Whew! I just finished registering the copyright of Twilight of Lanar’ya with the US Copyright office. I did it online to save myself some money and hassle. However, I spent a good hour trying to figure out how to upload the manuscript before I found out that you deposit the copy after you’ve paid the fee. I sure wish that had been in the FAQ. I would have saved myself a near nervous breakdown and an hour of wasted time.
I also received the first mock-up of the cover for Twilight of Lanar’ya today. Keary Taylor is doing the cover art for me and, I must say, she is quite good. I’m very impressed by what she sent me today. Many thanks to my friend Daniel Kaine for recommending her.
Some may wonder why I bothered with registering the copyright for my book. After all, it’s not like anyone’s going to steal it, right? While it is true that the likelihood of my work being claimed by someone else is low, I registered the copyright for my own protection and I recommend that others do the same. The way I see it is like this: suppose that I release my novel sans copyright registration. A few months later, someone at a TV studio reads it and thinks “Hm, that’d made a good TV series.” They go and check to see if the copyright is registered and find that no, it’s not. They can then register the copyright themselves. I happen to be flipping through the channels a year later and there is my story being played out on the screen. I can try to fight them in court but without the registration myself, it’s going to be an uphill battle.
So, I save myself the hassle and register the copyright and deposit the manuscript before I publish. That way, if someone does decide they want to write a screen play or turn it into a TV series, they have to come to me to get the rights to it. I’m fairly liberal about fair use and will be fine with people quoting from the book. I’m not going to sue everyone who puts three words together the same way I did. However, if someone else wants to profit from my work, I want them to have to share with me. I spent six months writing the thing, after all. I spent three months before that outlining and refining it. I’ve spent another three months working on the sequel. So, if someone else wants a cut of my work, they need to pay the piper. If someone else just wants to quote a passage for a review, that’s fair use and I’m not going to start issuing take down notices. Non-profit use I’m fairly cool with. Commercial use, on the other hand…
Anyhow, I’m going to get back to work on Midnight of Lanar’ya now. I’d love to be able to have it finished within the next month or so and ready for release this summer.
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