SHOULD YOU BOTHER TO COPYRIGHT?
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In which the author explodes a few myths, and explains a simple (and cheap) method to protect copyright.

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Actually, the title is a misnomer. Everything is copyright the moment it dribbles off your pen or printer.  As long as it is your original work, the copyright automatically and immediately becomes yours. You can sell the reproduction rights, but no-one can take the copyright from you. The work does not have to carry the Copyright symbol ©, or even the word "Copyright", in order to be copyright.

The real question is: Should I bother to protect my copyright, and if so, how? 

We'll deal with the how first. You can protect your copyright by registering it with a body such as the Library of Congress (USA) or the Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA). But that's expensive. And it does not solve a lot of copyright problems (which I'll deal with shortly). 

A simpler and cheaper way to protect copyright is to do the following:
	~ Take a copy of the document, along with a signed statement that it is your own original work, to a Justice of the Peace, and ask him/her to add a signature of witness to it. (They should not charge a fee for this, in New Zealand at least.) You could ask a lawyer to do the same, but they will probably charge you.
~ Post these papers to yourself using registered mail.
~ When the mail arrives, DO NOT OPEN IT, but store it in a safe place. 
Should you ever need to prove that you composed this work, you have a legal document that will stand up in a court of law.

Now, why would you bother to register copyright? Here are some of the reasons people do so:
1. To prevent someone pirating your work.
2. To protect any income that may be derived from the sale or performance or the work.
3. To prevent someone modifying your work without permission.
4. To prevent someone making copies of your work and selling them.
5. To boost your ego.

Some of these issues have become real hot potatoes with the growth of the Internet. Many people (Christians included) think that if something is published on the Web, it is not copyright, or they are free to take it and do with it as they want. This is not true. The legal position is exactly the same as if the material were published in a book. If you wrote it, it is yours, and no-one else can use it, except in the manner proscribed. 

For this reason, many authors feel that publishing a book is the only safe way to protect copyright. 
Let me explode this myth immediately. Copyright gives the average author absolutely no protection whatsoever!! whether the work is published in a book or on the Web.

Before you strangle me with my mouse cable, let me ask you a question:

How will you know if someone has violated your copyright? 

Unless you are a major author, with big sales, the book and music publishers and copyright agencies are not going to monitor the use of your work. From time to time music performing rights organisations have a blitz on places like nightclubs and churches. And of course if you advertise the performance of a major play, that will probably be checked. But are you in that league? (If you are, you probably won't be reading this.) The rest of us, myself included, have virtually no protection, unless someone should draw our attention to an obvious violation. And, of course, if you should find out that someone is pirating your work and making megabucks from it, that's when your JP-witnessed document comes in handy. 

But let's look at the ordinary day-to-day situation. You have published a book. Someone borrows that book from a library, or a friend. They make several dozen copies of the script, or they majorly rewrite it and then make several dozen copies. Then they perform it and charge $5 per head entrance fee. They have violated your copyright in multiple ways, and you have not collected a cent, but how will you know? 

There is no difference between this scenario, and someone lifting a script from the Internet and doing the same. Well, there is a difference, but it is in scale, not in principle - one person borrowing a book from a library, or several hundred lifting a script from the Internet. 

In fact, the Internet actually gives you more protection. And as far as I can discern, this is really the only way to protect at least some of your potential income.

If you want to ensure that users pay you royalties or performing rights, you can put on a web site just a summary of the script, or a portion of it, to give people a taste. If they want the whole script, they front up with the cash first. Another method is to post material in a copyright (watermarked) pdf document. This can be opened with the program Adobe Acrobat and read, but it cannot be printed or otherwise copied. You can't do either of these with a book! But it still does not stop people making unauthorised copies, or unauthorised changes. Ultimately, you are reliant on people's honesty, and being aware of the rules.

If you'd like to dialogue further on these issues, feel free to drop me a line. I'd love to hear what your experience has been.
John McNeil
soulcommunication@paradise.net.nz