From the Fiction Desk

Copyright is a subject that is on every writer’s hypersensitive radar. According to the United States Copyright Office:

In general, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of a particular copyright. Registration is not a condition of copyright protection. Even though registration is not a requirement for protection, however, the copyright law provides several advantages to encourage copyright owners to register their copyright. Among these advantages are the following:

• Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
• Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin.
• If made before or within 5 years of publication, registration will establish in court the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.
• If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, the copyright owner can seek statutory damages and attorney's fees in court. Otherwise, the damages will be limited to only the actual loss suffered by the copyright owner.
• Registration allows the owner of the copyright to record the registration with the U.S. Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies. For additional information, go to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website at www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import. Click on "Intellectual Property Rights."

Registration may be made at any time within the life of the copyright. Unlike the law before 1978, when a work has been registered in unpublished form, it is not necessary to make another registration when the work becomes published, although the copyright owner may register the published edition, if desired.

This does mean that any of the great material at a seminar, lecture, or workshop at a writers’ conference, a public seminar, or a class is considered to have a copyright just as an article, poem or story is considered to have a copyright, even if it is not published in a book or magazine. If you want to use another person’s work in your work, it is very important to obtain permission in writing.