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Legal Question on Copyright

In the breaks in his writing schedule, David has promised to stop by and chat for a while!
Legal Question on Copyright
Post by Bosparan   » Sun Feb 20, 2011 6:03 am

Bosparan
Lieutenant (Junior Grade)

Posts: 46
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 5:29 am

Hello,

I've properly read all those FAQs and whatnot regarding copyright and fan-fiction and I started wondering about one point:

Is it possible to send an idea, feedback or short stories to David while circumventing this problem? Like adding "I cede all rights to David" or "I give this work to the public domain"? If yes, does it require special form (like written in paper, sealed in blood ... )?

regards,
Bosparan
Ravenous reader of SciFi
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Re: Legal Question on Copyright
Post by ymchang001   » Sun Feb 20, 2011 1:46 pm

ymchang001
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Legally, as long as you put it in writing that he can use the idea, you'd have a had time winning a lawsuit saying he stole your idea. However, that probably wouldn't stop someone else from saying, "Hey, I mentioned that idea to Bosparan and I never never ceded my rights to it." So the safest thing for DW is to just not pay attention to anything we might send to him. He's got plenty of ideas of his own and you don't know what he already has in the works. It would be pretty silly to suggest something to him that he's already sent off to his editor.
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Re: Legal Question on Copyright
Post by Bosparan   » Sun Feb 20, 2011 2:05 pm

Bosparan
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ymchang001 wrote: Legally, as long as you put it in writing that he can use the idea, you'd have a had time winning a lawsuit saying he stole your idea. However, that probably wouldn't stop someone else from saying, "Hey, I mentioned that idea to Bosparan and I never never ceded my rights to it." So the safest thing for DW is to just not pay attention to anything we might send to him.
Hm ... wouldn't then I be the one this third person would sue? I hate copyright law *grml* (for being convoluted, not for being not necessary)

ymchang001 wrote: He's got plenty of ideas of his own and you don't know what he already has in the works. It would be pretty silly to suggest something to him that he's already sent off to his editor.
I'd never try telling him what to write. Given his track record so far and my own (in-)experience I don't imagine that would improve his works. I do like to give feedback though ... and constructive feedback at that (Not only do I point out what I liked less, I tend to nit-pi... ehm, write what I would have done to make it more to my liking).
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Re: Legal Question on Copyright
Post by ymchang001   » Mon Feb 21, 2011 12:33 pm

ymchang001
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Bosparan wrote:
ymchang001 wrote: Legally, as long as you put it in writing that he can use the idea, you'd have a had time winning a lawsuit saying he stole your idea. However, that probably wouldn't stop someone else from saying, "Hey, I mentioned that idea to Bosparan and I never never ceded my rights to it." So the safest thing for DW is to just not pay attention to anything we might send to him.
Hm ... wouldn't then I be the one this third person would sue? I hate copyright law *grml* (for being convoluted, not for being not necessary)

You wouldn't be the one profiting from it. There's a fair amount you can do with someone else's ideas so long as you're not making money off of their intellectual property.
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Re: Legal Question on Copyright
Post by Bosparan   » Tue Feb 22, 2011 7:42 am

Bosparan
Lieutenant (Junior Grade)

Posts: 46
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 5:29 am

Just so I get it right:
Any feedback beyond "I liked that in particular and though that other part was less than optimal" is actually counterproductive keeping the author being given that feedback from ever using it because that author cannot know whether all of this was my idea, even if I cede all rights of it to him?
Is a sworn statement that all of it was my own idea valid?
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Re: Legal Question on Copyright
Post by innoBy   » Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:40 pm

innoBy
Midshipman

Posts: 3
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First things first, ideas are the rarest of possessions, for once you speak of them, they cease to be possessed by solely you. Once an idea has been propagated it changes into something else. This is something authors have had to deal with, since, well since the dawn of the written word. In fact there are those who make their careers off of deciding what a story should mean to the reader, these soulless hellspawn are known as critics.

In short, take this advice from another avid reader, and aspiring author. If you have a good idea, write it yourself. If you lack the linguistic capacity to do that, then enlist the help of someone you trust who does. If the idea falls into the universe created by another author, ask if they will let you write a spin-off. There is a vast history of such things being not just accepted, but unimaginably successful. Don't believe me, ask George Lucas, and Gene Roddenberry (who sadly has already passed, along with Arthur C. Clark, and many others)

If you think that the Star Wars and Star Trek universes are a bit campy because of it, I urge you to read Spider Robinson's Variable Star. That novel was outlined by Heinlein, but never written before he died, the Heinlein foundation asked Spider to write the book....The rest you will have to read in the introduction.

Even if you do not get permission to use the author's universe, it is good "safe" practice. You get the benefit of writing a story in an established universe, and thus you get to see how creating a universe is done. Hopefully you learn in the exercise, maybe even get published.

Good Luck.
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Re: Legal Question on Copyright
Post by kbus888   » Thu May 05, 2011 8:28 pm

kbus888
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?? Would this be of any use ??

http://web.ncf.ca/et116/doc3.htm
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Love is a condition in which
the happiness of another
is essential to your own. - R Heinlein
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Re: Legal Question on Copyright
Post by Solly   » Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:01 pm

Solly
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Location: Chattanooga, TN

If we find HH fanfic or any other fan fic of David Weber's works, what should we do? I'm concerned.
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Re: Legal Question on Copyright
Post by Spacekiwi   » Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:38 pm

Spacekiwi
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You should ask themif they had permission to write it. if not, ask them to remove it from the web as it is against DW's wishes


Solly wrote:If we find HH fanfic or any other fan fic of David Weber's works, what should we do? I'm concerned.


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