If you are quoting biblical text, obviously citing the chapter and verse and which version you are using (king James or the new standard) should be done. Exactly what type of book are you writing, something about theology? If you are using sources of other theological books or writings, even if you aren't directly quoting them, they should be listed in your references section as something you read to gain information from. If you are writing something that sounds similar to someone else's writing, sentences, paragraphs, you should probably reconsider how you are writing them and change it so that it doesn't sound exactly the same, otherwise quote from your source material. Either way, in non-fiction, you should be citing all source material you used to gain anything other than common knowledge and your own theories. This means anything you have read to get you to the point you are at, should be cited.
Wait. So does this mean i can not quote God's words from the Bible? Like in the story of Moses. Does it mean that i can not quote Prayers from a Cathelic Prayer book? or re tell Bible stories?
You cannot quote English translations of the Bible that are protected by copyright laws without written permission from the copyright owners. You may quote a translation in public domain, such as the King James Version. In this case, it's the translation that's protected, not the original inscription, whoever you think the author of the papyrus scrolls might be. You cannot quote from any prayer book (Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Mormon, Hindu, Buddhist or any other) that is protected under copyright law, unless that work is in the public domain, or the quote falls under "fair use" rules In fact... you cannot quote any writing unless it is in the public domain, or unless under "fair use" rules http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html, or you obtain the written permission of the copyright owner. Please refer to www.copyright.gov, or seek a copyright attorney for further information.
You can quote directly from the King James bible without any permission or infringement of copyright--and writers frequently do, e.g the words of the Wedding or Christening Service. You don't have to cite or give the verse numbers, whatever--it's usually obvious anyway from the context that you are quoting the Bible.
So can i re tell bible stories? How the heck do you put prayers into a story, like the Our Father? Say a class is saying prayers can they? or a parent is telling the story of Moses can i put that in? Can i mention saints? or what the Saints did? Re tell there stories or use what happened to them as basis for an event for a character?
Yes. For the umpteenth time, you can do this by using a translation in the public domain, like the King James Version. Or by getting permission from the copyright owner, if you prefer a newer, copyright protected translation. You can mention anything you want in your writing, as long as you do not copy someone else's work which is protected under copyright law. You can list a hundred billion things...saints, angels, arks, animals, Moses, Noah...but we'd prefer if you didn't...there's no need to say, "What about John the Baptist, can I mention him?"...the answer is always the same. Write what you want. Feel free to mention historic and religous figures in your own words. Ideas aren't copyright-protected, nor are Biblical characters. Writing is copyright-protected, unless in public domain, according to the public domain rules outlined at www.copyright.gov. Don't copy someone else's copyright-protected material, including original writings not in public domain. Charlie
Right so i can re tell bible stories and i can use the names of saints and re tell there stories and use them as inspiration, as long as it is in my own words. The names and stories are not copyrighted, only the way they are written in the book? OK. I'm really thick with copyright stuff. As for the prayers, I can use them if there public domain, how do i know there public domain? If it is a prayer book and not the King Johns bible? Is there such a thing?
It depends on when the book you want to quote was written, and whether you're talking about US law or elsewhere. Read the website I linked you to, www.copyright.gov. If you read that entire site and you're still not sure, I'd suggest, before you publish a book, talk to a copyright attorney.
pay attention to all that charlie says, as he's clearly knowledgeable on the subject and has said all i would have, had he not gotten to it first...
okay i understand I will not try anything illegal. Just want to clarify what was premissible and what was not. So thank you for all your help!
Hello all, I have this idea of using the title from a Prince's song as the title for my novel. I have other options but *that* title would fit just perfect (Darling Nikki). The song is mentioned in the story and the main female character is called Nikki. What problems do you think I might have if I use the title? Who should I ask permission to? Record label? I know it's gonna be hard to obtain it, but I want to try at least before opting for a different title.
It's done all the time, no permission needed. One of the more famous examples is "I know why the caged bird sings" (or something very close to that. It was a poem then a novel.
Really? That's great news to me. At least regarding the American part of the matter. Now I have to see what my country's rules say.
If you have any more questions regarding this type of thing, you're actually better off looking them up on the copyright website. Not everyone here has accurate information, and we're all in different countries, so even if what we know is accurate, it may not apply to you.
if italy is also a signatory to the berne convention, the copyright laws there would be the same as, or similar to: www.copyright.gov in any case, it's done all the time, since titles can't be copyrighted anywhere in the world, as far as i can tell... many of mary clark higgins' titles are the titles of copyrighted songs, or lines taken from songs in the public domain...
Hey, I was wondering, if you want to write a story, is it not hard to write a really unique piece, that could not in any way be seen as plagiarism? I mean, if you write something, say a ghost story, how would it be possible to not to write something similar to the perhaps hundreds of other ghost stories? Or if you write a story about a police officer doing an investigation? Or if you write any sort of science-fiction, like about aliens, or hyperdevelopped robots out to kill the human race? I can't stop thinking about it. It freezes me, the thought of writing a story, that would be very similar to something else, even though I wouldn't know the other work! And it's not just the story itself, but also the way of writing it. I feel that if I write simple, it is too simple, and people will find it very dull. But if I write more complex, I feel like plagiarising other author's ways of writing, their unique ways. Anyone else ever have that feeling?
Plagiarism and unoriginality are not the same thing. It's true, whatever you write will share some traits with other stories, by its very nature. What's important is what is not the same. It doesn't have to be the whole thing. Plagiarism, on the other hand, is passing off someone else's work as your own, and is a very serious matter. It shouldn't be trivialised by misunderstanding, and confusion with problems of originality in writing.
You might want to use the forum Search feature as well. This question has been discussed many (many MANY) times, and you'll find many more responses than you can expect to see in yet another "What is plagiarism and how do I avoid it" thread.
I just read a whole bunch of topics about plagiarism, and it's depressing really ... Everyone seems to be saying that you can't write anything new anymore, that everything you write will be like someone else's work. Which pretty much means you have to write an amazing story if you ever want your story to be seen as "good".
Well said, Banzai. "Unoriginality" simply means that a story is dull and lifeless because it reads as uninteresting and predictable, and a criticism might be something along the lines of "cliched," or "heard it before over and over again." That has nothing to do with plagiarism, which is something the writer virtually always KNOWS he is doing. That said, if you're an author of note (who happens to read a LOT of other people's work), you may get called on a phrase or some piece of writing that sounds too much like how someone else described something in another story you might have read at some point. I believe this very thing happened to Asimov, and he acknowledges in a little essay that this can happen. But this kind of predicament is more the consequence of being a celebrity of some sort to begin with (with critics hoping to poke holes in his reputation or gain from his wealth in some way). There are critics of famous classical authors who genuinely believe they plagiarized various (canonical) works. I think the key is, if you, yourself, believe you might be passing off someone else's work as your own, then you probably are. At the very least, that's a HUGE signal that you'd better be more creative. But I think writing your own story and then worrying that someone else may have already written it is just needless paranoia.
This is pretty true, actually. But it hasn't anything to do with plagiarism. More, really, to do with "originality" (of style), a distinctive voice, and casting a new light on something or other.
ditto all of the above... you're confusing plagiarism with a lack originality... go here to learn what plagiarism is in the legal sense: www.copyright.gov and google the word for more details, if needed...
Using a trademarked name in a book *edit Just found out the word is trademarked. Not just copyrighted =( I have a gaming username in which I have been using since 1999. It's an ambiguous word I thought of for example: whiteword Now, the problem is, my username has long been "taken" by a company. They ambiguously thought of this word and are now is too, using it as the name for their software. They created their application in 2006. I have always planned to use my username for my novel, because the 2 words put together has alot of symbolic meaning, literal meaning, etc that ties into the plot. It's the name of my main character's power. I've been developing ideas/working on my novel since 2004. I even had a website up since then with that word listed as my name character's power. It's even archived on webarchives. My question is, what are the fair use rules on words. I mean, can I name my main character "Apple" or "Microsoft" or "Beatles"? I read the us copyright database, and it says that word is listed as a copyright as a "software" only. Can I copyright my name as a fictional character like how JK Rowling does with Harry Potter? I read somewhere you can have 2 copyrights of the same word as long as they apply to different things. Am I allowed to make t-shirts with the word, "microsoft", and distribute them or would I be infringing on copyrights? Of course, "whiteword" isn't as obvious as microsoft. I did some research long ago and it seems like I can, but I just want to see what people's opinions are. And it seems like also, publishers tend to shy away from anything that has a chance of interfering with copyrights. When I first saw my word used as something as something else, my heart literally broke and it felt like my novel was butchered. I am 2 more months away from finishing my book.
