Job Discussion Forums

[Liam]

A friend of mine has written an unorthodox teaching programme/curriculum and is looking to sell it to various language centres. Before sending samples around to find interested parties, he is anxious that his work may be copied or stolen without payment. Does anyone know of any ways to cheaply/freely copyright his work to prevent this happening?

[ChrisRose]

Dear Liam,

It is difficult to copyright ideas per say. Artwork, chartacters and paticular phrases providing they are not generic can be covered by copyright.

Many of the larger publishers have a contract that hands the copyright over to them whilst they review the materials.

I would suggest that yoru friend only deals with the larger publishers and discusses his concerns with them.

[kowlooner]

I like to spend time on Photo.net where the issue of copyrights pops up quite frequently. From what I understand, after looking at various posts and law sites (see "www.nolo.com" for much more), is that an individual does not have to "apply" for a copyright for an original, creative work. That covers photos, writing, music, etc etc. In other words, a copyright is automatic.

However, it does help to include a copyright notice on the materials published. And, if one wishes further protection, then a registration of the copyright is useful - though that costs a little bit of money (not too much though).

BUT! The copyright only covers the material, not the idea. That means another party may not cut and paste from your friend's materials, but it may use the concept.

This applies to copyright principles in the U.S., but due to international agreements, most of the same basic ideas concerning copyrights are applied in most countries, so it should be the same in HK.

One other thing, though. Copyrights apply to published materials. Published, however, does not necessarily mean what you may think it means. From Nolo.com:

In the complicated scheme of copyright laws, which law applies to a particular work depends on when that work is published. A work is considered published when the author makes it available to the public on an unrestricted basis. This means that it is possible to distribute or display a work without publishing it if there are significant restrictions placed on what can be done with the work and when it can be shown to others. For example, Andre Bergmino writes an essay called "Blood and Oil" about the war in Iraq, and distributes it to five human rights organizations under a nonexclusive license that places restrictions on their right to disclose the essay's contents. "Blood and Oil" has not been "published" in the copyright sense. If Bergmino authorizes posting of the essay on the Internet, however, it would likely be considered published.

Hope this helps!