Copyright Essentials for Writers

Twice in as many weeks, I have run across items that were clearly not written by the “writers” who claimed them as their own. I’ve had my writing stolen, “misappropriated,” used without my consent, and I’ve seen so many examples of blatant disregard by one writer for the rights of another that I tend to […]

Copyright Office Basics – by The Copyright Office

What Is Copyright? Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 […]

How To Avoid Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement is not an easy thing to explain. While it may seem as simple as not using someone else’s work, it’s not that easy. Thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many other organizations, we have the ability to use others’ works — as long as we use it under Fair Use laws. So […]