Archive for the ‘ Copyright ’ Category


Answering Questions About Copyright

I love my readers. Not because they buy my books. I like that. I love my readers because they ask interesting questions. I read your emails, sit back and give an audible hmmmm. Your questions challenge me to take… Read the rest

Submission Releases Find Their Way into Book World

Suppose you are about to submit a query and sample chapters to an agent. A pop-up window appears requiring you to agree to a bunch of legalese including the following: I will not assert against Agent any claim based upon Read the rest

Join Me Today at the Non-Fiction Writers Online Conference

Today, at 5 PM Eastern Time (2 PM Pacific), I’ll be giving a presentation called Protecting Your Rights and Your Wallet. I’ll discuss copyrights and how to protect them from ‘theft by contract.’ My goal is help writers spot overreaching… Read the rest

Have the Courts Given Google a License to Steal From Authors?

If I were to scan Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, post 16% of it on my website to attract visitors, and then sell advertising at prices justified by the number of visitors, I would be infringing on Hannah’s copyright. I… Read the rest

The Problem of Orphan Works

Last week, I had lunch with a writer who is deep into revising her memoir. She showed me a stack of photos from her years in summer stock theater and Off-Off-Broadway plays. She told me how important they were to… Read the rest

Step-by-Step Guide to Dealing With Content Theft

Content theft is big business, whether it’s illegally downloading movies or reposting blog posts without attribution. Every month Google receives more than 30 million requests to remove search results that link to allegedly infringing material. Thirty million a month! Sooner… Read the rest

How to Handle Unauthorized Use of Your Blog Content

If you are putting blog content on the internet, then at some point you will have to decide whether to lock up your content and give it away. Some bloggers protect all their work. They post a copyright notice on… Read the rest

Sources of Public Domain Lyrics

My recent post on Joel Friedlander’s TheBookDesigner.com about getting permission to use lyrics has been a big hit. But a few writers have asked me for sources of public domain lyrics. I have a list below. But first, a little… Read the rest

How to Register Your Blog with the US Copyright Office

Voila! My Certificate of Registration for my blog content! Some people say it can’t be done—registering the copyright in a blog. It can, if you understand the quirks of the US Copyright Office. I explained those quirks in September 2014… Read the rest

Who Owns Love Letters and Other Questions

Readers send me the most interesting questions, many of which I need to sit back and consider. I enjoy these questions and want to share them. I figure many writers have similar questions. Here are some of my favorites: Question: Read the rest

Top