47
votes
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
No one can copyright an event
The events that happened to your father don't belong to anyone. They just are. Different people will have different knowledge (or beliefs) about various portions of ...
- 32.4k
41
votes
How to prevent ebook piracy from stealing your livelihood?
Is there a practical, effective way to prevent this IP theft?
Yes.
As someone who has pirated countless books, I might give you some insight into my frame of mind. There's a very simple way you can ...
- 419
39
votes
Are wands in any sort of book going to be too much like Harry Potter?
Waving a wand and wiggling the fingers while magic happens is theatrics. In Faust, Goethe has the Devil make fun of a witch for being too precious and ceremonious with her magic, so you are in good ...
- 27.2k
34
votes
Are wands in any sort of book going to be too much like Harry Potter?
The concept of the 'Magic Wand' predates Harry Potter by at least a handful of millennia. Consider the 'Rod of Circe' in Homer's Odyssey which is used to magically transform Odysseus's men into pigs.
...
- 744
29
votes
Accepted
How can I safely use "Thalidomide" in my novel while respecting the trademark?
Here is the entry for thalidomide in Merriam-Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1983):
thalidomide n {phthalic acid + -id- (fr. imide) + -o- + imide} (1962) : a sedative and hypnotic drug ...
- 406
28
votes
Accepted
How to tell readers your story is a re-imagination of a popular story?
Romeo and Juliet is in the public domain. And it's not even the source material - Shakespeare borrowed the story from somewhere else, (Pyramus and Thysbe is one very similar story, and Ovid didn't ...
27
votes
Borrowing Characters
I am not a lawyer, but you really should not do this. Orson Scott Card (OSC) and any partners he has (publisher, movie studios) own "Ender", and you cannot profit from it in any way whatsoever. OSC ...
- 100k
18
votes
How to prevent ebook piracy from stealing your livelihood?
There is probably no stopping of file sharing in the modern world.
But there is a chance we can make it cool to be backer and investor, sponsor and patron.
Patreon, flattr, kickstarter, indiegogo ...
- 299
18
votes
Accusing private figures of crime in print
Although you have the right to tell the truth, that is not defined by what you just know must be true. The truth must be verifiable. What proof do you have to publish, or to back up what you publish (...
- 100k
17
votes
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
"Can someone take a story that happened to you, without your knowledge, and publish it?" Of course. Newspapers does this all the time. No one asks the president's permission before writing a news ...
- 25.5k
16
votes
Authorship implications of presenting one’s manuscript as an older one in the prologue
Pretending to "have found and edited an obscure manuscript" is quite a common literary device. A few other examples include Neil Gaiman's The Dream Hunters (Illustrated by Yoshitako Amano, part of the ...
15
votes
Borrowing Characters
This probably should have been raised over on law.se, but I hang out there, and can answer. (See this question and answer from law for more on fair use.)
The literary homage in which one alludes to ...
- 4,347
15
votes
Accepted
Are deity/god names protected by copyright or trademark?
I believe most ancient gods and goddesses fall under the public domain.
Myths don't have a strict "canon" to them most of the time. They're stories passed down through the ages, and everyone ...
- 3,177
14
votes
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.
You do have (limited) legal rights to your own name and story. In this case, if the author used your father's actual full legal name, and other ...
- 56.5k
13
votes
How to tell readers your story is a re-imagination of a popular story?
If your inspiration story is in the public domain (which all of Shakespeare is), you have no legal obligation to disclose your source material. Though with Shakespeare, people will of course figure ...
- 32.4k
13
votes
Accepted
Outsourcing people to make a cover
I've had very good luck with fiverr.com (yes, two r's). It is called "fiverr" because the artists are supposed to be able to do some (relatively small) thing for $5 US. I have zero financial interest ...
- 100k
13
votes
How can I know that I'm not plagiarizing?
El ver mucho y el leer mucho avivan los ingenios de los hombres. (Seeing much and reading much sharpens one's ingenuity.)
~ Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Your fear of plagiarism is a common anxiety ...
- 1,905
12
votes
Accepted
Is my book legal? Is my story too similiar to Harry Potter
There are two elements to your question. The first is the similarity to an existing work. That question is answered here: Is my story too similar to an existing published work?
The second is the ...
11
votes
Accepted
What is "Buying Back My Book"?
The reference is to buying out of a publisher's exclusivity clause, in order to regain the rights required to republish your own work elsewhere. Writers often refer to "getting your rights back" for ...
- 5,282
11
votes
How to tell readers your story is a re-imagination of a popular story?
I would suggest you read this link (with actual lawyers responding).
Basically if you are not infringing on a copyright, you don't have to say anything. Your example of Romeo and Juliet is in the ...
- 100k
11
votes
Outsourcing people to make a cover
There are sites where artists who do book covers list themselves as looking for work. And there are individual websites or social media for various artists. Look around and find someone you like, or ...
- 32.4k
11
votes
When does inspiration across artforms become plagiarism
Do Songs and Paintings have the same rules and protections as Books
and Film for copying (into written form).
Songs and paintings are protected under copyright laws, but it might be helpful to ...
- 27.2k
11
votes
How to deal with moral/legal subjects in writing?
Making political, moral or legal arguments in novels can always get you backlash, especially when it is obvious who or what you are criticizing. If it is a topic with particular passions/people behind ...
- 741
11
votes
How can I know that I'm not plagiarizing?
You are allowed to reuse ideas, but you are not allowed to reuse exact characters, names, or blocks of text.
Let's take The Lord of the Rings as an example. You're not allowed to use the character ...
- 311
10
votes
How to prevent ebook piracy from stealing your livelihood?
If you want people to be honest, make it easy for them to do so.
Eighteen years ago, there was a hugely popular computer program called "Napster". It let people share their music collections with ...
- 620
10
votes
Can someone publish a story that happened to you?
If this happened in European Union
using his name and other specifics
without his permission may violate General Data Protection Regulation. Note, if your father died more than 10 years ago, it no ...
- 201
10
votes
Including a real event in a story
No one owns a copyright or trademark on historical events, especially ones that happened way before copyrights or trademarks were invented. There is no reason why this would be illegal. (Note: I have ...
- 586
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible