All Questions
31 questions
29
votes
7
answers
16k
views
Using the real world in writing
To what extent can you use locations, businesses, etc. from the real world in fiction? I know someone cannot copyright a city, but what about a particular location in the city that's private. Can I ...
- 1,285
23
votes
2
answers
23k
views
Are Names of Characters Copyrighted by Authors?
Are names of characters copyrighted by authors? For example, the character "Eragon" from the Inheritance Cycle series, or a name that you've generated using an online name generator that you'd like to ...
- 3,425
18
votes
3
answers
828
views
Getting My Rights Back
Back in the late 90's I wrote a picture book which eventually was published in 2002 by a big name publishing house. The book was critically acclaimed, won an award, and went through a couple of ...
- 56.5k
7
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Is fan fiction publishable?
This is a question that has been touched on here and there, and yet I can't find a good answer.
Suppose I am writing a story set in the Star Wars universe. I don't want to dodge copyrights and ...
- 6,153
15
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Borrowing Characters
Would it be a violation of copyright and/or plagiarism to “borrow” a character from another novel?
For example, I have a short story and want to include as a side character Ender (of Ender’s Game). I ...
- 251
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Is Sherlock Holmes public domain for use in a story?
I am writing a short story and would like to name check Sherlock Holmes as a character; according to the ever reliable (?) Wikipedia the stories of Holmes are UK Public Domain. Does this mean I can ...
- 183
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How can I get a copyright for my e-book?
As I'm a new writer, I don't know how to get copyright for my first book. Could anyone help me please? My book is an e-book in E-Pub format.
- 165
2
votes
3
answers
457
views
Copyright of examples used in books?
I'm getting into non-fiction technical writing (a blog, but potentially ebook or otherwise). Often the best technical advice come from dissecting and synthesising good and bad examples from the ...
- 129
8
votes
2
answers
12k
views
How to publish public domain books?
It is known that the copyright permission is not needed for old books (usually 70 years after the author's death), because the copyright has been expired. However, I am not sure how easy a public ...
- 840
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How do co-authors' rights to a manuscript work?
When an individual writes a novel, he owns all rights over the manuscript until he starts selling those rights to others.
What is the situation when the novel is a collaborative work? How are such ...
- 28.3k
4
votes
5
answers
631
views
Am I able to freely borrow or reference real people, places or things without fear of legal persecution?
I'm currently writing my first novel and I can't figure out whether I am able to reference an abundance of different people, places, and/or things.
I've had this idea of wanting to sneak in a sizable ...
- 441
3
votes
4
answers
460
views
Can I use an old painting of Lilith as my book cover?
I'm working on a book of poetry, and I want to use John Collier's (1892) painting of Lilith as the cover. I won't be selling the book though; giving it away for free. Can I legally use the painting as ...
2
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is it considered trademark infringement to use the name of a real business in a novel?
I am writing a pivotal scene for my novel that is set in Red Square of Moscow. A very wealthy bureaucrat is leaving a famous, high end store that exists in real life.
Is it considered trademark ...
- 2,640
2
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Copyrighted Names
I'm very confused in regards of copyrighted names, some say you can copy right names, and then I read that you can only trademark names and copyright them ONLY if the book/movie is named after them, ...
23
votes
6
answers
8k
views
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
Can someone take a story that happened to you, without your knowledge, and publish it? Using your name and specifics, and take the copyright for it?
A person, whose mother lived in our small town, ...
- 231
14
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How can I know that I'm not plagiarizing?
New to the web. I just recently started to write again. I won a few highschool prizes writing short stories. Around the same time, I began to play Roleplaying games and to write different stories for ...
- 251
13
votes
6
answers
30k
views
Are music lyrics copyrighted?
I tried to find copyright information about music lyrics, but it is too confusing, because it is related to the usage.
There are lots of websites providing lyrics, but it seems they are somehow ...
- 840
11
votes
1
answer
404
views
Does the Creative Commons license protect my writing on the web?
I usually write on the web and I would like to license my writings using one of the Creative Commons licenses, but I can't understand how that license can protect our works. We really like to share ...
- 213
11
votes
5
answers
31k
views
Is Academic Ghostwriting legal?
I recently learned of the concept of academic ghostwriting (see, e.g. this article) - by which I mean the situation where a student goes to another person, or perhaps a service, and pays them to ...
- 211
8
votes
1
answer
7k
views
How can I get permission to translate and republish a book?
I am interested in translating an English book into my native language.
How can I get permission to translate the book? Would that also include permission to republish the book in the native ...
- 81
6
votes
2
answers
711
views
Dealing with potential copyright issues: manga
I have been spinning yarn around Kuchiyose Edo Tensei, a reincarnation technique I came across in the popular anime/manga series Naruto. Further developing on that, the concept of bloodlines (or ...
- 395
5
votes
4
answers
8k
views
Should I copyright my material before sending to my publisher?
Should I copyright my material before sending to my publisher? Can they steal my content?
- 713
4
votes
1
answer
236
views
permission to use emails from famous deceased person
I finished a creative non-fiction memoir about my secret life as a miracle worker. I am using three emails to me from a now deceased wildly popular tech icon. Our phone conversation as well as the ...
- 41
4
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How do we draw the line between plagiarism and allusion?
It’s no secret that in literature we see characters that remind us of other characters. Furthermore, it’s no secret we see plots that remind us of other plots.
For example, an author reads Book A and ...
- 115
3
votes
3
answers
871
views
Write a book with "protected" characters/ideas without copyright?
I want to write a book about an idea/story I've had for many years that I find many will truly enjoy when furnished out; however, I don't want this to be "open-source"; I don't want anyone to be able ...
2
votes
1
answer
525
views
How do you posthumously credit the authors of public domain content in your adaptation?
My question concerns the author Ben H. Winters who has recently published several books with himself listed as Jane Austen’s co-author. Sense and Sensibilities and Sea Monsters is one such novel ...
- 1,122
2
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Copyright of a TV series when used as reference?
Is it considered fair use to have screenshots, or character likenesses, in a book as a descriptor or reference?
For example, when describing time-travelers, can I use a few screenshots from Doctor ...
- 121
1
vote
1
answer
135
views
Is permission needed to use a fictitious character from another novel in my story as a point of reference?
I am writing a novel and I would like to introduce characters from other published works as time travelers. Is this a bad idea or even legal? Copyright infringement comes to mind... Is there a legal ...
- 11
1
vote
3
answers
259
views
copy right issue with using exact Text from a text book
Here is a question related to a website providing mathematics solutions for students. Here are details:
Students will enter the page number and problem number on the website, and the site will show ...
- 11
1
vote
2
answers
231
views
Use of real company name in fiction: generic, common names
I read the very helpful discussion of using brand/company names in fiction (Use of real organization in fiction) and have read other resources on the internet but have not been able to find one ...
- 19
0
votes
2
answers
394
views
My publisher copyrighted my book cover and interior
My illustrator designed the cover of my book, but my publisher did not want to use his cover. They wanted their illustration department to do it. What I didn't know was that they copyrighted the cover ...
