Learn me copyrighting material please

Any Publishers here by chance? My son is writing some material that should be copyrighted I'm looking at you queen bee

First off, if he's written it, it's copyrighted. Once you get a piece fixed in a complete format - digital included - it's copyrighted. There is a treaty called the Berne Convention that makes a lot of copyright laws the same almost everywhere.

Once difference in US laws is that there are some extra protections (mostly, the ability to sue for more damages) if you register the copyright. Whether you want to register it now or not is going to depend on your intended use. Once you have your work ready, copyrights are something that are typically licensed rather than sold outright.

If you're publishing a book through a commercial publisher, it is standard practice for the publisher's contract to require them to register the copyright in your name. And if the contract doesn't say this, ask for it; any reputable publisher is going to put it in. There is no reason to register when shopping this around - you're dealing with professionals here who understand copyright law and have a reputation to maintain. Anyone who publishes a submitted manuscript without the author's permission is going to be looking for work in another industry, probably garbage collection.

It's a similar case in Hollywood. You're dealing with pros here who are well aware that a plagiarized movie is a potential career killer. And once they buy up a script, they're going to have an army of lawyers to protect it. Defending the copyright there is going to be someone else's problem.

Self publishing? Register it. Whether it's a book, indy film, music, or whatnot.

Magazine articles are an in between. You don't need to register them to make money with them. But registering copyright does let you go after anyone who's making unauthorized money off them - for example, a commercial website running the article without permission. I've heard that a lot of professional freelancers have found it's cheaper to register their published articles as a batch, one to four times a year.

Thanks for the reply. He has written a couple of songs that are getting some hits on Facebook. How to proceed?

TRoglodyte wrote: Thanks for the reply. He has written a couple of songs that are getting some hits on Facebook. How to proceed?

Read the terms of service carefully from FB. when you publish on FB there are conditions pertaining to copyrights that may not be particularly friendly to content producers.

TRoglodyte wrote: Thanks for the reply. He has written a couple of songs that are getting some hits on Facebook. How to proceed?

OK, that would count as self publishing, and yes, be careful of Facebook rights grabs! This page will get you started.

https://www.copyright.gov/registration/index.html

Not familiar with the Facebook, any link by chance? Thanks for the info!

a little insight on terms of service at FB and other social media platforms

short version - you may still have ownership of your own material - but the social media folks have unrestricted rights to use your stuff however they see fit - publishing/sharing/profiting

FB's tos is 14,000 words - I'll leave it to you to...

Thanks again for the info, getting ejjumacated here.

A song writing friend of mine does this until he can formally copyright. He seals his music in an envelope and mails it to himself. He does not open the envelope after it arrives and files it. If there is ever a question about the material, he has a copy dated by the government for examination.

racerdave600 wrote: A song writing friend of mine does this until he can formally copyright. He seals his music in an envelope and mails it to himself. He does not open the envelope after it arrives and files it. If there is ever a question about the material, he has a copy dated by the government for examination.

I hope they are using security / tamper proof envelopes otherwise he is not really accomplishing much that a lawyer can not rip to shreds in court.