I think I'm mostly finished with some of my stories.
Most are erotic stories and/or descriptions of fictional places—or attempts thereof—and The Handmaids Tale fan-fixs, though I've yet to read the book or watch a single Hulu episode (looks too depressing, I'm not into (non-revenge at least) torture porn, and the other fanfics I've read on FFN and AO3 have a lot of Serena-Joy-Fred-Waterford-Offred/June-Osbourne-Nick fru-fru), though I saw the movie years ago, watched hours of YouTube videos about it, and heard Margaret Atwood talk about it in CBC 1 interviews.
First I will upload all on my MH wiki,.
Perhaps a few weeks later, upload the fanfics/fanfixs on FFN, AO3, and 1 or 2 other MH wikis, and the erotic non-fanfics here.
Of the latter, I'll also probably upload the same on a few other erotic sites a few months after that, save [a website in competition with LushStories I won't mention here], which I intend to theirs next year—I'm still ticked at them for suspending me from their forums (I think mid-morning 2 February 2020), permanently and for no reason. (even though Laurel seems to tolerate idiots like BusyBigot, belisaurius, and Rightguide)
However, there's the issue of copyright.
Because I don't believe in most so-called "intellectual property"—"information is free" and all that—it would be hypocritical of me not to release my work into the public domain.
My fanfics would be on shaky ground legally, but what I created would be available to all.
The thing is, I'm concerned some industry weasels might take my work, register such in their own names, and, say, insist that sites like yours take my stuff down because it's legally—though their trickery—theirs.
I figure if need be I could counter this by proving that I came up with it first—and perhaps this could be presented in an American or Canadian court, but how do I?
What should I do before uploading anything?
I read that the old "mail-it-to-yourself" isn't accepted, perhaps because the contending party/ies can allege that I merely mailed empty open envelops and then put "their" work into it.
Another possibility is taking pictures.
Let's say there's a building being constructed. It started 6 months ago and is scheduled for completion in another 6 months. Let's say I went near the site and took pictures of my work there, with the construction in the background—maybe multi-angled and/or a videod to do things that'd be hard to "deep fake."
"Your honour, the weasels registered my work as theirs in 2023, but this building—which is in the background of these pictures during its construction—was completed in late 2021."
Another possibility is posting them on a number of sites as a form of time-stamping, such as LushStories. I also thought Wikipedia and RationalWiki: post on my userpage, delete, but it's still in the edit history. What if my accounts are hacked, though?
I suppose I could register to the copyright office, but it sounds like a lot of fru-fru, might be expensive, and I luvs my privacy.
Given that countries have treaties to respect each other's copyright, I might shop around countries. For example, perhaps one could register with the Mexican copyright office—if it's cheaper and easier—and use their registry as proof should a site need proof that the weasels didn't come up with the work first.
Well I go by the old fashioned Roleplayer trick. Get it printed somewhere and slap a copyright notice on it.
I can prove my work outside of here is mine because I have the original convention programme that lists me on it, and the original files from the time I wrote it.
But for work someone might actually try to make a buck on, get it self published and keep the invoice from the printer.
That way you can at least prove that the work in question was distributed officially on a certain date.
It may not be unbreakable but prove Amazon tampered with the release date, and I will go make popcorn to watch you try.
Whatever was posted is always meant in love and respect never to offend.
I'm also highly likely to have posted this from a phone so there may be typos or odd word changes, auto correct can be a pain.
I've been listening to my kinky pencil here's my current work
There is no need to provide proof. :) Unless a story is obviously plagiarised, it's assumed when a story is submitted on Lush that it's the author's own work. Hope that's helpful!
Quote by Twisted_Skald Well I go by the old fashioned Roleplayer trick. Get it printed somewhere and slap a copyright notice on it.
I can prove my work outside of here is mine because I have the original convention programme that lists me on it, and the original files from the time I wrote it.
But for work someone might actually try to make a buck on, get it self published and keep the invoice from the printer.
That way you can at least prove that the work in question was distributed officially on a certain date.
It may not be unbreakable but prove Amazon tampered with the release date, and I will go make popcorn to watch you try.
Are you saying I should, say, print out 10 copies, staple them, sell them for 25¢ each on a street corner—and wa-lah!—I'm a published and paid author?
Works created by Wikisource users or otherwise not published in a verifiable, usually peer-reviewed forum do not belong at Wikisource. Wikisource is not a method for an author to get his or her works published and make them available to other people, nor is it a site to discover "new talent".
Note: There are a few exceptions to this rule, as detailed under Added value to source texts above. Also note that a Wikisource contributor may make his/her own original work available (within reason!) by placing it within his/her own user namespace.
The only benefit here is I could create a similar alt account for WM projects, say "UserMBFFF's alt account"—LushStories doesn't permit alternate accounts—I understand it can get a member banned—through a rarely used computer, and rarely used account, with a very good password, to make it harder for the weasels to hack, and use it to post in Wikisources.
Maybe.
As for invoices, couldn't the weasel allow that I got something printed, but allege it wasn't "wt:thons" work I originally printed?
Quote by curvygalore
Quote by DMBFFF
and again, how do I prove my originals are mine?
There is no need to provide proof. :) Unless a story is obviously plagiarised, it's assumed when a story is submitted on Lush that it's the author's own work. Hope that's helpful!
I suppose, provided my account isn't hacked or the weasels (and/or incompetents) get ownership of LushStories—like they did Tumblr, !, YouTube, and Dailymotion.
Of course, if I state in the story that the content is released into the public domain, and it becomes quite famous, there will be many who have copies of it and some might be able to prove they had such before the weasel(s) registered.
If, however, my works are quite not-popular, it won't profit the weasels.
If you reside in the U.S., and you don't file for formal copyright ( Keeping in mind that you can create compilations of several works and file for a copyright on the archive under a single title ) you have zero protection in the U.S. If someone else files for a formal copyright on your work, as far as U.S. courts are concerned, they own it, and you are the infringer.
Mailing it to yourself, selling it at the mall or on the street corner... None of that means diddly if someone else copyrights it.
As to proving it's yours on another online venue, one simple way is to have a public contact on the site where it was first posted, then contact the new site via that public contact to prove you're the same person. In my case, I have all my work listed on my website, so it's a simple matter to point someone there to see that all three pen names I use are mine.
As often as not, any website that isn't shady to begin with will remove work you point out is plagiarized when you direct them to the original posting with an earlier date. In the case of someone ripping you off on Amazon, check to see if they're in the Kindle Unlimited program, and if so, then use the report form to note that it's available somewhere else for a cheaper price ( free ) by linking to the original, as well as noting that it's stolen. That will often get it removed without having to file an official DMCA request. Amazon doesn't like being undercut. Report enough of them, and they'll nuke the infringer entirely.
( If you see your work stolen and posted on Amazon for profit, be sure to report it on any site you post on, so other authors can take action on their stolen work as well )
Quote by RejectReality If you reside in the U.S., and you don't file for formal copyright ( Keeping in mind that you can create compilations of several works and file for a copyright on the archive under a single title ) you have zero protection in the U.S.
...
( If you see your work stolen and posted on Amazon for profit, be sure to report it on any site you post on, so other authors can take action on their stolen work as well )
Thanks for the info.
However, if I understand correctly, one's work is copyrighted the moment one creates it. Registration is more being sensible (generally)—sort of like oral contracts: legally binding, but hard to prove in court if the other party is adversarial—better get it in writing, maybe even get a lawyer if it's a major contract.
Again, my concerns, I suppose now, are what if my passwords are hacked and what if the sites change? So far, alt accounts of those permitting such might help insofar I can make them harder to hack (unlike my current accounts, passwords, computers, and internet connections), and multiple sites can help against a site changing.
I suppose my position as one putting stuff into the public domain would put me on the defensive in court cases and thus suffer less of a burden of proof.
e.g.
1. I video my work near a construction site.
2. I upload it on a number of sites, giving first dibs to my own MH wiki and LushStories, releasing it into the public domain.
3. Industry weasels copy my works and register them.
4. Industry weasels threaten LushStories against alleged copyright vios.
5. LushStories either:
a. tells them to FO: LS stands by the dates of the uploads.
b. caves in.
6. In the case of a., great. In b., oh well, at least it was hosted for a while. I might then decide to pick fights with the weasels, even if I don't know who the are, by blazing the internet with my work and daring them to sue me.
or,
4. Industry weasels hack my accounts and delete everything.
5. I create new, harder to hack accounts, post the works and screenshots, and invite all to copy—assuming others haven't already made copies, even derivatives.
Are you saying I should, say, print out 10 copies, staple them, sell them for 25¢ each on a street corner—and wa-lah!—I'm a published and paid author?
What I meant was that as a European if I put my work on the Kindle authors programme I'd get an official publication date, and the invoice from Amazon would prove that I was the one who put it there.
If someone wants to go back and claim it was their work, then so be it.
I can at least provide an absolute reference that I uploaded the work at a specific date, if they're not able to prove creation before that date, they lose.
I'm running with advice I was given many moons ago about protecting gaming material.
In my case having the brochure of the convention proves it was accepted by them as original material and was performed in public on a specific date. If someone wants to dispute that and if they can't prove they have notes for the work before that date, they lose because I can prove it was run on that date.
I'm hardly a lawyer, and I really know bugger all about the legal rights and wrongs.
I'd suggest if it's critical to you that your work can't be used against you, go talk to someone about getting your work registered for copyright and getting an ISBN number for it.
A friend of mine who is an academic goes with the defence against plagiarism of keeping lots of versions of the paper she's working on. Essentially having her system make a separate time stamped version for every updated version of the paper. If there's ever a claim she stole someone's work she can provide a zip file with a huge number of backups to prove exactly how often she updated it and what those changes are from one version to the next. It reassures her bosses that her papers are genuinely her work and she can't have pinched anothers work.
Not sure if that's helpful to you but I hear it is accepted in court as proof of the history of a work.
Whatever was posted is always meant in love and respect never to offend.
I'm also highly likely to have posted this from a phone so there may be typos or odd word changes, auto correct can be a pain.
I've been listening to my kinky pencil here's my current work
Quote by Twisted_Skald What I meant was that as a European if I put my work on the Kindle authors programme I'd get an official publication date, and the invoice from Amazon would prove that I was the one who put it there.
...
Not sure if that's helpful to you but I hear it is accepted in court as proof of the history of a work.
Using an online collab tool such as Google Docs is possible to keep a rolling version history and timestamps of changes (plus allows easy rollback if you decide to reinstate something you deleted) but Google can - and probably do - scrape your content to provide you relevant ads, which leaks information no matter how much privacy they claim to provide. Plus, it's on their servers so any spotty admin can access it or reset your password in exchange for a few shekels, a handful of magic beans, or unimaginable violence from a determined third party.
Using track changes in word processors is an option but is a pain. So I do exactly what Twisted_Skald suggests: keep multiple versions, bumping the version number every few days/weeks depending on how much editing I'm doing. This practice has a few fringe benefits:
1) I can prove the iterative process of how I arrived at the final version, should it ever be needed. Creation date stamp and last modified datestamp (although not infallible) combined with the history of changes from version to version is pretty good proof it's yours.
2) Multiple files spreads the risk and mitigates the chance of one file becoming corrupted and you losing everything. Short of the drive setting fire, fragments of the versions will be recoverable.
3) Files are easy to periodically drop on a flash drive or upload to secure cloud storage such as mega.nz for backup in case of disaster (computer death, house fire, burglary, etc). Not only is the version history preserved from file to file in each one you upload, but the date and time of upload is recorded, which is another line of defence in any infringement claim.
Please browse my digital bookshelf. In this collection, you can find 112 full stories, 10 micro-stories, and 2 poems with the following features:
* 29 Editor's Picks, 74 Recommended Reads. * 15 competition podium places, 10 other times in the top ten. * 21 collaborations. * A whole heap of often filthy, tense, hot sex.
Quote by WannabeWordsmith Using an online collab tool such as Google Docs is possible to keep a rolling version history and timestamps of changes (plus allows easy rollback if you decide to reinstate something you deleted) but Google can - and probably do - scrape your content to provide you relevant ads, which leaks information no matter how much privacy they claim to provide. Plus, it's on their servers so any spotty admin can access it or reset your password in exchange for a few shekels, a handful of magic beans, or unimaginable violence from a determined third party. ...
Now that's an idea.
I suppose I can copy and paste relevant changes to Google Docs.
As for the password resets, I'm more concerned about hackers.
By the way people, while I think my username, "DMBFFF", is reasonably unique—save for things such as DMBF (Dave Matthews Band Fan), BFFF (Ben Folds Five Fan), and dmbfck (which I didn't guess until I started to use DMBFFF!)—I must have made sufficient enemies on 4chan and 8chan as the "DMBFFF"s on Google and Tumblr aren't me but likely squatters. Of course my accounts can endorse each other, but I should have signed up on Google earlier. Their TOS requires one to use one's real name, which I pretty well never do on the internet, but I later noticed their TOS didn't require that I'd be truthful about my personal information—a loophole I exploited in the account name I created there and currently use.
You live, you learn.
Quote by WannabeWordsmith ...
Using track changes in word processors is an option but is a pain. So I do exactly what Twisted_Skald suggests: keep multiple versions, bumping the version number every few days/weeks depending on how much editing I'm doing.
...
but the date and time of upload is recorded, which is another line of defence in any infringement claim.
I keep old files, and yes, I copied a few to other drives.
The site mega.nz requires me to use my real name and be truthful about it. Still, it might be useful to some others.
Well, for one thing, Lush isn't U.S. based, which means they would likely recognize your copyright as defined in the Byrne convention, and could make a reasonable legal argument to defy a U.S. copyright filing by someone else. Technically you do have copyright immediately upon creation of the work. Places like Canada, the U.K., the EU, etc. will recognize that with sufficient proof of origin.
The U.S. is part of the convention, but they throw as many roadblocks in the way as possible to keep copyright cases out of the courts. That's why you need a formal copyright to even get a foot in the door. It would also be prohibitively expensive for either party to actually pursue the matter through the legal system. You would both likely have to rely on moral suasion, and that could go either way on a case-by-case basis. Some are going to recognize the formal copyright, some are going to recognize that you can prove you originally created the work.
Basically, it comes down to a shit fight without the formal copyright. The only way you can ensure 100% that you and only you have the authority to issue take-down notices is to have a formal copyright registered with the U.S. copyright office. You're not going to be able to sue regardless, because once you put something up in public for free, you've established that it has no monetary value. The best you can hope for is to get someone else's name off your work, and/or stop them from profiting from it via moral suasion.
Having proof of origin and a formal copyright simply means you have all the guns in the fight. Anybody else would have to rely on smoke and mirrors.
Quote by RejectReality Well, for one thing, Lush isn't U.S. based, which means they would likely recognize your copyright as defined in the Byrne convention, and could make a reasonable legal argument to defy a U.S. copyright filing by someone else. Technically you do have copyright immediately upon creation of the work. Places like Canada, the U.K., the EU, etc. will recognize that with sufficient proof of origin. ...
I did not know that. Thanks.
Again, I don't mind people copying my work, making derivatives, and making big bucks (if they can) with such; I just don't want some weasel to register it as thons, and then use such registration to suppress others, myself included.
As I think of it, what if someone tried to suppress non-American sites using American registrations? Would I have chances with my own evidence of being the creator in non-American courts, and with that better chances of keeping my stuff on non-American sites?
Another thought that came up in regards to hacking is others might also be vulnerable, but for some of the safeguards I mentioned.
Finally, after my last post, I wondered if the mailing-stuff-to-oneself is completely useless as there might be a judge who'd allow it. Unlikely, but might be worth the chance with some postage costs.
Some misstatements have been made in this thread; however they seem to be made with the goal to advise as to the gold standard to protect your copyright interest. It is true that once pen meets paper, brush meet canvas or keystrokes are recorded on you electronic file, a copyrighted work is born. The date created is what you need to use to protect your interests. The electronic operating system/software will record this. Sharing it with select friends do the same. In the past, mailing it to yourself and others with express direction not to open the envelope was often used. These all constitute evidence of date of authorship.
Sure for every clever way to protect a birth of a work of art, there are always clever, devious people who seek to get around it. So there is no silver bullet. Best recommendation would be to back up, preserve versions, find software that allows to map your creation from start to finished product. All of which will be proof of authorship.
Now some misconceptions and good/gold standards to follow:
The former requirement of a (c) or "c" in a circle or word "copyright" before the year and author's name has not been required to protect your rights (i.e. (c) 2021 Samg61) for decades. It used to be required otherwise it went immediately to public domain. Today, that is not the case. Best Practices: still use it. It places the world on notice the author is asserting that in the year stated he/her created the work. It can be used to eliminate the claim of fair use, or I'm a goofball and thought I could copy it defenses.
Filing is only means in the US to establish your copyright. The race to the Library of Congress is not correct. It is a violation of the Copyright Act to take someone's work and register it as your own. This can be challenged by evidence of prior creation by any of the forgoing means, WHICH IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST. You have a common law copyright once created (on all versions). Best Practices: Do what Reject Reality suggests register it. This now can be done electronically, relatively simple to do and not too expensive at all (single work $45).
Filing is only means to protect copyright. This is at best a gray statement. You have an immediate copyright once created. Registration is the formal means to place the world on notice and provide you with additional statutory rights. In addition, if you feel the need to file suit in the Federal Courts (exclusive jurisdiction over copyright infringement actions) one MUST register the copyright to file suit. The registration requires date of authorship, date of publication, if any (which in reality must occur in order to have the infringer had knowledge of the original work). Best Practice: Register it early. Registration provides valuable rights including but not limited to statutory damages (up to $150,000 per act of infringement for wilful violation), attorney's fees, and making them buy you lunch and drinks after winning (well I always ask, never get it but always ask).
Litigation is expensive. True, so true. Best Practice: don't do litigation.
Quote by samg61 Filing is only means in the US to establish your copyright. The race to the Library of Congress is not correct. It is a violation of the Copyright Act to take someone's work and register it as your own. This can be challenged by evidence of prior creation by any of the forgoing means, WHICH IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST. You have a common law copyright once created (on all versions). Best Practices: Do what Reject Reality suggests register it. This now can be done electronically, relatively simple to do and not too expensive at all (single work $45).
But to challenge it, you must register the work yourself. The copyright office doesn't investigate claims. They'll register both, and then let the courts deal with it. If you don't register, you're not going to get an opportunity to challenge the false registration. Until such time as you register, the person who has already filed the copyright has black and white government "proof" that they own the work, and you don't.
So, you either spend the money for a formal copyright, or you risk giving someone else the power to control your work on any U.S. venue, and any other venue that just doesn't want to spend the time investigating your documentation.
If you file but don't initiate the prohibitively expensive litigation process to challenge the false registration, the dueling copyrights are likely going to result in the venue taking down the work rather than investigating. Or, they may decide the earlier false filing is the one to go by, and take it down on their request. The stated goal is to prevent someone from doing that, so the infringer wins if the venue throws up their hands and takes your work down.
The one and only way to ensure you have the biggest guns in the fight without providing further financing for some lawyer's gold-studded swimming pool ( which you'll probably never recover even the tiniest fraction of ) is to formally register it yourself first.
All true. The government does not investigate completing claims for any intellectual property. It is up to the owner to protect, enforce and monitor their uses.
Another idea I've come up with is to register under my real name—either on the Canadian and/or American registry(/ies)—but hide the titles in the content; because it seems that while anyone can search titles and names, they can't sreach actual content.
First,
do what I was intending to do: letters-to-self, videos near construction or similar (real life) sites, and maybe upload in places such as Internet Archives—if possible.
Second,
register my works as [some number] for a title under [my real name]:
e.g. Stories 12345678 by Joe Schmoe
The real titles, e.g. The CMNF Club, will be part of the story—and accessible only by me.
Third,
Upload the content on my MH Wiki, then LushStories, then other sites, under their real titles, as DMBFFF, releasing it into the public domain.
If others want to read such, great!
If they want to make copies or derivatives, that's okay too.
If, say, Amazon wants to hire a prominent porn star to read an altered, registered, and licensed, versions of my stories and make big bucks off them while not paying me, again, no problem. I'll praise the effort if praiseworthy while still criticizing Amazon in general and for making derivatives of my work copyrighted.
If, however, Amazon starts to tell others that they can't post copies of my work as such infringes on "their copyrights," I can opt to get involved as my real name. Maybe the defendant(s) can pay me to get a copy(/ies) from the copyright registry, which they can use against Amazon. A possible verdict or settlement is that Amazon can maintain copyright on their derivatives, while the originals remain free. If my accounts on other sites are hacked and the hacker insists on licenses, at least the older copies will still be in the public domain to be posted elsewhere.
There is no need to provide proof. Unless a story is obviously plagiarised, it's assumed when a story is submitted on Lush that it's the author's own work. Hope that's helpful!
This is where it turns into a real issue.
Multiple times, I have found my stories for sale on Amazon, and was able to get them removed after telling them I was the original author. And I used my posting the story in the 1990's on ASSTR as my proof. The archive is easy to access, and includes the header information to show it was even submitted by the same email I still use today.
But now, they do not even respond when I find one of my stories being sold, and have largely given up.
There is not much plagiarism, but what I do find bothers me a lot. There are many places on Amazon that sell stories that they had simply downloaded from some erotica site. Sometimes changing the title, sometimes not. And always the author information and claiming it as their own work. And in the last few years, Amazon does not even seem to care.
Quote by Mushroom0311 Multiple times, I have found my stories for sale on Amazon... And in the last few years, Amazon does not even seem to care.
You're not alone. We had an incident of someone in recent memory who had more than one story of theirs run through Google Translate and then being sold on Amazon without consent, in French, for silly money.
Presumably whoever plagiarised it thought that running it through an online translation engine (which made a hatchet job of the story anyway, as one would expect) would make it harder to track down. Sadly for them, the protagonist had a very unusual name, which wasn't translated, and that made it easy to uncover.
But, as you say, why would Bezos and co care who owns intellectual property? A sale is a sale, right.
Please browse my digital bookshelf. In this collection, you can find 112 full stories, 10 micro-stories, and 2 poems with the following features:
* 29 Editor's Picks, 74 Recommended Reads. * 15 competition podium places, 10 other times in the top ten. * 21 collaborations. * A whole heap of often filthy, tense, hot sex.
Multiple times, I have found my stories for sale on Amazon, and was able to get them removed after telling them I was the original author. And I used my posting the story in the 1990's on ASSTR as my proof. The archive is easy to access, and includes the header information to show it was even submitted by the same email I still use today.
But now, they do not even respond when I find one of my stories being sold, and have largely given up.
There is not much plagiarism, but what I do find bothers me a lot. There are many places on Amazon that sell stories that they had simply downloaded from some erotica site. Sometimes changing the title, sometimes not. And always the author information and claiming it as their own work. And in the last few years, Amazon does not even seem to care.
Check to see if it's in Kindle Unlimited. If it is, report it as being available cheaper somewhere else, with a link to your original, and say that it's plagiarized as well. Just being available for free is typically enough to get it taken down. Pointing out that it's plagiarized will sometimes cause them to check the thief's catalog. ( Even better if more than one author reports ) That can get the entire catalog wiped out when they all show up being available for free.
It's a game of whack-a-mole, but as long as you don't obsess over it, it's satisfying to see the thieving asshats get sent back to square one every so often.
Great way to prove you created it first, email yourself a copy of it with the documents attached.
For me it is really easy to prove I wrote my story. I got fired for it from my job when a coworker rifled through my belongings, copied it on the Xerox machine and distributed it around the office before making a sexual harrassment complaint, all in direct view of multiple security cameras.
NFT ledgers claim to provide a public certificate of authenticity or proof of ownership, but the legal rights conveyed by an NFT can be uncertain. NFTs do not restrict the sharing or copying of the underlying digital files, do not necessarily convey the copyright of the digital files, and do not prevent the creation of NFTs with identical associated files.
MBFFF's alt account"—LushStories doesn't permit alternate accounts—I understand it can get a member banned—through a rarely used computer, and rarely used account, with a very good password, to make it harder for the weasels to hack, and use it to post in Wikisources. 
