Question re copyrights and stuff

[Kissmequick]

Well I've been testing my novel with some blind test reading of the first few chapters( ie being read by people who don't know me and therefore have no vested interest in telling me they like it). It's gone pretty well, all bar one asked for more, in fact so well one guy is desperate to read the rest.

Now, do I send it to him? I don't know the guy, though he seems nice enough on our e-mails. It's flattering that someone likes it that much, but what are the hazards of basically giving my work to someone?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Tricky enough. It's all a matter of how much you trust your proofreaders, I guess. It's hard to judge this...

 

[iansales]

People stealing books and passing them off as their own isn't that common. And you can quite easily prove the novel is yours because others have seen it. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Kissmequick]

It's true I could prove it's mine - if I knew he'd passed it off as his. But as he doesn't live in the same country as me, I wouldn't nescessarily know he had, especially if it ended up translated. Hence my dilemma.

although this is probably a moot point considering the trouble I'm having getting the damn thing published lol

 

[iansales]

I wouldn't worry about it. I've put stories through online writing workshops, and I've never heard of anyone passing of other work as their own. Of the top of my head, the only recent cases I can think of are: a vanity-published fantasy "ghostwritten" by con-artist-posing-as-agent Christopher Hill for some gullible woman, and a mainstream novel by a US student that was quickly withdrawn when it was shown it had been plagiarised.

 

[Marky Lazer]

I wouldn't worry too much either. It's just your own gut-feeling, I think.

 

[Kissmequick]

Hmm maybe I shall go for it then, and just keep an eye on the Norwegian publications lol.

 

[Ursa major]

Just think: there might be two of you trying to get the book published.

(And as you won't have signed a contact with this free agent, he can't take a cut!)

Oh, and as Ian said, you should be able to prove it's by you.

 

[Giovanna Clairval]

Hi,

Before emailing your beta-reader, send the stuff through the snail mail to your untrusting self in a sealed business envelope.

And you're not supposed to open it upon reception

 

[Kissmequick]

Would having several different copies with various dates in my hard drive do? because posting it would cost me a fortune lol.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

send the stuff through the snail mail to your untrusting self in a sealed business envelope.

And you're not supposed to open it upon reception

They say this doesn't really hold up in court.

The files on your computer, along with any notes you have, and the number of other people who have read it would make more compelling evidence.

 

[Kissmequick]

They say this doesn't really hold up in court.

The files on your computer, along with any notes you have, and the number of other people who have read it would make more compelling evidence.

Ahh good - I've got three seperate drafts on my PC and there are several people who I know IRL who have read it.

I was wondering this before, what safeguards you would need for various reasons, but I've never had anyone to ask....

Thanks guys

 

[Ursa major]

A more serious post from me, this time.

I wonder what the position would be if your book appeared on the Web in its complete, if draft, form. Would it be seen to have been published? What redress do you have? What would the opinion of potential agents and publishers be?

I know that these are unlikely consequences of mailing the document to this man, but I'd like to know what those more experienced with the industry think about this.

 

[Commonmind]

What are the odds this gentleman would steal your work? What are the odds that if he did steal it, he would present it to a publisher with the intention of selling the work? What are the odds the publisher will like what I assume is an unpolished draft? What are the odds that if the publisher does like the work that this gentleman will be able to edit or cut parts of the manuscript per the publisher's request, not understanding the work as intimately as you do yourself?

How often do we hear examples of writers having their work stolen and published? Not very often, because the odds of it happening are very slim.

Writing is no way to get-rich-quick, and I think potential thieves will interest themselves with other, more lucrative endeavors.

 

[Ursa major]

Commonmind,

Risk is a combination of likelihood and consequence. That's why we insure our houses: not because we believe our house will, for instance, burn down during the term of the policy, but because of the loss we would sustain if it did.

If the consequences of your work being posted somewhere public are very bad, why would you risk it? If there are no adverse consequences, then you could happily send your "baby" to whoever asks for it, within reason.

 

[Kissmequick]

I wonder what the position would be if your book appeared on the Web in its complete, if draft, form. Would it be seen to have been published? What redress do you have? What would the opinion of potential agents and publishers be?

Surely that would still be breach of copyright / intellectual property? As such I would assume some steps could be taken to stop it staying on the net?

 

[Ursa major]

Surely that would still be breach of copyright / intellectual property? As such I would assume some steps could be taken to stop it staying on the net?

So would I, but what would be your redress? Have you lost any revenue, and if so, how much? How much would it cost to prove? (I'm asuming a prank rather than a theft, here.) And do you know anything about the real person behind the Email address?

But I was more concerned about the attitude of the industry: would they care or not? (And I know this is all very unlikely; I'd just like to know, if possible.)

 

[iansales]

If the book is unpublished, then no revenue will have been lost. And someone posting it without the author's permission would not affect the author's rights should they try to sell it.

Cases of plagiarism are rare, because it's difficult to succeed at it. The plagiariser (if there is such a word) has to sell the plagiarised work as their own. And we all know that getting published is hard*...

(* unless you're a celebrity... and would a celebrity steal a work when they could just get something ghost-written? )

 

[Kissmequick]

And do you know anything about the real person behind the Email address?

I do a little yes. And it should be easy to keep track of, as if I google the main character's name, all that comes up is the few posts I made with that name on a forum. Anything else pops up and I'll be sending the boys round

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

A more serious post from me, this time.

I wonder what the position would be if your book appeared on the Web in its complete, if draft, form. Would it be seen to have been published? What redress do you have? What would the opinion of potential agents and publishers be?

I know that these are unlikely consequences of mailing the document to this man, but I'd like to know what those more experienced with the industry think about this.

This is a very good question. It would be considered a published work, which would not be helpful in selling the manuscript to a publisher. How long it was actually on the web might factor in, though. (If you found out within a few days and made him remove it, for instance.)

What redress you might have -- you could sue the person responsible, but a court would probably have a hard time figuring out the damages on an unpublished manuscript, since no value has been established.

The best protection against something like this happening is that no one would have much to gain by doing it. That doesn't mean that there isn't somebody somewhere in the world who would put another person's work on the web for the ego gratification of claiming it, however briefly, as his or her own. Yes, you could ultimately prove that it was yours, but only after a lot of trouble and stress and expense.

I, personally, would be wary about sending an electronic file of an entire book to someone I didn't know very well, someone who hadn't a professional reputation to maintain. When you send something to a publisher or an agent, their ability to go on doing business depends on maintaining the public's trust; they stand to lose far more by stealing a writer's work than they are likely gain by it. This would not be the case here. Miniscule as the chances are that he would steal from you, are the benefits you might expect to gain by sending it to him enough to offset even that tiny risk? Perhaps you've gained valuable insights from his critique of the part he's already seen. The possibility of gaining more valuable input would definitely be something to weigh in the balance. But if you are thinking about sending it to him mostly because you are flattered that he asked, I don't think that should weigh in favor of sending it.