MSI Press Blog

    It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's post looks at copyright infringement from the point of view of authors who find that others have purloined their works. (This is Part 2 of two posts, the first post being about authors' violation of others' copyright.) What constitutes copyright infringement? For text:  Copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is used without the permission of the copyright owner. This can include: Reproducing the work. Distributing copies of the work. Performing the work publicly. Displaying the work publicly. Creating derivative works based on the original. How can you protect your work? Your work is automatically protecte...

  It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  This week's conversation continues to look at copyright issues. Last week, the conversation was about what can and cannot be copyrighted . This week looks at the next, sad, step -- what if someone steals your work, anyway. Can you do anything about it? Yes, you can. Here are some ways to deal with this, from inexpensive to expensive. The Author of the Stolen Work If your words appear verbatim, without citation in the work of someone else, then that person is in violation of copyright law. Are more than 100 words or lines cited, even with credit, then perhaps you or your publisher should be receiving payment? Graphics, too, must be credi...