Ebooks - a question

[taiarain]

Does anybody know where US law stands on ebooks? Are retail licenses required for them the same as print books or are they treated the same as other writings?

Taia

[lpxxfaintxx]

I'm not 100% sure, but they are most likely copyrighted, hence they are treated similar to those of printed books.

[taiarain]

Yes, all written works have automatic copyright which includes ebooks. There's been debate within the writing community about this topic, but I've yet to find a definitive answer.

Here's the thing: Stories, articles, poems, etc are subject to the same copyright laws as books and ebooks. I can sell an article to a magazine or a book to a publisher without needing a retail license, but I can't sell a printed book (physically tangible) to a customer without one.

It gets sticky here. Some believe that ebooks which can be downloaded or delivered by e-mail are not subject to retail licensing, but an ebook on CD would be. Others believe that a published book in any form is subject to retail licensing.

I was wondering what others outside the writing community thought or might know.

Taia

[Pamil Visions]

Well, I don't know the answer to your question, but I suppose this link might help: http://www.clickandcopyright.com/Copyright_Your_eBook.asp

[taiarain]

Thanks, but the answer wasn't there either. <sigh>

Taia

[Pamil Visions]

Right, it was not there, but, as there is a company offering copyrigh services, quite expensive I might add, most likely is better to copyright an ebook than be sorry after. Especially when you deal with a general topic.

Generally all written work is subject of copyright. But how are you going to prove that online?

[taiarain]

It's easy enough to file your own copyright without paying someone else to do it. 

Taia

[Pamil Visions]

Nope. Not so easy. They could copy part of your texts (it happened to me) and then say they were online first. 

[taiarain]

I don't understand, did someone steal from you at the copyright office?

Taia

[sweet_mayhem]

Nope. Not so easy. They could copy part of your texts (it happened to me) and then say they were online first. 

oh...that's so bad...really? so you actually sought their help to get a copyright then they ended up copying your work?  aaargh...

[Slashmire]

I guess you could always try legal actions but then again...

I am not considering e-books and would like more to have paperback, just so that I can hold it

[fishoutofwater]

I file everything with the library of congress and WGA. I also keep timestamped documentation of my work and a running upgrade. When I edit, I save as new so a record of edits is there. Since I am an agoraphobic, I totally won't see my book http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&doc_id=16362&p=title^!drowned%20empire~!description^!drowned%20empire~!author^!drowned%20empire~! in print (or the other four in the series) but at least I know I can sue someone's butt off if they claim any of it is theirs.

[nangel78]

I figured all books have copyright laws to protect the authors and the publishing company involved in the process. Is that right?