3 QUESTIONs: Original stories on the internet.

[George Allwynn]

Hey Kris

I HOPE this question is NOT too complicatedly worded by me. I also hope this may fall in your area of expertise.

I've come across reading about this problem a time or two, and I've always wanted to know more, but didn't know who to ask without looking like a complete idiot.

And forgive me for traveling around the question before zooming in on it - I wanted to make sure you had all the info needed to answer...

I have several original fiction stories, under the name of Sage Harrison, posted on a forum on the Internet. They were written for me and the amusement of others who happen to stumble across them. Most of the stories are 3 years or more older - and let's face it, written of lesser quality than what I am putting out today.

I thought about taking these stories (which are mine in the first place and never published professionally or in book form) - and revamping them. More than likely, 70% of each story would change. (Yeah. I've learned alot in the last few years.)

However, I've read from more than one e-publisher site, if you have posted stories on the Internet, those stories are considered 'published' and therefore, the e-publisher will refuse their submissions.

I don't understand this.

QUESTION: If it IS my original work with no copy write, money exchanged or legality work involved with another party, and I am the one who posted them in a forum ( - NOT a professional place, just a message forum ) - how can my stories be considered legally published and therefore, illegal for me to submit to a publisher?

QUESTION: Since there was no copy write involved, is there a time table involved (like when print book rights revolve back to the author, so they can submit to e-publishers) - for original stories posted on the Internet? IN OTHERWORDS, will these stories ever resort back to me?

QUESTION: Also, if the stories will be drastically changed (up to 70% of the content) - could the revamped stories still be considered hands off, because it's original root was on the Internet previously?

Oh, and if you do have an answer, can you word it so a 2nd grader can understand? (*grin) Somedays, my brain is a complete moron...

I thank you in advance....

[Rose Gardener]

I have several 'unpublished' stories on an on-line forum too, so this is of interest to me. May I extend it by asking these as well?

I wish to turn bits of my private blog (available only to members of that site, numbering around 2500), into a fictional novel. (Autobiography disguised as fiction.) Since my work is not available to the general public as a whole, but only to members of the site, is it considered 'published' or not?

If I do use excerts from my blog in the book, do my rights to use that information change depending on whether I package it as fiction or biography?

Is there a recognised number of members above which readership is considered changed from available to members only to having become available to the public, or is it about a concept rather than ammount of circulation/exposure? Or is it about money changing hands?

Many thanks.

[Kris McConville]

Okay guys the simple answer is 'You can do WHATEVER you want with YOUR own stuff.'

Technically the general rule for copyright is that copyright protection is automatic for those works that satisfy the requirements of copyright law. Copyright attaches to creative and expressive words once they are fixed in tangible form, ie. the minute you put pen to paper, or in this day and age, mind to computer - through a forum, website, blog etc.

So technically both of you have copyrighted material. However, since neither of you filed for copyright protection with the U.S. Copyright Office then YOU have the right to use YOUR work and change it in any manner you wish to. Filing for copyright protection with the U.S. Copyright Office is really for if you ever have to legally challenge someone's use of your copyrighted material.

I think that your confusion lies with the word 'published' and confusing it with 'copyrighted'.

Harrison - since your stories were written under a pen name and you'd be writing it under you name now, and you would be changing 70% of it then, it wouldn't even be recognizable as the 'same thing you wrote'. I can't see how anyone could consider that published. It's copyrighted but not published. So in my opinion (now this is just my little 2 cents and NOT legal advice) you CAN submit the stories to an e-publisher without any problem.

Rose - now if I'm understanding you correctly - you'd be using your blog postings in your 'novel'. Again the material is copyrighted but by YOU and it's YOUR blog so you can use the blog and turn it into a novel. Whether it will be a novel of fiction or a biography doesn't change anything. Same thing with the number of members that read the blog and whether it is public or private -- still YOUR blog. My only question would be 'Are you using any comments that were posted in your blog by other people in the book?'

Also Rose, by the way, I have a friend that took her blog and made it into a novel and is shopping it around now. She won a contest but hasn't found an agent yet to sell the manuscript to a publisher. The contest she won was 'best unpublished manuscript' so see it would be considered unpublished (he he). So it can be done because I know someone who did it. :-)

[Rose Gardener]

Thank you for that Kris.

I wouldn't dream of using any of the comments or replies made on my blog. It was simply a public diary and it is the thoughts, feelings and wording used to convey how I felt at the time that is of use to me now.

Thanks to your reply, I now also understand that another person's comment would automatically be copyrighted to them. Correct? :)

Good luck to your friend with her book. I'm sure it will be an interesting read.

Thanks again.

[George Allwynn]

Thanks - I feel much better about that - it is clearer in my head. I don't feel so intimidated. It kinda cheesed me off to think I couldn't use something I wrote.