Questions tagged [copyright]
Questions involving matters of copyright, encapsulating parody and level of similarity questions, reprinting and publishing of copyrighted works, public domain, attribution, fanfiction, legality, and fair use questions. Any question involving copyright law in the U.S. or abroad should be given this tag.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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What's "fair use" for borrowing someone else's invented term?
Let's say I'm writing a sci-fi novel. I want to use a word which another writer has coined, which has become well-recognized outside the original book, for the name of an alien species in my story.
I ...
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Help! I accidentally gave my fictional character the same name as a fictional character on a TV show. Do I have to change it?
I've been writing a YA mystery book in which one of the three main characters is a detective—who now seems to share his name with another fictional character on TV.
I was pretty young when I came up ...
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What should I do if my book's title is already taken?
I'm writing a novel, and I think I've come up with a very good title (The Power of the Powerless). It conveys the moral question of the story well, and gives a good sense of the style of the story. ...
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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 ...
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Can a title be copyrighted?
Is there any such thing as copyrighting a title?
A title of a novel / short story is usually short, up to five words or so. The words are chosen after much thought to reflect the contents of work. ...
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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.
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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 ...
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Is the Concept of "Machine of Death" Copyrighted?
I am a fan of the book "Machine of Death";
http://machineofdeath.net/pdf/MachineofDeath_FINAL.pdf
PDF Page 452 of the above link details the copyright for the material contained within the book. ...
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I gave my characters names that are exactly like another book. Is it a problem?
Ok, so, I am currently writing a book and 3 of my characters have the same name as in another novel. I didn't realize it until someone pointed it out to me. The names I picked are fairly common and ...
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Can a book be published by more than one publisher?
1) Some books are published by more than one publisher. For example, if you go to Amazon or Flipkart and search for 'The Interpretation of Dreams' by Sigmund Freud, you will see many of them from ...
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On copyright laws and plots
I was pondering a lot on the issue with copyrights on plots. Is having an identical plot infringing someone else's copyrighted work?
I am fully aware that the character names are copyrighted and ...
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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 ...
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Are fictional town names trademarks or protected intellectual property of their author?
If a town name in a popular fictional work is widely associated with a particular fictional work, can the name be freely used as a name for a new nonprofit organization even if the nonprofit is ...
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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 ...
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Using Names for Weaponry used in Actual Games
I've recently looked at the chat that talks about the question of referencing actual military weapons in your writing. Since I'm writing a science-fiction novel, that's not too big of a problem for ...
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What really is considered as plagiarism?
I am currently writing a novel which I noticed is based on ideas from many books that I have read. I noticed that what did I do is get an idea from a book, get another ideas from (many) other books, ...
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Using ideas from other authors without infringing copyright
My girlfriend and I want to write a story about science fiction. I'm a fan of Star Wars, and many of the ideas in this universe are fantastic, but I do not want to plagiarize anyone.
Is there any way ...
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Can my character's name match someone in real life?
Is it legally OK that my character's name by coincidence matches someone's in real life, famous or not? (For example I am naming a character Aaron Hale.) The character's appearance and everything else ...
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General copyright - How much is actually copyrighted?
I find myself seeking a lot of ideas for my alternate universes, novels, short stories, and so forth.
Exactly what can be considered copyrighted, and what isn't?
Let me give you some examples.
Star ...
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Too much like Harry Potter - Tropes
I am designing a magical world for which I have plenty of ideas but I am worried if they are too much like Harry Potter.
Please look through this list and tell me which ideas are too much like Harry ...
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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 ...
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Use of Registered trademark
I'm writing a book on Windows and I need some guidelines.
On the cover of the book, as part of the subtitle, may I include Windows® in it?
Inside the book, do I have to use the ® every single little ...
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How can I establish ownership over my work?
I have an irrational fear of my work being stolen. I understand that this is, realistically, extremely unlikely to happen. There are just too many barriers to something being successfully stolen and ...
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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 ...
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How to release one's work into the public domain?
How can I show that my self-published work is in the public domain? Simply by stating something like "Released into the public domain"? Or using the public domain symbol 🅮?
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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, ...
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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 ...
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Quoting Song Lyrics or Naming a Song, Or Possibly Group/Singer
Can you quote music lyrics in a book?
Like this:
Stuck in traffic, main character is blasting Rage Against the Machine, Testify
[insert song lyrics excerpt here]
Or is that a legal issue?
What ...
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Using species from another novel, in my novel, copyright infringment?
I would like to start a novel, but it would include Fantasy species such as Dwarves and Elves, etc. I got this idea after reading several of Tolkien's novels. If I write this novel it would have ...
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What are those "countdown" numbers on the copyright page?
On the copyright pages in many books I find the following "countdown" numbers and I am wondering what the significance of this is?
In a non-fiction book I have, "The Call of the Mild" it looks like:
...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Can my work be stolen if I post excerpts and ideas on critique sites?
Participating in writing-related sites (for example on critique sites) sometimes involves describing a plot problem or sharing an excerpt from my work. I'm usually vague because of the fear that ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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How does copyright apply to illustrations and cover art?
Is a paid-up-front illustrator entitled to royalties?
If I hire an illustrator for artwork, and I pay up front on a per-illustration basis, what copyright gotchas should I be aware of? Does the ...
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Is it safe to create a wiki for a book (or something featured in it) before the book is published?
I'm working on a sci-fi novel, and it contains a lot of fictional creatures, which are in some ways separate from the novel because I came up with them a while before I actually got the idea to write ...
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Is it legal to use an old painting on the cover of a book?
Can I put an old painting on the cover of my book without violating the law?
AFAIK the copyright for a painting expires after 70 years. Hence, if a painting was created in 1874 and 70 years expired ...
user6696
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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 ...
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Why doesn't everyone publish public domain books?
Are there any restrictions in publishing of material with expired copyrights?
For example, Oliver Twist is a famous story by Charles Dickens, and people still buy the book. I would think that the ...
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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 ...
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How to tell if a fiction workshopping site protects my rights?
There are lots of websites for getting feedback for my writing. But since posting something publicly on the internet can count as "publication," I'm worried that posting my work there might prove an ...
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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?
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Can I add quotes from other authors in my book?
Can I add quotes from other authors in my book, mentioning their names. E.g. I want to mention quotes by authors like Franz Kafka, Michael Crichton, George Orwell before some of my chapters.
Can I ...
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