This may be a dumb question, but can you sue someone for stealing your meme?
Depends on the meme... Overall, memes are not copyright-able. They may be trademarks, but those have to be registered. On top of which, you then have to show that you were damaged in some way. And that's before you can start the sue-ing process.
Where can I read the whole book of "Daughter of the Forest" online?
Please don't suggest google books preview. I already read it. Now I'm halfway through the book, and I really want to know what will happen next. But the library in my town doesn't have the book. So please does anyone know the website where I can read the full book online? NOTE: I'm not suggesting that anyone recommend me an illegal site that posts copyrighted work for free. I'm asking if there any way (besides getting a hard copy in my local library or book store) that I can read the book. Someone here suggested e-books, so how exactly does this work? Is there a website for that?
Are authors allowed to write company names in their books without permission?
I am not a lawyer.As far as I know it is perfectly legal to include brand-name merchandise and companies in your fiction so long as they are not used generically - that is it must be obvious that this is a particular brand, usually indicated by capitalizing the brand name. Kleenex instead of kleenex, for example.Where you may run into trouble is if you include some branded product or company name as an integral part of your story without their permission such that it looks as though they are an active participant and either agree or disagree with the actions being described.As an example; I contacted the Gracie Academy in California for permission to use their Pink Belt program by name in my next novel as the training of young girls in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu for self defense was to be an important though not integral part of the story. I received a positive reply and so Gracie Jui-Jitsu and Pink Belt will be included by name in the story.On the other hand, I contacted a major manufacturer of inflatable space habitats (who shall remain un-named) for permission to use their brand in the story and was rebuffed. Since such habitats would be an important part of the plot and some of the activities discussed might be considered controversial I will need to invent a false company providing a similar product.As for the examples you give above, I can see no problem with any of them as they are only mentioning common brands that everyone is familiar with and you have capitalized the brand names which should satisfy the owners of the brands. If you attempted to set your entire story inside a McDonalds or Starbucks then you would probably need permission from those companies. Although I did see a parody of Downton Abbey on YouTube called Downtown Arby’s and so far as I know there were no repercussions from Arby’s. YMMV. YouTube, being pretty much an open forum for individual participation, you could probably enjoy much greater lee-way unless you somehow imply a corporate viewpoint they do not espouse or you criticize a viewpoint they do espouse as part of your plot. In that case I would be very cautious - Google has VERY deep pockets.
If you tell someone the plot for a book you didn't begin to write, can they steal your idea?
I worried about that too when I began writing. Sure they can steal your idea, but you know what? Let them!If you’ve written before, you know that everything that goes into writing a book is a LOT of work. Once the draft is done, then begins an editorial process that could take even longer than it took to write the book. Then the marketing if you’re self-publishing. All of this is 99% of the process. Your idea was only 1%, if that. So if the person steals your idea, is he willing to take the months and years to do the 99%? I would bet not!It’s the same as someone stealing your business idea. Ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s the application and manifestation of the idea that matters. How many people have ideas for the next million dollar business, and then do nothing with them?By the way, international law says that the moment you put pen to paper (or word processor), then what you wrote is your intellectual property. If your IP is stolen you can sue. Of course you can cede your IP to a publisher, but if they are reputable then it could be profitable for you.
Is it ethical to rewrite another author's story in one's own words and sell it as one's own?
More information needed. Mills and Boon novels are basically the same story told over and over again by different people in their own words. It is perfectly ethical because everyone involved knows the score. If a story by a famous author sparks an idea in you and you rewrite the story in a unique way crediting the original author with a courtesy dedication and thank you for the creative nudge, that's perfectly ethical as well and basically how all art is made. However, if a friend shared their unwritten story with you and you recognise its potential and rewrite it changing little more than the town and the main character's name in order to profit from someone else's hard work... Then no, that's not at all ethical.EDIT: Taking into account the new details, I would say to you - not without consulting the author. What you seem to be talking about here is more along the lines of editing or rewriting. It would be more ethical in these circumstances to offer to partner with the original writer and share credit. What you are talking about here is the art of writing - the ability to hook another person's emotions. The ability to construct the actual story is the craft and I would recommend you learn that craft. It is perfectly learnable. Forget using other people's work as a crutch except in the beginning as practice - if you're that good, you can learn story structure and world building and you will never have to worry about whether you are living off the sweat of someone else's brow.
What is a good self publishing company to go through?
I plan to publish in the Summer. I'm not going through a publisher, I am self-publishing. I've looked into a few companies, talked to a few people and a few customers. I know one boy who went through Authorhouse. He likes them, but everyone else on the internet is complaining. I have looked into Pedernales as well. I just want to make sure my money isn't going toward a scam. =(
Did Twilight author S. Meyer copy off of L.J. Smith's Vampire Diaries?
She totally did! I wrote a 10 page essay on this actually and she did really rip it off. I'm actually suprised that LJ has not sued Stepehenie. How about how both couples met in a class before hearing about the person and how it was Mr. Banner/Mr. Tanners class. Both couples get engaged as teens. This is just two of the many. The vampire is a vegitatian and C'mon there is even a psychic! Stefan and Damon can read minds just like Edward.The characters of Stefan and Edward are the same, Bonnie and Alice, Caroline and Rosalie/ Lauren, Mike and Matt. You know it is ripped off when Twilight fans say that the VD's coppied Twilight! There are differences though, after Twilight, Stephenie's novels get less like the VD's. VD has an actual plot with some literary functions where as Twilight does not. There isn't a Volturi in the VD's, Elana is popular and somewhat confident and Bella is not. Breaking Dawn by it's self is very diferent (although I don't want to list those because there are some major spoilers that would be there). EDIT: IT is hard to point out everything that she changed, like I said, after Twilight there are a bunch of differences. 1) The Volturi, the vampire diaries do not have a royal coven. 2) Bella goes all no character when Edward leaves, just being all depressed and somewhat suicidal with all the adrenalin rush stuff. 3) The vampires SPARKLE, enough said. Just read the books, there is just far too much to talk about. The Twilight books are not a carbon copy but they hold a lot of the same things.
If your book is copyrighted, does that mean it is legitimately published as well?
If your material is original, the copyright is already yours. No registration is necessary, nor is publication. Publication would establish a public record, and registration can come before or after publication. You need not publish anything, nor register it.Copyright registration with the patent and copyright office simply establishes and ‘official’ date. In reality it only means you have a bit more weight of evidence on your side should you decide to sue someone for pirating your material. If your pockets are not deep, as it speaks to lawsuits, copyrighting is worthless. If you imagined that the government was somehow going to come to your aid should someone steal your material, you are mistaken. They would more likely show up to help if you tore the label off of your mattress.Of course, if you are the author of something as popular as Harry Potter, then you might be able to get somewhere in the legal system. I say ‘legal’ system because we ceased to have a justice system decades ago.
How do I publish my book in a safe way?
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't take advice about copyright from someone who can't spell the word... You can stop worrying. I won't say what you're worrying about *never* happens, but it's rare enough that you're more likely to die of a heart attack or be hit by a bus. Firstly - you cannot copyright an idea, only your expression of that idea. In the eyes of the law, the ideas for a story belong to nobody, so anybody can use them. If ideas could be owned, the entertainment business would grind to a halt, because the last time a human came up with an original idea for a story was some time before the Hebrews wrote down the Book of Genesis. Secondly - publishers don't steal manuscripts, because they have no need to. Those few publishers who accept unsolicited manuscripts (those not represented by a literary agent) receive about a hundred manuscripts for every one they eventually publish. If they think a manuscript isn't quite right (but the ideas are good) or an author will be too much trouble to work with, they don't take the manuscript and tell one of their other authors to pretend he wrote it. They just throw it in the bin and go on to the next of the fifty manuscripts they received that week. Thirdly - every new author thinks they'll be the next J K Rowling. Most aren't. If you haven't done so already, join a critique group before you think about trying to get your book published. EDIT: Fourthly - don't bother with "poor man's copyright." It has no legal force, and if you try to use it in court, you'll just be laughed at. See the list of questions I've asked for more details (too lazy to paste in a link). EDIT 2: Fifthly - thumbs up to Joss. Everything you write is automatically copyrighted to you. (Some countries used to require you to register your work for copyright, and/or display certain symbols or phrases on it for the copyright to be valid. Not any more.) Any agent or publisher worth bothering with knows that he can't do anything with your work without your permission. If you remind him of that, he'll see it as an implication (or outright statement) that he's a thief. Hardly the best beginning to a possible professional relationship... And if he is a thief (which he almost certainly isn't), telling him he's not allowed to steal your manuscript isn't going to stop him.