"My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel--it is, above all, to make you see." -- Joseph Conrad (1897)
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Anyone Familiar With Copyright Laws?
I just found out that Norton anthologies reproduced one of my writings--without any notice or payment...
Where was the writing oringally published? Although very bad form not to tell you, if you've previously published it and signed your copyright away, it's a whole different ballgame...
You should double-check whatever you signed when you initially published it. But assuming you did retain all future publication rights, then Norton's use violates your copyright. You should contact them -- or, preferably, have a lawyer contact them on your behalf. If you don't know any lawyers, you should be able to get a referral through the bar association for your city/state.
Yeah, unfortunately at the time I wrote it I didn't know what a creative commonslicense was... I get the feeling though with the corporate raiding of creative works that they will soon get a test case.
Oso--do you still want to write the profile of Global Voices for the blogger issue?
5 comments:
Where was the writing oringally published? Although very bad form not to tell you, if you've previously published it and signed your copyright away, it's a whole different ballgame...
It was published in a print journal, but the rights were retained by me.
You should double-check whatever you signed when you initially published it. But assuming you did retain all future publication rights, then Norton's use violates your copyright. You should contact them -- or, preferably, have a lawyer contact them on your behalf. If you don't know any lawyers, you should be able to get a referral through the bar association for your city/state.
Thanks Continental Op,
I had you in mind when I wrote the question--I never signed anything away and I'm currently drafting a letter through a lawyer.
I'll update when I learn more (so others are aware of their rights in this regard)
Yeah, unfortunately at the time I wrote it I didn't know what a creative commonslicense was... I get the feeling though with the corporate raiding of creative works that they will soon get a test case.
Oso--do you still want to write the profile of Global Voices for the blogger issue?
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