We celebrated Copyright Day on 23rd April, but what does it actually mean?
Copyrights are an important part of securing your work against a number of things, such as plagiarism. It allows you to take legal action against anybody, who has copied or reproduced your work without consent. It is a lifetime protection, although generally, copyrights last for the life of the author, or the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, and then for 70 years following the end of that calendar year.
So why copyright?
1. It’s beneficial to have your work on record when you register
Registering your book with the copyright office provides you exclusive rights.
2. It prevents others from copying your work
Copyrighting your book legally protects you if someone tries to steal ideas, characters, plot, or any likeness from your work.
3. You cannot sue for copyright infringement unless your book is registered
If someone does steal from you, you cannot do anything about it unless you registered your book.
4. You can produce derivative content related to your copyrighted book
Since you own the rights to your characters, story, and anything unique to your work, you have the freedom to produce more content related to it.
5. Your work can be performed or displayed publicly
If you apply for copyright, you have the freedom to use your book in any public way you wish since you own it. You don’t have to worry about someone else using your work in a public way without your permission.
If you are unsure investigate with your publisher or the platform you are publishing with.
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 