Let’s face it, traditional publishing is not for everyone. The number of self-published authors continues to grow as technology makes the self-publishing process easier (until it comes time to market, but that’s a whole different conversation). With so many authors choosing self -publishing, it’s more important than ever to know what to do to protect your work. Below is a checklist of copyright-related tasks to take care of before you publish:
- Make sure you have all the rights and permissions you need. Double-check that all your content is original to you. If there’s anything that’s not original to you, make sure a) it is not copyright-protected or b) you have permission to use it.
- Make sure you have contracts in place for any co-authors or service providers. I’ve known a number of authors over the years who came to grief because they did not have a written agreement in place with their co-authors, ghostwriters, illustrators, or other people who put their hands (physical or digital) on the manuscript. Save yourself the hair-pulling and have signed agreements that state who owns the copyright and how and when people will get paid.
- Fill out the copyright notice page. This is the page at the front of the book that states what year the book was copyrighted and who the owner is. Some other information you can put on this page:
- Contact information for permissions. This tells people how to contact you if they want permission to use your work.
- Disclaimers. This is more for trademark or right of publicity issues, but a disclaimer can be helpful to show that you’re not trying to claim ownership of a trademark or model a character after a real person. For example, most movies have a line in the credits that says something along the lines of “This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people, living or deceased, is coincidental.”
- Permissions or limitations. You could give limited permissions on this page, e.g., saying it’s okay to quote from the book as long as the quote is three sentences or less. You can also put limitations on this page; a popular one these days is “You may not use this work to train AI software and/or large language models.”
- Keep copies of notes and drafts. There are two reasons for this. First, it can show the work is original to you and not AI-generated. Second, it can establish that the work existed in a certain format at a certain time. If there is a copyright infringement lawsuit or if the Copyright Office claims the work is AI-generated, having these drafts and notes will prove helpful.
Those are the key steps to take before you publish to protect your work. In Part 2 next month, we’ll cover what to do after your book is published to maintain and enforce your rights. If you’d like to take a closer look at your manuscript or make sure everything is properly in place, feel free to reach out at kaway@kawaylaw.com or visit https://kawaylaw.com.
