F A C T S   O F   T H E   M A T T E R 

By the way, if you are looking for a U.S. copyright holder use this great outline by the University of Texas.

Exlusive rights is a key concept in understanding your property rights. According to my legal resources Bunnin and Beren, copyright is a bundle of rights that include:

1. The right to reproduce the work.
2. To prepare derivative work based on your original.
3. To sell copies of it.
4. To peform it in public.
5. To display it in public.

For work created after January 1, 1978 your copyright extends seventy years past the end of your life.

You might tell your heirs about that one or send them to the above link that explains about work created before and after 1978.

In my research I came across this blog by Irv Muchnick that seems testy and worth linking to.

And read this counter-story by Charlotte Allen on her inclusion in the class-action infringement suit "Literary Works in Electronic Databases Copyright Litigation."

Even though this document from the International Federation of Journalists was written ten years ago, it is still an excellent backgrounder to some of the issues writers and publishers are grappling with.

 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> T I D B I T S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

An interesting part of this copyright law is how it deals with titles. Titles can not be copyrighted and yet they are protected if the person using a similar title is using it as a device to trick the public in believing it is connected to the original creator. It's called "palming off" or "passing off."

Another intersting tidbit: If your work is libelous it will still be copyrighted since the libel hasn't been established yet in a court of law.

Still another: If a freelance writer writes for a publication it is never, by itself, a "work for hire." That type of binding work that gives your copyright to the publisher must be put into a formal contract and signed by both parties. Remember to read the contract!

A writer wrote me this year saying she had seen her writing on a web page without her permission. After some research we ran into the "Notice and Takedown," provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In it a writer can write to an ISP and ask the infringed material be taken down without subjecting the ISP to legal hassles of harboring pirated copyright material.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L    C O P Y R I G H T 

Writers need to know that copyright is respected all around the globe. Most countries have agreements with each other about copyrights and belong to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Global anecdotes:

Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin wrote a novel "Blue Lard." It included a gay sex scene between Stalin and Krushchev and instigated a protest that included a public burning of the novel. Here's the interesting part: people passed out extracts of the work to passers-by. Sorokin claimed copyright infringement but a Moscow court ruled in favor of the protestors.

In April of 2000 a publishing house in China published works in an essay collection. Twenty-five writers and their agents sued, including notables Cong Weixi, Zhang Kangkang, and Xiao Fuxing, and a Beijing court ordered the publishing company to apologize and pay them 680,000 yuan for economic losses.

You should visit the Copyright Office of the government you live in.

Here are a few:

The United States
Canada
Great Britian
France
China
Japan
India

A collection of national copyright laws from UNESCO.
Copyright infringements are certainly wrong. But that’s not exactly what repurposing print content for the Web is all about.
Having been accused of copyright infringement, Google appealed. Who will win and what will it mean for the future of news aggregators in Europe?
Here's the answer with more to come. A set-back for Google.

B R I E F   O N   W R I T E R S   R I G H T S 

Definitions of rights you possess when you approach a magazine with a piece of writing.
The Author's Guild has an outline of electronic rights for writers.
ASJA outlines what "work-made-for-hire" and "all-rights" contracts are about.

F O R M S 

This contains forms and instructions for U.S. copyright seekers.

F I N A L   T H O U G H T S

Ownership of one's talent and work is a crucial and meaningful principle.

To appreciate this all you need to do is look at the history of copyright and how ownership shifted from printers and publishers slowly over to writers. We are in another epoch-making shift where a writer's ownership is both enhanced and threatened by digital publishing.

Writers have been involved in the question of copyrights. The poet Wordsworth was tireless in his efforts to improve the copyright laws of early 19th century England.

"The wrongs of literary men are crying out for redress on all sides. It appears to me that towards no class...are the laws so unjust and oppressive." I like the fact he seperated out writers as a distinctive class.

These are all terrific resources that will help clarify and deepen your understanding of terms, uses, history, and current issues:

The Copyright Clearance Center is full of resources.
Copyright Information Services
Center for Democracy and Technology keeps tabs on current legislation and has resources.
Copyright and Fair Use Overview from Stanford University
Copyright on the Internet
Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the U.S.
Fair Use in a Nutshell
Michael Landau discusses the Tasini case.
This chapter from Jessica Litman's book on Digital Copyright outlines some of the problems of this crucial question.
This is a long scholarly discussion of copyright and the original intentions of the Constitution.

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  >>>>>>>>>>>>> I N T E R L U D E <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<  

I enjoyed this farewell blog from the book reviewer of the Dallas Morning News. He writes about how reading has been tainted as a leisure activity rather than a necessity. He quotes the critic David Denby on the current state of media, "(it is) information without knowledge, opinions without principles, instincts without beliefs."

Huzzah Mr. Denby, you have spoken the bitter truth of the matter.

=========================
R E S O U R C E N O T E S

If you are a beginning writer or thinking you want to get involved in the writing life please use the articles here.

There are many useful tips, links, and features that can set you on your way.

There is also a rich array of links for every type of writing resource here.

Sunoasis.com was developed with the writer and editor in mind. Enjoy your stay!
=========================

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=========================
B u s i n e s s o f W r i t i n g :

The freelance writer as a hired gun.
So you want to be a freelance writer in NY City? Or, any city for that matter? According to this guy, "If you can report, and you can make a good sentence, that's all that matters." Interesting guy, interesting interview.
Here, the professor makes a very strong statement about how journalism morphs into different forms. It's not print or digital; it's reporting. Who will do it, what resources will they do it with, who will edit and fact-check them?
This is a site for those who are interested in community journalism. I would recommend it to any writer or editor interested in getting a presence on the internet.
The Chicago Manual of Style will soon be available online by subscription. The price for the online manual will be $25 for individuals for the first year, $30 thereafter. The list price of the hardcover print version is $55.
Do you need to give a quote for your freelance services? Here's a way to figure it out.

=========================
B u s i n e s s o f P u b l i s h i n g :

Sony plans to launch an electronic book store on the Internet and start selling a device that displays e-books purchased from the store. Sony's new portable reader, which reviewers say mimics the quality of regular paper, will sell for about $350.
Let Mr. Magazine explain why "niche" is the future of magazine publishing. As goes the magazine publishing trend, so goes the freelance writer.
=========================

W r i t e r O r g a n i z a t i o n s :

Garden Writers Association
National Association of Science Writers
Story Circle Network
Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Story Tellers
Society of Writers, Editors, and Translators (located in Japan)
Western Writers of America

Back to Table of Contents

M A R K E T S  A N D  L E A D S

Horizon Air
Pays $450 and up for features
Hemispheres Magazine
Pays $.50/word
Midwest Airlines Magazine
Pays $100 - $650 for feature articles.
Skylights
Pays $.40 a word
Southwest Airlines Spirit
Pays $1/word
Spirit of Aloha
Pays $500 and up
Washington Flyer Magazine
Pays $500 - $900 per article

Here is an index of writer guidelines.

JOBS

Writer
Valley Forge, PA

Vanguard, one of the world's leading investment management companies, needs a creative, disciplined writer to develop and produce a range of investment and marketing communications, in a variety of different media including print and electronic channels. You should be able to tailor your writing to various audiences, such as sophisticated investment professionals, financial advisors, and individual investors.

For Full Ad

Copywriter/Editor
Location: Paris, France

Present in more than 150 countries, Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is a world leader in business travel management. In order to support the development of its global Corporate and Marketing Communications Department, CWT is recruiting a copywriter/editor. Copywriter/Editor M/F English native speaker

For Full Ad

Job Links for new leads!

If you have any suggestions about markets you want guidelines for, just drop a line

A T    C/ O A S I S

DIVA by Elizabeth Varadan
"It’ll be nice to see my grandbabies," Renee chattered nervously. Since they’d left the bus depot the taxi driver had only made noncommittal grunts to her comments.

"Six months old," said Renee. "Twins. A boy and a girl." Rose had sent her a picture with the birth announcement. They both had shocks of dark hair like her daughter’s above their wrinkled faces.

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C O M M U N I T Y

October 10, 2006
Writing for the lifestyle and home service markets
Open to Public
New York, NY
ASJA's second event of the 2006-7 season showcases a stellar panel of editors and writers in the food and shelter magazine markets.

Guide to Writers Conferences and Workshops for October.

The international Cat Writers' Association (CWA) will hold its 13th annual writers' conference in Foster City, CA near San Francisco on November 17-19, 2006. The conference is open to anyone interested in pet writing and will feature two days of professional seminars with nationally known speakers on topics including contracts and copyright, book promotion, online writing, the human-animal bond and feral cat issues, and a magazine editor panel.
For More Information.

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

Want to keep Sunoasis going? Donate through the Amazon Honor System and wonderful things will happen!

Thanks to Steven Evans for his generous contribution. Thanks Steven! He is an editor and has a splendid web site here: www.the-freelance-editor.com

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F Y I

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E T C/ E T C/ E T C

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