[touchwood]

I have come across the term ‘ not the mode of expression of the story ‘ relating to copyrigt and wonder what this really means.

If I write a story about a goldfish swimming in a bowl and it bumps into things inside the bowl, say a rock, and a swordfish the reader of this story can imagine all sorts of inferences. I have copyright of this story once published. Copyright must however be lodged or I cannot stop (sue) anyone from copying it.

Here comes the question. If someone re-writes the story FROM THE POINT OF VIEWS of the goldfish and the swordfish the rewite doesn’t infringe my copyright (I believe)

Why?

Well, my story was my expression of my idea of the goldfish bumping into the rock and the swordfish. My expression - copyright 2 me.

The rewrite was a totally different expression of my original ‘idea’ which cannot be copyrighted.

Am I correct?

Yuk!

regards

touchwood

[touchwood]

Sorry, please change the ending of my last sentence from 'cannot be copyrighted' to 'doesn't infringe MY original copyright.' (this box a bit small, will compose off-line, check and post in future!)

[Erebus]

As I understand it, Touchwood, you cannot copyright an idea in relation to writing. However, copyright for your work is automatic in most countries, usually for the term of the author's life plus 50 years. You can also register your copyright, something which certainly does seem necessary in the US, given the increasing tide of the litigious culture its lawers have perpetuated! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

Usually though, being able to prove you are the owner and creator of the work is sufficient, I think.

In relation to ideas, I think copyright is more concerned with outright plagiarism, which must be true, given the number of similar-themed novels out there! Of course, this is completely different to a patented idea for a product etc. where ideas can certainly be protected by law.

[Erebus]

Here's some info I found that may prove useful to anone interested. This applies to US copyright only:

Obtaining a federal copyright is basically an insurance policy for your work. Copyright protection arises automatically the moment the author fixes the work in a tangible form (i.e. when a writer writes her story), without the author having to do anything. So why copyright your work if you're automatically protected?

1. Registration establishes a public record of your copyright and puts everyone in the world on notice of your copyright.

2. You cannot sue somebody for copyright infringement until you have registered your work with the Copyright Office.

3. No award for statutory damages or attorneys fees will be made for any infringement of a copyright in an unpublished work which occurs prior to registration of the copyright. The same holds true for published works, unless the registration is made within three months after the first publication.

4. If the registration of your work is done within five years from its creation, it is considered prima facie evidence in court. Prima facie evidence means that if you ever went to court, the registration of your copyright would be sufficient evidence of your ownership of the copyrighted material. The only way for another party to win would be for them to present evidence showing:

that they had a pre-existing copyright claim to the work.

that you permitted them to use your work.

that you didn't actually create the work.

that you stole it from them.

More info can be found here:
www.clickandcopyright.com (http://www.clickandcopyright.com)