The emerging author will grapple with a copyright
issue early in their writing career.
If they do not, chances are they have breached
copyright without knowing it and that is absolutely no defence at law.
If you think copyright is there to protect your
creativity – I unlike the phrase “intellectual property” – you are partially
right.
If you think copyright is there to allow big
companies to stifle your creativity, you are partially right.
Copyright, throughout its history, has had these
contradictory purposes.
I am indebted to John Lanchester for his
explanation of early copyright laws. (Memo to John’s lawyers: don’t take that
word indebted literally) Here
I quote from the above: “With the creation of the
Stationers' Company in 1556, printers had to register their books, in order to
make it easier for the monarchy to censor their "heresy, sedition and
treason….”
If you take books to be a form of media, as I do,
copyright came into existence as a form of media licensing, still practised
around the world by dictatorships and advertisers. (Advertisers effectively
withdrew the licence to print of the News of the World after the phone hacking
scandal)
The legal bunfight between Apple and Samsung also
centres on media licensing.
While the stoush is over copyright of smartphone and tablet
technology, the real value for Samsung and Apple is in their royalties from the
media content they are able to convey.
The outcomes of the Apple V. Samsung barney – 20 cases in 10
countries and counting – will have ramifications for content producers,
including eBook self-publishers. (Amazon has announced it wants to play at the
lawyers’ picnic, too.) But the copyright
cases are no direct threat to the livelihood of self-publishers.
Such is not the case if an eBook self-publisher is sued or
criminally charged for copyright violation. Many countries have providers of
free legal advice on copyright. In my experience, the advice errs on the side
of caution and avoids being too specific about your query – probably concerned
with being sued if specific advice goes pear-shaped. But authors should use
such services if they feel the need. Also check internally on the copyright of an
article or photograph. Check externally as well. Creative Emptor: let the
author beware.
As a reward for getting this far, you receive an explanation
of the cryptic headline: Copyright is your friend just like
Joe Orton’s.
Playwright Joe Orton’s friend (partner) Kenneth
Halliwell murdered the successful Orton out of jealousy. Here
It’s a somewhat dodgy analogy with this blog’s content
but I thought I would grab your attention if not that of search engines.
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