I was recently approached by someone who was starting a literary open mic night at her local Starbucks, to give writers an opportunity to share their works with an audience. She wanted to take pictures, and possibly video, to use in promoting the … [Read more...]
Can I Copyright a Title?
Can I copyright a title? The short answer: No. The longer answer: Most titles are simply not long enough to meet the creativity requirement for a copyright. While it’s theoretically possible, a title long enough to be deemed sufficiently … [Read more...]
Plagiarism vs. Copyright Infringement
I’ve had several occasions now where a person asked me about one of these topics, but the longer the person talked, the clearer it was that they really meant the other. It’s happened often enough that I felt an article was in order. Plagiarism is … [Read more...]
Why Register a Copyright?
I’ve had several people reach out to me over the past months regarding a recent Supreme Court case, Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com. The ruling made them worry about their ability to protect their copyrights. For those who … [Read more...]
DATE CHANGE ALERT: Join Us April 6 for ‘Business Side of Self-Publishing’
Due to a scheduling snafu, our regularly scheduled second-Saturday of the month meeting in April, is now on April 6. Not April 13. (You may receive several notices about this, as we don't want people to show up on the wrong date.) Helen … [Read more...]
BAIPA Board Elections at March 9 Meeting
We'll be holding board elections at our March meeting. The board will be elected by a majority vote of the members present on Saturday. If you want to vote, but cannot attend the meeting, you can request a ballot and we will email it to … [Read more...]
U. S. Supreme Court Ruling Affects all Copyright Owners
Here's a March 6 story from Bowker, the people that bring us ISBNs, about a new Supreme Court ruling that affects all copyright owners. U. S. Supreme Court Ruling Affects all Copyright Owners by Judy Andrea Bowker | Wed Mar 6, 2019 The U.S. … [Read more...]
Large New Trove of Creative Works Enter Public Domain
Back in 1998, Congress passed a law adding 20 years to the term of all U.S. copyrights. That means that, for the last 20 years, no copyrights have expired, and no new material has entered the public domain. That all ended on January 1, 2019, when … [Read more...]
‘Writers Need Legal Protections’ — Kelley Way to Lead Workshop on Literary Law at Writer’s World September 8
Though writers can’t copyright recipes (which are considered formulas), copyright does protect almost all their other work the moment they create it (if original and creative) and put it in a format that others can access (written, typed, dictated, … [Read more...]
Ignite Your Writing Life on April 2 at Book Passage
Pitch agents. Improve your craft. Market your work. Protect your rights. The California Writers Club–Marin Branch is hosting a day-long writing conference at Book Passage in Corte Madera on April 2. The conference features keynote speaker Constance … [Read more...]