The Writer's Cafe discussion

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to ask the group a question regarding copyrights. For example, when I write a novel, I have it registered and get the copyright certificate and all of that, which is fine, I will only be writing a few novels a year anyway.

My question is, I see a lot of short fiction on Amazon, and I was just wondering if anyone bothers to actually get these shorter works registered? It seems like a waste of money to get a short story copyrighted, but I would still think anything worth publishing should be worth protecting.

Anyone write short fiction and publish short stand-alone stories, and if so, how do you handle the copyright? Just curious! I thank everyone in advance for any advice.

Hi Quentin!

In New Zealand, it's unnecessary to register works for copyright, as any work you create is automatically copyrighted to you when you bring it into solid form; eg when you write a story, paint an artwork, or record a video. You can find more information at http://www.copyright.org.nz/basics.php.

Of course, now that I've checked your profile and see you're based in the US - since the USA has joined the Berne Convention the situation is the same, with copyright automatically conferred upon the creator (except in very specific situations such as work-for-hire). However, in the USA people also have the option to ADDITIONALLY register their copyright, in anticipation of any litigation arising from the copyright of a work.

So, I imagine that US authors weigh up whether they require the expense and additional protection offered by copyright registration for each work, vs the basic protection of automatic copyright, for each of their works depending on how valuable they think that extra protection will be.

Hi Marie, thanks for the input! Yes, copyright law is the same here, basically as soon as you create it, it's copyrighted. However, like you pointed out, registering it may be required if it came to a legal matter.

Your points were spot on, it depends on what the work is and it's importance as to whether most of us go through the registration process.

Thanks again!