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Is Attribution Needed When Using Public Domain Materials?
Dear Rich: I have just finished writing a fantasy novel. I have used public domain quotes within the novel (from Aristotle, Lincoln, etc.), but because the world of the novel is not Earth, I claim the...
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Do I Need Clearance in the U.S. if I Acquire Rights from a Public Domain...
Dear Rich: I'm really hoping you can answer my question. I'm in the process of publishing a book that will contain lots of images, mostly of artworks by one artist in particular. The artist is French,...
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Does TuneCore Charge a Commission?
Dear Rich: I am an independent artist, possessing all of my songs and sound recording material. For uploading my music to Spotify and other platforms I use a music distribution company called Tunecore,...
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How Lulu Lost Her Mark
Dear Rich: A company in Florida filed a trademark on "Louise Brooks" and has used that to remove all Louise Brooks items off of Etsy in order for its company to sell its own Louise Brooks products. My...
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Do I Have Right to be Listed on Employer's Copyright?
Dear Rich, I wrote a book as part of my employment. While others did provide input, no one else actually wrote any of the content. My employer is requiring that they be listed as the second author....
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A Movie Falls Into the Public Domain ....
Dear Rich: If a movie falls into the public domain, are all of the individual images in it also public domain? What if the image is of a movie star?Yes, you are free to copy the individual frames or...
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Squishy Animal Infringement
Dear Rich: I bought several $1 squishy animals and have taken pictures of them and shared the pictures with friends. If I use these pictures in a book do I infringe on the toy company’s trademark? It's...
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Should I Register 2020 Vinyl Re-Release or 2005 Original CD?
Dear Rich: My band released a CD in 2005, and we never filed Form SR or PA for the album and underlying works. I am planning a vinyl reissue (with expanded artwork) this year, the songs are in the same...
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When Is a Song Published?
Dear Rich: I'm about to submit a copyright application and have a question about whether or not a song is considered published. What exactly is meant by "distributed to the public"? If I send copies to...
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Can Nonprofit Use NBA/NCAA Trademarks for Fundraising?
Dear Rich: We are an anti-human trafficking nonprofit creating a team-oriented fundraiser for educational purposes. Could "fair use" be applied if our fundraising teams name themselves after clearly...
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How Can I Make Sure I Get Credit for My Work?
Dear Rich: I want to copyright a report I researched and wrote and hope to sell to a museum. My report includes my collection of 19th-century photographs, most of which are extremely rare. When...
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Are Postage Stamps Public Domain?
Dear Rich: Which (if any) US postage stamp images are in the public domain? I have read that stamps issued prior to 1978 are in the public domain. Is this true?According to the Copyright Office, U.S....
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Can We Use Apes Clip in Surf Video?
Dear Rich: We are filming a travel series with a professional surfer highlighting important cultural and historic locations. One location is the beach where the ending for Planet of the Apes was filmed...
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Ripped and Unclipped: Camming and Reaction Videos
Dear Rich: I plan to record an entire episode of a Netflix series through a webcam (therefore seriously depreciating its visual value) and record the audio through a microphone picking up the sound...
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When Collective Works Are Made From the Public Domain
Speaking of the public domain, the Public Domain Review has an informative essay (“The Mark of the Beast”) about the first anti-vaxxersDear Rich: I wish to reproduce photographs from a website. I want...
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Wants to Use Lyrics and Tweets in Musician Biography
We love musician biographies and memoirs. (One of our favorites is Playing the Bass With Three Left Hands by Will Carruthers.)Dear Rich: My non-fiction historical biography of a musician examines...
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Copyrighting Your Movie
Original Photo by Jeremy Bishop on UnsplashDear Rich: I need to copyright my new film. On-screen, I put “copyright 2021" along with a fictitious name. The name is not a recognized legal entity; it's a...
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Bequeathing Royalties in a Will or Trust
Dietmar Rabich, Borkum, Alter Leuchtturm,Dear Rich: I'm in the middle of planning my estate and I'm doing my own will. How do I include royalties from a very successful toy I invented. Assuming it’s...
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Fictionalizing a Science Experiment
Margaret Mead, anthropologistDear Rich: I'm writing a novel based on a scientific experiment that was well-publicized at the time. There has since been a documentary on the subject, as well as numerous...
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Fair Use When Writing Grant Proposals
Dear Rich: Does the reproduction of copyrighted material in a grant proposal constitute fair use? Examples might include a statistical chart from a medical textbook used in a grant application for a...
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