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Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [copyright]

Questions involving matters of copyright, encapsulating parody and level of similarity questions, reprinting and publishing of copyrighted works, public domain, attribution, fanfiction, legality, and fair use questions. Any question involving copyright law in the U.S. or abroad should be given this tag.

Questions involving matters of copyright, encapsulating parody and level of similarity questions, reprinting and publishing of copyrighted works, public domain, attribution, fanfiction, legality, and fair use questions. Any question involving copyright law in the U.S. or abroad should be given this tag. Other topics that could involve copyright include whether or not something qualifies as fair use, whether or not permissions should be or have been granted to use a work, and whether something is properly sourced or given due legal credit.

Copyright references and materials:

United States (U.S.) Copyright Law: https://www.copyright.gov/title17/

European Union (EU) Copyright Legislation: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/eu-copyright-legislation

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Can I write a book of my D&D game?

I am a long time Dungeon Master of Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder. My games run in a custom world of my own making. However, I utilise a lot of the traditional lore and races of D&D. I'm quite proud of one of my current storylines and have been…
linksassin
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Using the real world in writing

To what extent can you use locations, businesses, etc. from the real world in fiction? I know someone cannot copyright a city, but what about a particular location in the city that's private. Can I talk about the Denver Convention Center and use the…
way0utwest
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What are those "countdown" numbers on the copyright page?

On the copyright pages in many books I find the following "countdown" numbers and I am wondering what the significance of this is? In a non-fiction book I have, "The Call of the Mild" it looks like: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 But in a fiction book,…
Cyberherbalist
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Want to publish unpublished work found in an auction storage unit

I started buying storage auctions in the middle of this year. In the third one I bought I ran across an unpublished manuscript for a fiction book U Boat treasure by Charles Hand. He has no published works besides a boar hunter magazine, he was not…
Rocky Pal
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Can someone publish a story that happened to you?

Can someone take a story that happened to you, without your knowledge, and publish it? Using your name and specifics, and take the copyright for it? A person, whose mother lived in our small town, heard a story about our father. This person wrote a…
Juli Ridgway
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Are Names of Characters Copyrighted by Authors?

Are names of characters copyrighted by authors? For example, the character "Eragon" from the Inheritance Cycle series, or a name that you've generated using an online name generator that you'd like to use (Which, could be copyrighted if names of…
JFW
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How can I contact JK Rowling for permission to publish my sequel for the Harry Potter series?

I recently watched the entire Harry Potter series in December 2021. I really loved the Harry Potter world and all the characters. Even after days, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about it and I'm pretty happy about the innovative idea that…
Sam N
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Do I need copyright permission to rewrite an old classic?

I'm planning to rewrite some old classics such as "Oliver Twist", "David Copperfield", "Jane Eyre", etc. in simple English. They will be abridged adaptations (with due credit given to the original author of course) of the originals. I'm aiming to…
srini
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Would it be a copyright violation if I made a character’s full name refer to a song?

I want to write a realistic fiction book similar to Thomas Hardy’s works, where he used techniques and Biblical references (they were also called allusions) to make his writing more meaningful, and to prove points about Victorian society. I am…
Edmund Frost
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What should I do if my book's title is already taken?

I'm writing a novel, and I think I've come up with a very good title (The Power of the Powerless). It conveys the moral question of the story well, and gives a good sense of the style of the story. Unfortunately, when I googled the title, it was the…
SpiralStudios
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Getting My Rights Back

Back in the late 90's I wrote a picture book which eventually was published in 2002 by a big name publishing house. The book was critically acclaimed, won an award, and went through a couple of printings, before finally going out of print around…
Chris Sunami
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Do living authors still get paid royalties for their old work?

Do authors still get paid royalties for their old works? For example, If I decided to buy a copy of the "Odessa File" by Frederick Forsyth or "Kane and Abel" by Jeffery Archer, do the authors get paid royalties for them? Another example would be me…
srini
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Can we "borrow" our answers to populate our own websites?

Second Edit -- to try to expand the scope BEYOND W.SE and to cover any CreativeCommons work, not just here. Deleted part about the badges. -- Edit -- to clarify it's not quite a BLOG, more a portfolio of teaching resources I've developed. My…
April Salutes Monica C.
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Can a copyright be made in the name of a fictional writer?

Is it possible to copyright a work in the name of a fictional writer? For example, like Nicolas Bourbaki or some pen name of some author? Can I use my own fictional name to copyright the work?
user4330
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Borrowing Characters

Would it be a violation of copyright and/or plagiarism to “borrow” a character from another novel? For example, I have a short story and want to include as a side character Ender (of Ender’s Game). I would preserve Ender’s name, family, personality,…
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