1. GazzaJohn

    GazzaJohn New Member

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    Posting content on own website from pre-published book

    Discussion in 'Self-Publishing' started by GazzaJohn, Jan 29, 2017.

    I have half finished writing a book.

    I fear someone will come up with the words or phrases I have created before I publish it, therefore forcing me to change names and phrases.

    Question: If I post some creative content on my website now, ex. name of a new race, newly created words etc. does that mean I have future-proofed my pre-published book?

    Ex. Let's say I create a people called Zombatonitrons and Zombitonatrontalk. I publish my book but find out someone has already used those names. BUT, if I put those names on my website now as a small blog, will that act as an immediate copyright, preventing others from stealing my ideas? Or can people still use the words?

    Thanks.
     
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  2. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    You have copyright as soon as the words are written down, so I think you're looking for proof of copyright, which is subtly different. But it actually sounds more like you're hoping for some sort of trademark, which I think is significantly more complicated.

    There's no copyright on ideas. And there's no way for someone to 'steal' your ideas out of your head, so if you're paranoid about idea theft I'd think it would make more sense to not post your work rather than posting it.

    So - I can see your website post as being possible evidence that you created something before someone else did, but it sounds more like you're worried that someone else will come up with the same idea on their own? Again, since ideas aren't subject to copyright, I don't think there's much you could do about this.
     
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  3. GazzaJohn

    GazzaJohn New Member

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    Thanks for the quick reply. So are you saying someone else could use the same words exampled in my first post in their own book? ex. Zombitanitrons?

    Furthermore, if I email a copy of my writings to myself, is that automatic protection? Because the strange thing is, if I email it to myself, then someone else publishes a book with similar content, and I tell them they copied my words, they could claim they never knew because they couldn't know my email contained a copy.

    Does this make sense?

    Thanks.

    I just don't want to finish my book to find my created NEW words have been used by someone else. That's why I thought if I posted my created new words (names of a group of people) on line, it would cover me.
     
  4. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Mere words will not have copyright protection. If you and another author coin the same words independently, odds are that you can both use them.

    Separately, email is not likely to have any usefulness in terms of proving your copyright.
     
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  5. GazzaJohn

    GazzaJohn New Member

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    So, how should I protect my new words now to prevent "clashing" with others later on down the track?

    Thanks ChickenFreak for the prompt reply.
     
  6. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Unfortunately, I see no real way to do that.
     
  7. GazzaJohn

    GazzaJohn New Member

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    Do you feel many writers fear this? Any ideas on how to cope with this kind of fear?

    Thanks.
     
  8. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I don't really understand the fear. If you make up the same words that someone else makes up, what harm will that cause?
     
  9. GazzaJohn

    GazzaJohn New Member

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    Legal problems? Copyright infringement? For example, one couldn't use Newspeak used by Orwell. Or Hogwart School of Witchcraft and... something.
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2017
  10. Dnaiel

    Dnaiel Senior Member

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    GazzaJohn, you're really asking for legal advice. This isn't the place for that. If you're really paranoid about it, I guess you could register the copyright (online registration is a $35 fee). But I don't know how that will impact your publishing goals. Just bare bear in mind that the registration is a public record and you're gonna get spammed by vanity presses and other junk companies. When I registered a book of poetry many years ago, I got a lot of junk offers. I'm just glad I didn't include my phone number.

    But what you described doesn't look like you have much to worry about. Words and names alone are not subject to copyright protections.

    ETA
    bad typo, bad...

    Well, possible. I think there would need to be some kind of secure time-stamped log on the server with the page text.
     
  11. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I posted an excerpt from my sequel on my blog, but the first novel is copyrighted by me.
    So stealing names/words from my posting on my blog would be copyright infringement,
    unless you get my permission to use them. :)
     
  12. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I don't think it's quite that simple - it would depend on the nature of the names/words, as I understand it. See https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html, which says "Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases."

    And even if your copyright truly has been violated (ie. more than a short phrase or some names were stolen), do you have the tens of thousands of dollars it would cost to pursue legal action against whatever unknown entity has stolen your work? What remedy will you get assuming you can track them down and how will you enforce that remedy if they're judgment-proof due to jurisdiction, financial status, etc.

    The only way to really protect yourself against copyright violation is to never share your work. Most of us want to share, so...
     
  13. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    It doesn't scare me. I'm sure my plots are in no way unique - there will be other, similar books out there. But the execution will be so different that it won't be a copyright issue.

    If I named Hogwarts School and then Harry Potter came out, I would just change it to Somethingelse School. No issue.
     
  14. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    No, but I also don't think anyone will be stealing that stuff considering only one person follows my blog, and I know who it is. :p
     
  15. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    @GazzaJohn, first of all, if your coined words are as unique as you say, the chance that someone would independently come up with the same is so infinitesimal as to be nonexistent. And if by some weird chance it happened, maybe you should get together with that other author and collaborate. I mean, GMTA, right?

    I'm no lawyer, but if two people come up with the same idea at the same time, and neither has patented or trademarked how that idea is used, neither can claim damages from the other. Especially because, as @ChickenFreak said, you can't copyright words. Trademarking is something else, but would you have the bucket of bucks you'd need to do that? I wouldn't.

    If you're worried someone will see your new words and rush some book using them into print before you can finish yours, keep them off the Interwebz. That simple.

    But I pick up that you're really concerned about this. Okay. Do this, today. Find the earliest file you have containing the words and terms in question. Do NOT hit Save again. You want to keep the oldest date stamp possible. Copy it to some secure location, like your cloud backup or a thumbdrive, whatever, and have it ready in case of trouble.

    But I doubt the occasion will arise.
     
  16. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    This. So much this.

    I don't mean to poke fun at anyone's fears, as I have many of my own anxieties and understand intrusive thoughts rattling around in one's brain. But since I've been part of these message boards, I've seen dozens of threads where writers are so worked up about copyright, plagiarism, libel and other legal issues, it seems like it's really distracting them from the act of writing their story.

    The chances of someone stealing an unknown author's ideas, going through the effort to write an entire novel using those ideas, and then getting their book published just seems so incredibly remote to me that I can't justify spending my time thinking about it.
     
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  17. Dnaiel

    Dnaiel Senior Member

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    File timestamps are easy to change. From using Powershell to several freeware programs that do just that to every field in the file's metadata.
     
  18. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    Really? Wow. Meaning if @GazzaJohn's lawyer were to say, "Your Honor, my client came up with the concept of the Bi-fraxed Goggleplots back in 2012, and here is the time-stamped file to prove it. Observe that the defendant's earliest file including that term only dates from 2016," the defendant's lawyer could object that timestamps are easily altered and the evidence is therefore inadmissible?

    Boy. What is this world coming to?
     
  19. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I'm confused. Is it just me?
     
  20. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    Confused because I didn't put that well, or confused because you can't see how a date stamp on a file would be inadmissible evidence because, to go by what @Dnaiel said, date stamps are easily altered?
     
  21. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Well, I'd be fairly surprised if a date stamp were seen as strong evidence.
     
  22. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Single words aren't protected by copyright. Also, copyright doesn't protect against independent creation. Trademark protection covers single words and short phrases, but you have to be using the words as a trademark, not just as a novel word in a book.

    Just because you coin a word doesn't mean no one else can use it. In some instances you can get proprietary rights in the word. In general, anyone is free to use it. It's not something worth worrying about when you're writing a book and coining new terms of your own.
     
  23. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Just to be clear--you can't trademark an idea. Also, trademark registration doesn't cost a "bucket of bucks." It is relatively inexpensive.

    Time and date stamp on a file on your own computer is ridiculously easy to fake. Harder to do for a copy that's on a server somewhere (like an email server or Dropbox) that isn't controlled by you. Mailing a story to yourself is also of limited value. A copyright registration is cheap and more effective than any of these.
     
  24. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    It's easy to fake, but absent evidence of fakery, and if accompanied by testimony from the individual who created the file, I could see a court giving a fair amount of weight to it. There was at least one case involving date stamps on digital photos where the court gave the date stamps a lot of weight because the other side had no evidence they had in fact been faked or tampered with.

    Some have tried to argue these stamps are hearsay, but those arguments haven't met with much success.
     
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  25. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    Ah. I was thinking of logos, probably. I'd heard you had to get a lawyer to do a major search to make sure no one anywhere else was using anything like it.

    And of course you can't copyright or trademark an idea. I referred to how that idea was used, i.e., the product resulting from it.

    But to get back to the OP's concern: So, having the critical file stored on a cloud server might provide proof of prior origin and bring him some reassurance?

    Personally, though, I doubt any of us need to worry about this. Let's just get on with writing our doggone books.
     

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