Post #296211 by Trader Tom on Sun, Apr 1, 2007 8:54 PM

For those of you who want to protect your writing, you can download the forms for filing your copyright with the government at http://www.copyright.gov/forms/. Screenplays would fall under Performing Arts (Form PA), but short stories or other fictional works would fall under Form TX. You will have to pay a fee and wait several months for your certificate.

Technically, you have copyright as soon as your thoughts are put down on paper or some other substantial medium. However, for legal necessity, it's good to file a copyright. This lasts for something like 75 years after your death...or longer if you have a managed estate that handles your copyrights and maintains them after your death in a sort of trust.

Works outside of copyright are public domain. If you go to Project Gutenberg and check out the works there, they are all within public domain. The authors are long dead and the estates are not managing the works so there is no legal impediment. You could re-print copies of them without legal hassle and illustrate them however you wanted.

I think it would be fantastic if a bunch of Tiki illustrators did a new version of Herman Melville's Typee with illustrations throughout, for example.

Here's Melville's novel for free if you haven't read it:

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/results

[ Edited by: Trader Tom 2007-04-01 21:20 ]