I was wondering if it would be considered in poor taste to do the following: Post writing for review, then, after receiving the reviews and using them to edit the work, deleting the full work from the review post in order to prevent plagiarism. Perhaps one could leave excerpts, or a note that says if anyone wants to read the full work they can ask in a private message. I just kind of feel like I'd feel more comfortable if what I post wasn't on the forum forever -- the longer something is on the internet, the more likely I feel like it would be to be plagiarized. Would it be considered in poor taste to do that? Is that breaking any forum rules? (By the way, I know that with cached pages nothing ever really leaves the internet, and I know that in the time it's posted it could still be easily be stolen, but I just feel like this would make the chance slightly lower.)
Please do not post material in the Review Room if you are not prepared for it to stay there. The piece of writing is yours, but the responses are not. The entire theread should be left there so other members can see the full process in action. Review threads are NOT for the sole benefir of the writer of the original piece. So yes, asking for a thread to be removed just because YOU are done with it is in poor taste.
Whoa there, hold your horses. I didn't say that the entire thread would be deleted -- just the work in its entirety. Leaving excerpts (and obviously the reviews), but just deleting the whole work. I think you may have misunderstood my original post.
If you are planning on publishing, you should only post an excerpt anyway. But what you post for review should remain. All of it. The reviews covered all of what was posted, and that full context should remain. If you don't plan to leave it there, don't post it.
NancyMedley, I completely agree with you on the protection of you writing. I feel the same way that is why I have typed my writings out, mailed them to myself, and am preparing to sent the story and have it copyrighted in Washington. This is only to protect my writing against plagiarism and theft. Hope this information will help you as well.
If you've put your complete story here for review, you may have compromised your first publication rights. This is why one either uses a password protected community for reviews or else only posts excerpts.
b.r. 1. mailing to yourself [known as 'the poor man's copyright] has no standing in us courts and has never been known to affect the outcome of a copyright battle... it's an old wive's tale and just a waste of good ink/paper/postage money... see official caveat here: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#poorman 2. your work is already copyrighted the moment it's completed and exists in reproducible form... all 'washington' does is 'register' the existing copyright and archive it... and that does not 'protect' your writing against plagiarism or theft... all it does is allow you to sue someone in a us court if/when someone does plagiarize or steal your work, is considered prima facie evidence if registered within 5 years of publication and, if you win, to be awarded statutory damages and attorney's fees... the fact that you registered it can not stop anyone who is determined to steal or plagiarize the work... pros do not register their book mss and certainly don't spend good money to register short stories... it makes no sense to register each short work, anyway, since the chances of any of them being sold are slim to none and you'd be shelling out a lot of money with no chance of making it back even if a few do sell, with payment for short stories often being less than the cost of registration... and who'd steal a short story anyway, when it's got so little [or no] chance to ever be published?...
Thanks for asking this question. I was wondering about some copyright issues. Now I have a better idea of what I should and shouldn't post. I have quite a few of my works sent to publishers.
