The Copyright Handbook: What Every Writer Needs to Know » (Tenth Edition)

Stephen Fishman is the author of many Nolo books, most recently Tax Deductions for Professionals. Other titles include Deduct It! Lower Your Small Business Taxes, Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide and Home Business Tax Deductions: Keep What You Earn-plus many other legal and business books. He received his law degree from the University of Southern California in 1979. After time in government and private practice, he became a full-time legal writer in 1983.

Ignorance is not bliss in the information age. If you create original works, you must understand copyright law or risk becoming a skid mark on the information superhighway.

The Copyright Handbook provides you with all the information and forms you'll need to protect all types of creative expression under U.S. and international copyright law. Written in plain English, this must-have handbook tells you everything you need to know about:

*how to register a written work with the copyright office
*what works can be protected
*when and how to use a copyright notice
*copyright protection for works for hire, adaptations, new editions, electronic mail, literary works and periodicals, and compilations (databases and catalogs)
*rights and duration of ownership
*transfer of copyright ownership
*what constitutes infringement and how to avoid it
*how to recognize an adapted or recast work
*fair use: when and how copyrighted material can be used
*electronic publishing rights
*registration of multimedia works and multimedia rights
*how to protect written works on the Internet

The 8th edition of The Copyright Handbook is completely updated to provide the latest case law, copyright registration forms and copyright regulations. It also provides a new section on permissions and releases.  All forms are included as tear-outs and on CD-ROM.

Small Business Opportunities

Don't do anything without reading Consultant & Independent Contractor Agreements.... [This] book will help you understand the importance of written agreements and will show you exactly how to put your agreement together.

1.  How to Use This Book
How This Book Is Organized
Which Parts of This Book You Should Read
What This Book Is Not About
Icons Used Throughout the Book

2.  Copyright Basics
Why Have a Copyright Law?
What Is Copyright?
How Is a Copyright Created and Protected?
What Copyright Protects
Limitations on Copyright Protection
Copyright Ownership and Transfer of Ownership
How Long a Copyright Lasts
Copyright Infringement
Other Protections for Intellectual Property

3.  Copyright Notice Introduction When Copyright Notice Is Required
Why Provide a Copyright Notice on Published Works?
When to Provide Notice
Form of Notice
Notice on Compilations and Adaptations
Book Dust Jackets
Multimedia Works
Where to Place Copyright Notice
Other Information Near Notice
Copyright Notice on Unpublished Manuscripts

4.  Copyright Registration
What Is Copyright Registration?
Why Register?
What Can and Should Be Registered
Who Can Register?
Registration as a Single Unit
Registering Derivative Works and Compilations
Four-Step Registration Process
Selecting the Appropriate Registration Form
How to Complete Form TX
How to Complete Form PA
Registering Newspapers, Magazines, Newsletters, and Other Periodicals:
Form SE, Short Form SE, Form SE/Group, Form G/DN
Registering a Group of Contributions to Periodicals: Form GR/CP
Satisfying Copyright Office Deposit Requirements
Sending Your Application to the Copyright Office
Expedited Registration
Preregistration of Unpublished Works
Dealing With the Copyright Office
Full-Term Retention of Deposits and Other Ways to Preserve Deposits
Correcting Errors After Registration Is Completed

5.  Correcting or Changing Copyright Notice or Registration

Part I: Dealing With Errors or Omissions in Copyright Notice
Works Published After March 1, 1989
Copies Published Between January 1, 1978 and February 28, 1989
Works Published Before 1978
Types of Errors or Omissions That Invalidate a Copyright Notice

Part II: Dealing With Errors or Changes Affecting Copyright Registration:
Supplemental Registration
Why a Supplemental Registration Should Be Filed (When Appropriate)
When Supplemental Registration Is Not Appropriate
Supplemental Registration Procedure
Effect of Supplemental Registration

6.  What Copyright Protects
What Copyright Protects: Tangible, Original Expression
What Copyright Does Not Protect: The Boundaries of the Public Domain
Distinguishing Between Protected Expression and Material in the Public
Domain: Putting It All Together
7.  Adaptations and Compilations Derivative Works Compilations
8.  Initial Copyright Ownership
Independent Authorship by an Individual
Works Made for Hire
Jointly Authored Works

9.  Transferring Copyright Ownership
How Copyright Ownership Rights Are Transferred to Others
Rights Retained by Author After Transfer
Copyright Transfers Between Freelance Writers and Magazines and Other Periodicals
Copyright Transfers Between Writers and Book Publishers
Transfer Documents
Marriage, Divorce, and Copyright Ownership
Recording Copyright Transfers With the Copyright Office

10.  Copyright Duration Works Created During or After 1978 End of Calendar Year Rule
Works Created but Not Published or Registered Before January 1, 1978 Works Published or
Registered Before January 1, 1978 Special Rules for Works First Published Abroad Before 1978
Duration of Copyright in Adaptations (Derivative Works)
Termination of Transfers of Renewal Term Rights in -Pre-?1978 Works

11.  Using Other Authors' Words
Introduction
Introduction to the Fair Use Privilege
When Is a Use a Fair Use?
Fair Use and the Photocopy Machine
Copying by Libraries and Archives
Other Fair Uses

12.  Copyright Infringement: What It Is, What to Do About It, How to Avoid It What Is Copyright Infringement?
How to Know Whether You Have a Valid Infringement Claim
When Copying Protected Expression Is Excused
Self-Help Remedies for Copyright Infringement
Overview of Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
What You Can Get If You Win: Remedies for Copyright Infringement
What to Do If You're Accused of Infringement

13.  International Copyright Protection
International Protection for U. S.  Citizens and Nationals
Protection in the U. S.  for Non?U. S.  Citizens
Copyright Protection in Canada
Marketing Your Work in Foreign Countries

14.  Copyright in the Online World, Electronic Publishing, and Multimedia
What's Available Online
What Online Materials Qualify for Copyright
Rights Enjoyed by Copyright Owners Online
How Copyright Protects Different Types of Online Works
Copyright Infringement Online
Copyright Formalities: Notice and Registration
Electronic Publishing and Ownership of Electronic Rights
Multimedia Works
Electronic Databases

15.  Copyright and Taxation Writers' Income Tax Deductions Taxation of Copyright Income
16.  Obtaining Copyright Permissions
Who Owns the Text?
Start With Online Permission Services
Locate the Publisher
Contact the Author
Special Situations
When You Can't Find the Rights Holder
Negotiating Text Permission and Fees

17.  Help Beyond This Book
Intensive Background Resources
Primary Source Materials on Copyright
Finding a Copyright Lawyer


Appendix A.  Sample Forms
1.  Single unpublished work (a novel); single author
2.  Single published work; single author; photos registered separately by photographer
3.  Single published work; five joint authors; publisher acquired all copyrights
4.  Single work made for hire; previously published under another title and revised; a derivative work
5.  Published book; derivative work based on previously published article; joint authors: one the author of the text, the other the photographer; text and photos registered together as a single unit of publication
6.  Single published work; publisher acquired all rights in text; text and work for hire cover art and copy registered together as a single unit of publication
7.  Published compilation (anthology); publisher registers for the authors
8.  Single author; contribution to collective work
9.  Group of contributions to periodicals in a 12-month period; a single author
10.  Original screenplay by a single author
11.  Unpublished song lyric; single author
12.  Three monthly issues of a monthly magazine registered as a group on Form SE/Group
13.  Single magazine issue
14.  Single issue of a magazine published three times a year; single author; not a work made for hire

Appendix B.  How to Use the CD-ROM
A.  Installing the Form Files Onto Your Computer
B.  Using the Word Processing Files to Create Documents
C.  Using United States Copyright Office Forms
Index