Contracts, rights and liabilities

Another Q about the Net & publishing

drvicky — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 05:55:47 GMT

I have a website for my private practice as a psychologist and have written several articles tor the site that I think would make good magazine pieces. The site is designed for local attorneys but I have a few pages for the general public. My site is rarely if ever visited. What rights am I entitled to sell? When do I mention that the piece has appeared on my website?

Publishing someone elses work....

Sharon3333 — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:35:51 GMT

I have ownership/possession of my great grandfather's poetry from the late 1800's -early 1900's, and I'm interested in putting them into book and attempting to get it published. Can I do this under my name, showing him as author?

Please help out a beginner!

karatewriter — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:02:43 GMT

I'm working on a novel (aren't we all?) which contains a passage that could be modified into a good short story. If I sold that short story to a magazine, would I still retain the rights to it and be able to publish it later in my novel?

Thanks in advance for your help on this.

"Rights vary," and pen names.

Tiamat — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:41:36 GMT

I'm looking into submitting a fiction story to Cricket magazine, which I've loved since I was a kid. My only concern is that in the submission guidelines, it states that "rights vary" for fiction submissions. I'd like to have an idea of what I'm getting myself into. Has anyone encountered similar ambiguity before?

Also, I plan to publish under a pen name. When/how should I tell the publisher this, if through some miracle I do get accepted?

real names of the deceased

nanciq — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 01:04:14 GMT

I'm currently writing a fiction book based on fact. The time period is the late 1800's. Do I need permission from living relatives to use these names? Some of the names I have just gotten off the 1880 census for people living nearby. Would it be sufficient to have a disclaimer, or possibly an epilogue saying it is a fictionalized account based on a real person?

Nanci

Software User Book

Edgeledge — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:01:14 GMT

Hi I am writing a book for a engineering software program. This program is used by 80% of instrumentation engineers globally. I have approached the vendor asking for permission to use screen shots in the book and am waiting for a response.

Does anyone have any experience with the legalities of this. I am guessing if I have their blessing in writing then if the book goes well they have no recourse for financial gain.

Gaining permission from defunct publisher

John the Pilgrim — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:27:58 GMT

In my latest non-fiction book, I have exceeded what I consider to be 'fair use' in copying material from a 1977 book, thus I want to request permission to use the material. However, the author is dead, and the publisher is long out of business. I this case, what should I do? Can I go ahead and use the material and cross my fingers, or is there an additional step I should take first. Thanks, Jack Harpster

question of copyright and reprints

texaswriter — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:22:01 GMT

Years ago (1994) my first book contract provided for the publisher to file for copyright in my name. When the book came out the publisher was listed as the copyright owner. When questioned they had truly filed for the copyright in their name in error but just gave me a letter transferring all rights back to me with an apology. The book only sold the initial printing and a second printing was never done so all of my books showed someone else as the copyright owner. To add insult to injury I was on Amazon.com the other day and pulled up a copy of my book that was published in 1996 - 2 years after the book first came out - published by large publisher in England.

I wonder if anyone has ever had this happen to them and the correct way this should have been corrected. Also, since it appears that other publishing rights were sold that I never received any compensation for, or had knowledge of, is it too late to ask for an audit and compensation?

Pressing libel questions!

Dolt — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 20:18:31 GMT

OK, I'm working on a non-fiction book due to come out next year from Continuum (if I ever get it finished) and I have two similar stories in it that I need to figure out if or how I can include them.

1. The first story is that Person A claims in an interview that Famous Comic Book Writer sold him a very rare comic book for $1.50 when they were both kids in the 1960s. I contacted FCBW by email to fact-check it, and he wrote back briefly that he did know Person A when they were kids, but never sold him any comics, much less the one in question. He added "I'm sure it's just a faulty memory of his and I'm sure I still have it here...somewhere." Naturally, Person A no longer owns the comic book in question, so there's no way to prove it either way. So my question is, if I include FCBW's response, can I include the story in my book and be safe legally?

2. This is a separate story with different people in a different chapter. Person B made a little-seen parody film of a then-current famous movie in the 1970s. He eventually met the Very Famous Director at a party, and claims the director chewed him out because he was so hurt by the parody. I have no way to contact the Very Famous Director, and even if I could, I doubt he'd consent to an interview about a conversation he had almost 30 years ago (if he even remembered it), and if he did, he'd surely not admit that he blew his stack at a nobody in the middle of a party.

So can I include any of this story at all? How does the fact that he's a famous person affect it, if at all? Am I liable for someone else's claim (which I have on tape) if I recount it word-for-word? As you can imagine, I'd like to use the story, but not if it's gonna mean I'll get sued and be unable to feed my two-year-old.

Any ideas? Help!

Reprint rights

joykena — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 21:27:05 GMT

How much should you charge for reprint rights?

Copyright short stories

catsndogs — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:33:29 GMT

Hello all,

I have never been published. I just finished working on a short story that I plan to send to some magazines. Should I copyright the story first? Is it commpnm practice to CR a short story?

thanks,

Real People, False Names

mrevelle — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 18:06:05 GMT

This may have been covered or answered before. I researched but couldn't find anything on it, so if it has been covered, please direct me to the thread.

I frequently use real characters but change their names slightly. For example, using a real person named James White, I'll change it to James Black or something similar. My question is how close to real life can I come without infringing on anyone's rights or violating any thing? There have been times when the real person is much more interesting than any fictional character I can come up with. Does it matter if someone reads one of my works and can figure out who I'm writing about?

Literary Trusts

mylefttire — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 20:09:55 GMT

I have written a work of fiction in which a prominent writer of the era is a major character. In my search for an address to request permission to use this individual, I can find reference to his "literary trust", but cannot locate an address. Is there a database or other material to which I can refer to locate the address?

True Crime

bausch — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 21:36:18 GMT

I am writing a story that took place more than 50 years ago about a missing ten-year-old and the search to locate her in the 1950's. The information is newspaper articles, police files and public information. Current information relates to my search in public offices, to police officers both current and retired and assorted files and newspaper stories. Do I need to obtain any form of signed documentation? Would this be considered True Crime?

While the girl is still missing, there has never been any one charged with any crime in connection with this case. The case has not been solved, nor is it closed.

Book adapted FROM a movie

Madipides — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 05:45:14 GMT

Hey all,

I am new to the forum, and am wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction to figure out what the law is regarding writing a novel that is based upon a book. Yes, I wrote that in the right order. Most movies are based upon books, but I want to write a book based upon a movie that I really liked. It was a small film that came out in 1995 and only made $2.5 million.

I am not well-versed in this arena, as I've never started on a project like this before. Just to compare, I'm reading through John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany and comparing that to the movie Simon Birch which discloses "suggested by the novel by John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany" I notice that some of the screenplay is direct quotations of the book, though the characters all have different names, and there are details like it is set in a town of the same name, but in Maine rather than New Hampshire, etc. I know that this is a movie that came out after the book, and what I want to do is the opposite.

Anyway, if anyone can lend a hand, please let me know.

Thanks,

Matt "madipides"