COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Copyright has a long tradition. The first U.S. copyright law came into effect on May 31, 1790.
If it's worth publishing, it's worth paying
for, every time.
(Larry Jackson, past
President of Professional Writers Association of Canada)
CANADA:
www.copyrightlaws.com/ (a guide to copyright law in Canada)
http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html (Canadian Copyright Law)
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/cp/copy_gd_main-e.html (the Canadian Intellectual Property Office's "A Guide to Copyrights")
www.accesscopyright.com (the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency)
Canadian Copyright Law, by Lesley Ellen Harris (McGraw Hill Ryerson)
http://www.trytel.com/~pbkerr/copyright.html
Copyright Law in Canada, an article by Philip B. Kerr,
of Bowley, Kerr, Nadeau, Ottawa patent, trademark,
and copyright lawyers.
http://www.cippic.ca/en/faqs-resources/copyright-law/#faq_moral-rights
www.pwac.ca/resources/copyright.htm
Canadian Copyright: a Citizen's Guide: see review HERE
http://www.johndegen.blogspot.com/
http://creatorscopyright.ca/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6315846683
U.S.
lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ (US Library of Congress)
www.ifla.org/documents/infopol/copyright/usbasics.txt (US copyright law)
The U.S. Copyright Office is now accepting
copyright registration applications online. See:
http://www.copyright.gov/eco/index.html
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: http://www.uspto.gov/
www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm
a chart showing the difference between copyright
and public domain
The Writer's Legal Guide: An Author's Guild Desk Reference (Allworth Press)
Fair Use, Free Use and Use by Permission, by Lee Wilson (Writer's Digest Books)
From Pen to Print: The Secrets of Getting
Published Successfully (Henry Holt, 1990)
Every Writer's Guide to Copyright and Publishing Law
(3rd ed., Henry Holt, 2004)
both by Ellen M. Kozak, copyright, media,
publishing and entertainment lawyer
U.K.
http://www.copyrightaid.co.uk/ British based organization offering the latest in copyright information and resources.
SEARCH TOOLS:
www.googlealert.com (find references to your name, your books, etc. on the web)
www.copyscape.com (find out if your website pages have been copied)
www.icopyright.net and www.clipandcopy.com offer free media monitoring services to track what has been written about you, your company or your books.
http://www.internic.net/whois.html Find out who owns a website.
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php Find archived web pages. Google.com, Live.com, Yahoo.com, Ask.com, and Gigablast.com all keep cached searches going back anywhere from three months to a year, depending on the search engine.
An excerpt from U.S. Copyright Law: TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT
Any or all of the copyright owner’s exclusive
rights or any subdivision of those rights may be transferred, but the
transfer of exclusive rights is not valid unless that transfer is in
writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or such
owner’s duly authorized agent. Transfer of a right on a
nonexclusive basis does not require a written agreement.
This statement was taken from Copyright Basics, which can be found at:
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/smbuss/cpyright/circ1.html
YOU CANNOT COPYRIGHT AN IDEA OR A TITLE.
Plagiarism occurs when someone copies the exact wording from another
source, without attribution. Even with attribution, you cannot copy
substantial portions of anyone else's writing, and the law varies on
how much amounts to "substantial." Always obtain permission!
Sometimes an author of a non-fiction books is upset when someone else
writes about the same subject. But using the same sources does not
constitute plagiarism. No one can "own" sources or access
to original historical documents.
TRADEMARKS protect a service or product and must always be associated with that service or product.
DO NOT USE SONG LYRICS OR SONG TITLES WITHOUT PERMISSION
Copyright on songs is complex. Original publishers who owned the
rights have sold to others (the Beatles' work to Michael Jackson, for
example) and one has to do a Google search to find out who to contact
to obtain permission.
Notice that when you see a song lyric quoted in a novel, there's a
long permission at the front of the book, indicated who owns the
rights. The same thing appears in the credits of movies, if you
happen to notice, where every song sang or played is credited with
the author, rights' owner, and performer.
FREE: The
Article You Can't Read on This Site
Ten Easy Rules About Copyright
A DOZEN REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOUR COPYRIGHT
http://blogs.justfred.ca/smartypants/ Instructions provided by George Butters on how to track web pages to find out who might be using your work without authorization
Information from ACCESS COPYRIGHT's online course
Samples of letters re copyright infringement: letter 1, letter 2
An exchange of e-mails between CanWest and the Travel
Media Association concerning the 2008 CanWest contract.