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Gary Clark wrote: > > > Copyright was a hot topic on SPORRS a while back. > If you want to learn more....The June issue of Photo > District News has a a "Guide to registering your copyright", > complete with a example of the government form you'll need. > > Gary Clark > Griffith, Indiana > Back MANY years ago, I used to anchor the news at a small TV station in Missouri. I moved on to Kentucky, then California; my co-anchor left the biz several years later to make a "real" living...and became one of the leading copyright/intellectual property lawyers in the Midwest. So a year ago, I posed the question to her about copyright and what we as railfan photographers (ie; we don't derive all of our income from it) should know. Her answer: make darned sure that every print or slide you send out is marked with year and YOUR NAME thus: ©1998 David R. Busse. There were other rules she laid out and I am sure they are covered in the PDN article. However, with all the casual exchanges of photos in this hobby (slide and print trading, loaning for book use, etc.) this is the one little rule she said everyone MUST KNOW for their own protection. On a bigger topic, if you are one of the many budding authors out there, PLEASE take some time to think about copyright BEFORE you start a project, and have an agreement in writing before you start. If Gary Clark and I were to co-author "Commuter Railroads of North Dakota" I would want to have a written agreement with Gary saying we both own the copyright and spelling out who gets what in terms of royalties. This might sound a bit fancy, since most rr books are labors of love, but it protects both of you and your heirs. Many of you in Southern California know of a well-known railfan who did not take these precautions on a photo book project years ago; the book sold well, and his co-author went out, on his own, obliterated all references to the co-author, financed a second printing and sold it as his work entirely. The original co-author took the "thief" to court and lost, because there had never been a written agreement over copyright ownership to begin with. It's fun to see your pictures in print and to assist on publication projects. However small, these are still business deals. Know your copyright laws and spell everything out, in writing, before you proceed! --David R. Busse Diamond Bar, California ======================================================= -> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects' -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/ -> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved =======================================================
