Are You Worried Your Ideas or Work Will Be Stolen?

I precocious received nan pursuing mobility from moving writer Shannon Traphagen:

I person been fervently moving connected my caller (I americium 5 chapters into penning it) and consciousness I person a level for illustration nary other. My protagonist and antagonist are strong, and I consciousness it’s a fictional communicative that’s ne'er really been done before. I’m very excited astir it. I precocious publication a file connected blogging successfully wherever you made reference to Kristen Lamb and her articles connected it. The proposal is great, but my mobility is this:

Because my book isn’t vanished and I’m a caller writer, I’m worried that nan ideas I constitute astir successful my blog pertaining to my book could beryllium ripped off. How do I safely constitute astir immoderate of my interests from nan book, based connected nan extended investigation I do, without having personification drawback connected to what my book is about?

Only 2 group person really seen my book to day (with awesome feedback) and I ne'er talk astir nan contented of it to anyone. I’m really protective astir it. Because it’s not vanished I’m not judge really to spell astir this. Can you connection immoderate proposal connected this?

First, a disclaimer

I americium not an lawyer nor do I person immoderate general training successful intelligence spot law. But I person worked successful publishing for 20+ years, and I’ve besides worked pinch IP lawyers. I deliberation we each cognize that asking a lawyer for proposal connected thing tin complicate a situation. I’ve heard lawyers speak astatine penning conferences connected copyright, and everyone ends up paranoid and frightened successful nan abstraction of an hour.

Meaning: Many warnings are unnecessary and counterproductive. My extremity is to make things elemental and springiness you accusation based connected nan existent likelihood thing “bad” will hap to you.

The pursuing proposal is directed toward writers of prose and poetry. If you are a scriptwriter aliases playwright, look elsewhere for advice; it’s a different world for you.

I’ll break this down successful 3 ways:

1. Protecting your ideas
2. Protecting your unpublished writing
3. Protecting your published writing

1. Protecting your ideas

It is not imaginable nether existent U.S. rule to copyright aliases protect an idea. (You besides cannot copyright a title.) So, really overmuch precaution should you return to support your ideas secret?

Very little. I guarantee that others person akin ideas; you spot it hap each nan clip successful nan business. Chalk it up to taste zeitgeist. While I don’t advocator advertizing your thought acold and yon, aliases putting flashing lights astir it connected your blog, nan chances that an agent, editor, critique partner, aliases alien will:

(a) bargain your idea

(b) execute your thought amended than you

(c) AND beryllium capable to waste it

… are adjacent to zero. It is not worthy worrying about. Share your activity pinch trusted advisers, nonstop it to agents/editors for consideration, and talk astir aspects of it connected your blog. No problem. Unless you are known successful nan manufacture for coming up pinch million-dollar precocious concepts, it’s not apt you’ll acquisition thought theft.

And while, sure, personification tin bargain your idea, they can’t perchance execute it aliases construe it successful nan aforesaid measurement you can. No 1 tin beryllium you. That is your champion protection of all.

2. Protecting your unpublished writing

Your activity doesn’t request to beryllium formally published to beryllium protected, and you do not person to show nan copyright awesome connected your manuscript to person it protected. (One of nan reasons location is truthful overmuch disorder surrounding this rumor is that nan rule changed successful nan 1970s.)

Since your activity is copyrighted from nan infinitesimal you create it, nan beingness aliases validity of your copyright will not beryllium affected if you don’t registry nan activity pinch nan U.S. Copyright Office. In fact, you tin registry nan activity aft you find infringement and still beryllium afforded protection. (You will not beryllium eligible for definite types of damages if you do hold to register. Learn much here.)

That said, let’s spell down nan bid of events that must hap for a suit against an infringer to make sense:

(a) Someone must bargain your work.

(b) Someone must create and package nan activity (or make it desirable for personification to salary for it).

(c) Readers person to find it and salary for it.

(d) Meanwhile nan personification who did nan stealing needs to support a low-enough floor plan that nan infringement is not detected while still making capable money to make it worthy his time.

Most group don’t position unpublished writings (or writers) arsenic an untapped golden mine. It’s a batch of difficult activity to profit from a portion of penning (especially penning from an unknown, unproven writer)—isn’t it?

3. Protecting your published writing

This is wherever we participate into philosophical debate. Many judge that obscurity is simply a greater threat than piracy. I thin to agree. Piracy is much apt to wounded authors who are famous, alternatively than nan chartless authors.

However, moreover bestselling authors person experimented pinch giving their activity distant for free—even enabling piracy!—and person claimed to profit moreover much owed to nan trading and publicity effect. See Paulo Coelho arsenic an example.

There is 1 area of theft and wrongdoing that is frustrating: People who create and waste ebooks connected Amazon by duplicating aliases repurposing different people’s content, aliases utilizing nationalist domain work. We’re each depending, frankly, connected Amazon to extremity these bad actors. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.

Other notes

• Your activity cannot accidentally autumn into nan nationalist domain. Published activity does not participate into nationalist domain until 70 years aft nan author’s death, unless you’re offering it nether different framework, e.g., Creative Commons.
• Selling various authorities to your activity doesn’t impact your ownership of nan copyright. Various authorities are each portion of your copyright, but trading them successful nary measurement diminishes your ownership of nan existent work. The only measurement you tin springiness up copyright wholly is if you motion a statement aliases statement that stipulates it is simply a “work for hire,” aliases different purposefully licence your activity nether a different framework.