must be so closely aligned that someone who knows that person would have no difficulty linking the two together. So, if you want to want to base your fictionalized character on Mr. Musk, or any living public figure, do your homework and go big or go home. Merely changing the name is not enough. Make certain that if you’re getting real, that your character is so outrageously over-the-top that no one could possibly believe that your fictionalized character was intended to be factual. A great example of conflating fact with fiction is the bestseller “Primary Colors.” This was a thinly veiled novel depicting Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential run. Originally published by an anonymous author, the columnist Joe Klein was ultimately unmasked as the novelist. At the time, this proved to be an effective marketing strategy, but with today’s social media, this stunt wouldn’t stand a chance. It wouldn’t hurt to add a disclaimer, which although self-serving, may support the defense that the identification of the real person is unreasonable. It should appear on the reverse title page of your novel, or be skillfully integrated into either the introduction or preface of your book. Placing the subtitle “A Novel” also helps. Most important, if you truly have questions about a potential defamation case, contact your attorney. Taylor Swift has made a career out from writing masterful lyrics about old boyfriends without naming names. And we are all still trying to figure out whether Warren Beatty or Mick Jagger was described in Carly Simon’s “You’re so Vain.” Keeping your readers guessing is half of the fun of writing and with a bit of creativity, you can do it too without naming names.
April 26, 2018
...
A Day in the City with Edgar
Yesterday was a great day. Not only for me, but for the Mystery Writers of America 2018 Edgar Award Nominees.
Yesterday was the 2018 Edgar Symposium, where the best First Edgar Nominees like Jordan Harper (She Rides Shotgun), Deborah E. Kennedy (Tornado Weather), Winnie M Li (Dark Chapter) and Melissa Scrivner Love (Lola) shared their stories and talents with us. From the tale of an 11 year-old girl on the run, the survival story of sexual assault victim, to a female gang LA leader, the audience of aspiring mystery writers was enthralled with their terrific characters and plots. Any one of these would make a great read for your book group or on the beach. I couldn’t stop laughing at Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and Tom Straw’s (The Richard Castlebooks) recollection about the groundbreaking writer William Link. Remember Columbo? Murder, She Wrote? Ellery Queen? These shows are oldies but goodies and you can still catch them on MeTv every once and a while.Ruppert and Tom had some great backstage stories about Link, who insisted that murder mysteries on television have no sex or car chases. Did you know that Bing Crosby was the first choice for Columbo? How about Jean Stapleton instead of Angela Lansbury on Murder? I particularly enjoyed the panel on secrets chaired by Mark Stevens (Lake of Fire). Hallie Ephron (You’ll Never Know Dear), Carol Goodman (The Widow’s House), Abir Mukherjee (A Rising Man) and Hannah Tinti (The Twelves Lives of Samuel Hawley). They explored the symbolism of dreams, water and even apples during their discussion. And how, like Hansel and Gretel, mystery writers sprinkle clues along the path, and it is up to the reader to figure out which are true clues or false ones. You’ll have to read their books to find out why their characters are keeping secrets. The winners of the 2018 Edgar awards will be announced tonight, and you can discover the winners tomorrow at theEdgars.com. It was a fun and exhausting day of networking with other mystery writers and it only served as inspiration for me to get back to work at my laptop.
Goodrich, Holmes & Straw
Stevens, Ephron, Goodman, Mukherjee & Tinti
Yesterday was a great day. Not only for me, but for the Mystery Writers of America 2018 Edgar Award Nominees.
Yesterday was the 2018 Edgar Symposium, where the best First Edgar Nominees like Jordan Harper (She Rides Shotgun), Deborah E. Kennedy (Tornado Weather), Winnie M Li (Dark Chapter) and Melissa Scrivner Love (Lola) shared their stories and talents with us. From the tale of an 11 year-old girl on the run, the survival story of sexual assault victim, to a female gang LA leader, the audience of aspiring mystery writers was enthralled with their terrific characters and plots. Any one of these would make a great read for your book group or on the beach. I couldn’t stop laughing at Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and Tom Straw’s (The Richard Castlebooks) recollection about the groundbreaking writer William Link. Remember Columbo? Murder, She Wrote? Ellery Queen? These shows are oldies but goodies and you can still catch them on MeTv every once and a while.Ruppert and Tom had some great backstage stories about Link, who insisted that murder mysteries on television have no sex or car chases. Did you know that Bing Crosby was the first choice for Columbo? How about Jean Stapleton instead of Angela Lansbury on Murder? I particularly enjoyed the panel on secrets chaired by Mark Stevens (Lake of Fire). Hallie Ephron (You’ll Never Know Dear), Carol Goodman (The Widow’s House), Abir Mukherjee (A Rising Man) and Hannah Tinti (The Twelves Lives of Samuel Hawley). They explored the symbolism of dreams, water and even apples during their discussion. And how, like Hansel and Gretel, mystery writers sprinkle clues along the path, and it is up to the reader to figure out which are true clues or false ones. You’ll have to read their books to find out why their characters are keeping secrets. The winners of the 2018 Edgar awards will be announced tonight, and you can discover the winners tomorrow at theEdgars.com. It was a fun and exhausting day of networking with other mystery writers and it only served as inspiration for me to get back to work at my laptop.
Goodrich, Holmes & Straw
Stevens, Ephron, Goodman, Mukherjee & Tinti&...
A Day in the City with Edgar
Yesterday was a great day. Not only for me, but for the Mystery Writers of America 2018 Edgar Award Nominees.
Yesterday was the 2018 Edgar Symposium, where the best First Edgar Nominees like Jordan Harper (She Rides Shotgun), Deborah E. Kennedy (Tornado Weather), Winnie M Li (Dark Chapter) and Melissa Scrivner Love (Lola) shared their stories and talents with us. From the tale of an 11 year-old girl on the run, the survival story of sexual assault victim, to a female gang LA leader, the audience of aspiring mystery writers was enthralled with their terrific characters and plots. Any one of these would make a great read for your book group or on the beach. I couldn’t stop laughing at Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and Tom Straw’s (The Richard Castlebooks) recollection about the groundbreaking writer William Link. Remember Columbo? Murder, She Wrote? Ellery Queen? These shows are oldies but goodies and you can still catch them on MeTv every once and a while.Ruppert and Tom had some great backstage stories about Link, who insisted that murder mysteries on television have no sex or car chases. Did you know that Bing Crosby was the first choice for Columbo? How about Jean Stapleton instead of Angela Lansbury on Murder? I particularly enjoyed the panel on secrets chaired by Mark Stevens (Lake of Fire). Hallie Ephron (You’ll Never Know Dear), Carol Goodman (The Widow’s House), Abir Mukherjee (A Rising Man) and Hannah Tinti (The Twelves Lives of Samuel Hawley). They explored the symbolism of dreams, water and even apples during their discussion. And how, like Hansel and Gretel, mystery writers sprinkle clues along the path, and it is up to the reader to figure out which are true clues or false ones. You’ll have to read their books to find out why their characters are keeping secrets. The winners of the 2018 Edgar awards will be announced tonight, and you can discover the winners tomorrow at theEdgars.com. It was a fun and exhausting day of networking with other mystery writers and it only served as inspiration for me to get back to work at my laptop.
Goodrich, Holmes & Straw
Stevens, Ephron, Goodman, Mukherjee & Tinti
Yesterday was a great day. Not only for me, but for the Mystery Writers of America 2018 Edgar Award Nominees.
Yesterday was the 2018 Edgar Symposium, where the best First Edgar Nominees like Jordan Harper (She Rides Shotgun), Deborah E. Kennedy (Tornado Weather), Winnie M Li (Dark Chapter) and Melissa Scrivner Love (Lola) shared their stories and talents with us. From the tale of an 11 year-old girl on the run, the survival story of sexual assault victim, to a female gang LA leader, the audience of aspiring mystery writers was enthralled with their terrific characters and plots. Any one of these would make a great read for your book group or on the beach. I couldn’t stop laughing at Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and Tom Straw’s (The Richard Castlebooks) recollection about the groundbreaking writer William Link. Remember Columbo? Murder, She Wrote? Ellery Queen? These shows are oldies but goodies and you can still catch them on MeTv every once and a while.Ruppert and Tom had some great backstage stories about Link, who insisted that murder mysteries on television have no sex or car chases. Did you know that Bing Crosby was the first choice for Columbo? How about Jean Stapleton instead of Angela Lansbury on Murder? I particularly enjoyed the panel on secrets chaired by Mark Stevens (Lake of Fire). Hallie Ephron (You’ll Never Know Dear), Carol Goodman (The Widow’s House), Abir Mukherjee (A Rising Man) and Hannah Tinti (The Twelves Lives of Samuel Hawley). They explored the symbolism of dreams, water and even apples during their discussion. And how, like Hansel and Gretel, mystery writers sprinkle clues along the path, and it is up to the reader to figure out which are true clues or false ones. You’ll have to read their books to find out why their characters are keeping secrets. The winners of the 2018 Edgar awards will be announced tonight, and you can discover the winners tomorrow at theEdgars.com. It was a fun and exhausting day of networking with other mystery writers and it only served as inspiration for me to get back to work at my laptop.
Goodrich, Holmes & Straw
Stevens, Ephron, Goodman, Mukherjee & TintiMarch 13, 2018
Copyright 101: Catching the Bug
Here's my article which was published this month in InSinC, the quarterly newsletter of "Sisters In Crime". I hope that you enjoy it and learn something along the way.
Copyright 101: Catching the Bug
What the heck is © and what does it mean?We see the symbol everywhere, on paintings, photographs, movie credit trailers, magazines, CDs, and even on the Rights pages of books. Well, that little copyright bug represents a powerful tool in the writer’s arsenal. This symbol protects you, you heirs and your work from theft and infringement, and signifies that you are the exclusive owner and author of the work. Thanks to visionaries like Mark Twain and James Fennimore Cooper, in 1909, the United States enacted the first Copyright Statute, which recognized the necessity that artist’s works be protected as their stock in trade. As the technological advances in the publishing, advertising, music and entertainments industry have blossomed, the law has been amended. The most radical revision occurred in 1976, which is the version that protects us today.What does the Copyright Law accomplish?The Copyright law protects a work, in our case a “Literary Work” (material contained within a book, periodical, manuscript, phono-record, film tape, disk or card), from the moment it is created. From the first letter you type on your computer, or the first syllable penned on the page, your work is protected from infringement. It makes no difference whether the work is published or unpublished, both are entitled to equal protection under the law. In fact, any derivation (abridgement, translation, etc.) of your work is protected as well. You, alone, as the owner of your copyright, are entitled to reproduce, display and distribute your work for the term of your life plus seventy years. Who does the law protect? If you are the original author and have not created a “work for hire,” you are an author entitled to protection under the law. This means that you have not created the work within the scope of your employment, or have not been commissioned for the work. Under those circumstances, the copyright belongs to your employer. Therefore, if you have been hired by a magazine to write an article, or by a publisher to write a series like Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys, the work does not belong to you and you are not entitled to file for copyright ownership.What exactly does the Copyright Law protect? This is perhaps the most confusing aspect of the law. The statute states that a “Literary work” is expressed in words, numbers or other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia. Huh? In plain English, the statute covers your words, your expression, and your creation as an author. It does not cover an “idea”. For example, Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is a story about star-crossed lovers. Numerous artists, including, Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”, and Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight”, E.L. James’s “Fifty Shades of Grey” have reinvented this “idea” behind the tragedy. Each author is entitled to individual copyright protection because they have reinterpreted this universal idea into their own words. Tony and Maria’s racially charged, gang related story set in New York City is different than the trope of warring medieval Italian families. So, in summary, your written words on the page are being protected, not the underlying idea. Generally, the law does not protect ideas, unless they are designs, inventions or processes, which are covered by the Patent Law. Similarly, titles, phrases and slogans are also not protected by the Copyright Law. Phrases like “With a name like Smuckers, it’s got to be good,” and “Good to the last drop” are protected by the Trademark Law, because they identify goods and services in the marketplace.Finally, the law does not provide protection for works in the “public domain”. These are works that are no longer subject to protection due to the expiration of their copyrights, or the failure to meet a requirement of the copyright law, allowing them to be used freely and without permission of the original copyright owner. Shockingly, Dostoyevksi’s “Crime and Punishment”, Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Kafka’s “Metamorphsis” and George Orwell’s “1984” all have lapsed copyrights and are available to published and reprinted without compensation to the writer’s estate. Entry into the public domain explains why you can pick up the great classics by Jane Austin, Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift for free on your Kindle and at Gutenberg.org.There is one exception where your work can be reproduced without infringement or compensation, and that is called the “Fair Use” exception. So long as your work is being used for educational, non-commercial purposes, the law does not consider the inclusion of your work in research, scholarship, news reporting, teaching and criticism, as being a copyright infringement.How is the work protected? It’s unnecessary to register, or deposit, your work with the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress in order to benefit from the protection of the law, however, there are several advantages to doing so. First, the date of your creation will be proof positive that you are the first in time to write your particular story. Second, if someone else writes or copies the identical story, this filing will help with the statutory enforcement of your rights and remedies against the infringer. Third, it’s really cool to have that Copyright Certificate of Registration hanging on your wall. It’s worth the thirty-five dollars invested in the filing fee to stake your claim on your brilliant work of art, and it’s easy to do online at www.copyright.gov. Be forewarned, there’s a backlog of filings, so you must be patient. It may take six to eighteen months to receive your certificate.Besides filing your work with Copyright office, you must indicate to the world that you are aware of your rights in your work. We have come full circle back to our little copyright bug, ©, which must appear on your work, preferably your title page. If your work is published, the correct way method of implementing the symbol is: © year author’s name, i.e.; © 2016 Jodé Susan Millman. If your work is unpublished, the correct for is Unpublished Work © 2016 Jodé Susan Millman. If you place this notice on your work, the world will be informed that you have protected yourself, and the notice can be used as evidence against any infringer.What are the remedies for infringement under the law? If someone uses your work without compensating you or without your permission, that act is in violation of your exclusive ownership rights under the Copyright Law. You will be entitled to an injunction, actual damages and loss of profits, the infringer’s profits, attorney’s fees, and statutory damages as permitted by the law. The infringer may also be subjected to punishment for criminal infringement if they used your work for commercial gain.This thumbnail sketch highlights the writer’s basic copyright protections available under the voluminous U.S. Copyright Statute, and the statute, filing information and additional references can be found at www.copyright.gov. The takeaway is that your precious literary masterpiece is protected from the moment of creation. Don’t be afraid to catch this © bug, it will immunize you, your work and your heirs from the literary pirates of the world.
Jodé Susan Millman is an attorney practicing in New York’s Hudson Valley. She is a member of the EASL Section of the NYS Bar Association and was a contributing editor to the Kaminstein Legislative History Projectanalyzing the Copyright Law of 1976. She is also the author of the theatre guide, SEATS: NEW YORK, published by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, and her first unpublished thriller novel, “The Midnight Call”, won Best Police Procedural from Chantireviews.com and was short-listed for the Clue Award in 2014.
Copyright 101: Catching the Bug
What the heck is © and what does it mean?We see the symbol everywhere, on paintings, photographs, movie credit trailers, magazines, CDs, and even on the Rights pages of books. Well, that little copyright bug represents a powerful tool in the writer’s arsenal. This symbol protects you, you heirs and your work from theft and infringement, and signifies that you are the exclusive owner and author of the work. Thanks to visionaries like Mark Twain and James Fennimore Cooper, in 1909, the United States enacted the first Copyright Statute, which recognized the necessity that artist’s works be protected as their stock in trade. As the technological advances in the publishing, advertising, music and entertainments industry have blossomed, the law has been amended. The most radical revision occurred in 1976, which is the version that protects us today.What does the Copyright Law accomplish?The Copyright law protects a work, in our case a “Literary Work” (material contained within a book, periodical, manuscript, phono-record, film tape, disk or card), from the moment it is created. From the first letter you type on your computer, or the first syllable penned on the page, your work is protected from infringement. It makes no difference whether the work is published or unpublished, both are entitled to equal protection under the law. In fact, any derivation (abridgement, translation, etc.) of your work is protected as well. You, alone, as the owner of your copyright, are entitled to reproduce, display and distribute your work for the term of your life plus seventy years. Who does the law protect? If you are the original author and have not created a “work for hire,” you are an author entitled to protection under the law. This means that you have not created the work within the scope of your employment, or have not been commissioned for the work. Under those circumstances, the copyright belongs to your employer. Therefore, if you have been hired by a magazine to write an article, or by a publisher to write a series like Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys, the work does not belong to you and you are not entitled to file for copyright ownership.What exactly does the Copyright Law protect? This is perhaps the most confusing aspect of the law. The statute states that a “Literary work” is expressed in words, numbers or other verbal or numerical symbols or indicia. Huh? In plain English, the statute covers your words, your expression, and your creation as an author. It does not cover an “idea”. For example, Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is a story about star-crossed lovers. Numerous artists, including, Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”, and Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight”, E.L. James’s “Fifty Shades of Grey” have reinvented this “idea” behind the tragedy. Each author is entitled to individual copyright protection because they have reinterpreted this universal idea into their own words. Tony and Maria’s racially charged, gang related story set in New York City is different than the trope of warring medieval Italian families. So, in summary, your written words on the page are being protected, not the underlying idea. Generally, the law does not protect ideas, unless they are designs, inventions or processes, which are covered by the Patent Law. Similarly, titles, phrases and slogans are also not protected by the Copyright Law. Phrases like “With a name like Smuckers, it’s got to be good,” and “Good to the last drop” are protected by the Trademark Law, because they identify goods and services in the marketplace.Finally, the law does not provide protection for works in the “public domain”. These are works that are no longer subject to protection due to the expiration of their copyrights, or the failure to meet a requirement of the copyright law, allowing them to be used freely and without permission of the original copyright owner. Shockingly, Dostoyevksi’s “Crime and Punishment”, Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Kafka’s “Metamorphsis” and George Orwell’s “1984” all have lapsed copyrights and are available to published and reprinted without compensation to the writer’s estate. Entry into the public domain explains why you can pick up the great classics by Jane Austin, Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift for free on your Kindle and at Gutenberg.org.There is one exception where your work can be reproduced without infringement or compensation, and that is called the “Fair Use” exception. So long as your work is being used for educational, non-commercial purposes, the law does not consider the inclusion of your work in research, scholarship, news reporting, teaching and criticism, as being a copyright infringement.How is the work protected? It’s unnecessary to register, or deposit, your work with the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress in order to benefit from the protection of the law, however, there are several advantages to doing so. First, the date of your creation will be proof positive that you are the first in time to write your particular story. Second, if someone else writes or copies the identical story, this filing will help with the statutory enforcement of your rights and remedies against the infringer. Third, it’s really cool to have that Copyright Certificate of Registration hanging on your wall. It’s worth the thirty-five dollars invested in the filing fee to stake your claim on your brilliant work of art, and it’s easy to do online at www.copyright.gov. Be forewarned, there’s a backlog of filings, so you must be patient. It may take six to eighteen months to receive your certificate.Besides filing your work with Copyright office, you must indicate to the world that you are aware of your rights in your work. We have come full circle back to our little copyright bug, ©, which must appear on your work, preferably your title page. If your work is published, the correct way method of implementing the symbol is: © year author’s name, i.e.; © 2016 Jodé Susan Millman. If your work is unpublished, the correct for is Unpublished Work © 2016 Jodé Susan Millman. If you place this notice on your work, the world will be informed that you have protected yourself, and the notice can be used as evidence against any infringer.What are the remedies for infringement under the law? If someone uses your work without compensating you or without your permission, that act is in violation of your exclusive ownership rights under the Copyright Law. You will be entitled to an injunction, actual damages and loss of profits, the infringer’s profits, attorney’s fees, and statutory damages as permitted by the law. The infringer may also be subjected to punishment for criminal infringement if they used your work for commercial gain.This thumbnail sketch highlights the writer’s basic copyright protections available under the voluminous U.S. Copyright Statute, and the statute, filing information and additional references can be found at www.copyright.gov. The takeaway is that your precious literary masterpiece is protected from the moment of creation. Don’t be afraid to catch this © bug, it will immunize you, your work and your heirs from the literary pirates of the world.
Jodé Susan Millman is an attorney practicing in New York’s Hudson Valley. She is a member of the EASL Section of the NYS Bar Association and was a contributing editor to the Kaminstein Legislative History Projectanalyzing the Copyright Law of 1976. She is also the author of the theatre guide, SEATS: NEW YORK, published by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, and her first unpublished thriller novel, “The Midnight Call”, won Best Police Procedural from Chantireviews.com and was short-listed for the Clue Award in 2014.
