© Kimberly Dawn Wells

Many e-book authors forgo the official copyright process, but depending on how you plan to distribute your e-book, a copyright might be beneficial.

I would venture to guess that over 95% of e-books are not officially copyrighted. I’m guessing this based on the number of e-books I’ve read over the last ten years. Most are very short, don’t contain unique information that can’t be gathered somewhere else, and are used more as viral promotional tools than as a reliable data resource. These types of books probably would not benefit from an official copyright. If someone wanted to, they could just as easily find, reorganize, and publish the same type of information without too much trouble. Additionally, anything you publish is assumed to have an unregistered copyright in your name.

A few e-books are extensive and contain the same unique information as you would find in a printed book. In fact, many of these such e-books are printed books, and the e-book is just an additional option for purchasing the content. If your e-book falls into this category, it could benefit from an official copyright.

An official copyright will protect you in the case of an unauthorized use or reproduction of your content in a slightly different way than an informal copyright claim will (also commonly known as an “assumed” copyright). In order to file a lawsuit for infringement of a copyright, the material must be registered (in the U.S.) Also, according to Copyright.gov, “If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.” In the case that your material is misused, an official copyright registration will strengthen your case and result in fewer legal fees on your part.

The official copyright registration process can be completed in just a few minutes through the United States Copyright Office and costs only $45. You can expect to hear back from the office within four months, at which time you will receive an official certificate of registration. Be sure to read all of the forms and submission rules carefully. A properly completed application will allow your claim to be processed quicker. For more information visit Copyright.gov.

© Sarah Turner

In 2004, Google began a massive book digitization project. A settlement has been reached to provide compensation to copyright holders. What does this mean for writers?

Google has digitized over 7 million books since 2004. The books were scanned and the complete text is available online through Google Book Search. Most of the digitized books were public domain or historical texts.

The book digitization project was started with the support of major research libraries such as Stanford and Harvard. The goal was to make library resources more widely available.

Some of the digitized books, however, are still protected under current copyright laws. In 2005, the Authors Guild, Inc. and certain authors and publisher representatives of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) sued Google for copyright infringement.

Their long legal battle has just come to a close.

In late October 2008, Google reached an out-of-court settlement with the AAP and the Author's Guild.

The protection of intellectual property in an increasingly globalized and technology-driven media world was touched on by a number of speakers at the Association of American Publishers annual meeting held February 7-8 in Washington, D.C.

At the conference's opening business meeting it was announced that the association had increased its antipiracy budget by $750,000 for the coming year. Susan Pia, AAP's deputy director of international trade relations, said the association's new strategy is to "go after the big players, the sharks," who are involved in piracy efforts around the world. Pia noted that the development of new technology, particularly print-on-demand technology, was posing new challenges for the AAP, observing that it is very difficult to determine between legitimate and pirated POD products. Pia told the publishers the AAP is giving top priority to stemming piracy in Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea.

In her address, Playboy Inc. chairmanChristie Hefner discussed the need for publishers to protect First Amendment rights in relation to the Internet. Hefner said she is concerned that governments will want to regulate the Web as much as possible. Hefner warned that if foreign countries are allowed to impose restrictions on what is delivered via the Internet, the free flow of ideas could be curtailed. "It's critical for the book industry to add its voice to those looking to protect online information distribution and defend the right of people to receive and read constitutionally protected materials," Hefner said.

Among the meeting's speakers, the staunchest proponent of the need to improve copyright protection was News Corp. president Peter Chernin. Chernin called strengthening copyright the most important issue for not just book publishers, but for all media companies. Without adequate copyright protection, "any content-based business is in jeopardy on the Web, and book publishers are in danger of being extinguished in a matter of years," Chernin warned. While the development of the Internet has given more people greater access to information, Chernin said that d sn't mean consumers have the right to "shoplift online."

Chernin urged book publishers to join with other media companies to ask Congress to pass new laws that will prevent "online looting" of copyrighted materials. According to Chernin, new legislation is needed that guarantees publishers' control of not only the integrity of an original work, but of the extent and duration of users' access to that work, the availability of data about the work and restrictions on forwarding the work to others. "Without broad-based support for these essential rights, all providers of content, owners of copyrights and especially publishers of books are at risk of extinction," Chernin said.

Chernin's remarks also included a defense of the ownership of American trade houses by global media companies. He argued that rather than being the death knell that some had predicted, the rise in corporate ownership has allowed a number of trade houses--backed by the resources of their parent companies--to thrive and to "produce a wider range of books with greater ambition and confidence than would ever be possible for an independent press." But while larger publishers may be producing a diverse range of titles, they shouldn't necessarily produce more books, Chernin advised, noting that more titles are published now than at any time in history. "It's a publisher's job not to add to the flood. Publishing houses must be more discerning than ever not only about how to market their titles but about which titles to produce in the first place."

Chernin refuted the notion that large media companies are only interested in squeezing out the last nickel of profits from their publishing divisions. Owning a book publisher "makes a company like News Corp. a player in the world of ideas," he maintained. "What makes a publisher so valuable to a parent company is its ability to make good books, not just to make fiscal year profits."

The mandatory e-book presentation was given by Gemstar-TV Guide International chairman Henry Yuen. Yuen acknowledged that the e-book industry faces a "transitional danger"; book publishers and others are currently investing millions of dollars to develop new systems and services, but the market at present is a very small one. Yuen urged publishers not to be discouraged, noting that Gemstar is "determined to make e-books into a success."

Yuen said that the e-book market still needs "more devices, more content, more consumers and better gadgets." He predicted that the ideal e-book--one that is less than $100, weights eight ounces, has a color monitor and a six-month battery life--should be available by late 2002 or early 2003. Yuen estimated that RCA shipped between 35,000 and 50,000 REB 1100/1200 e-book machines late last year, and he indicated that he expects the distribution of devices to greatly expand this year. Gemstar's own expansion plans include entering the French, German and U.K. markets this year, while in the U.S. the company is holding discussions about expanding into the library market.

In some AAP housekeeping notes, association president and CEO Pat Schr der signed a new three-year contract. Peter Mayer of the Overlook Press, Robert Flaherty of the Brookings Institute Press and Joseph Reynolds of Bell & Howell Information & Learning were elected to the AAP board. Total AAP membership is now at 310 companies.

The mandatory e-book presentation was given by Gemstar-TV Guide International chairman Henry Yuen. Yuen acknowledged that the e-book industry faces a "transitional danger"; book publishers and others are currently investing millions of dollars to develop new systems and services, but the market at present is a very small one. Yuen urged publishers not to be discouraged, noting that Gemstar is "determined to make e-books into a success."

Yuen said that the e-book market still needs "more devices, more content, more consumers and better gadgets." He predicted that the ideal e-book--one that is less than $100, weights eight ounces, has a color monitor and a six-month battery life--should be available by late 2002 or early 2003. Yuen estimated that RCA shipped between 35,000 and 50,000 REB 1100/1200 e-book machines late last year, and he indicated that he expects the distribution of devices to greatly expand this year. Gemstar's own expansion plans include entering the French, German and U.K. markets this year, while in the U.S. the company is holding discussions about expanding into the library market.

In some AAP housekeeping notes, association president and CEO Pat Schr der signed a new three-year contract. Peter Mayer of the Overlook Press, Robert Flaherty of the Brookings Institute Press and Joseph Reynolds of Bell & Howell Information & Learning were elected to the AAP board. Total AAP membership is now at 310 companies.

In the two years that Tracey Armstrong has been leading the Copyright Clearance Center, her priority has been to make sure the organization keeps pace with the changes occurring at a rapid pace in the industry it was created to serve. “I have been here over 19 years and came up through the ranks. Over that time CCC has been evolving,” Armstrong said.

Part of that evolution is a direct result of CCC trying to keep ahead of the digital revolution—and the ability of publishers to parse their content in increasingly sophisticated ways. By the end of 2008, its 30th anniversary year, CCC was managing more than 300 million rights, not just for traditional print media like books and journal articles, but for e-books, blogs, Web sites and small snippets of content. As an example of its coverage, Armstrong points to O'Reilly Media, which uses CCC's Rightslink point-of-content licensing program to provide click-through permissions for online content as tiny as a paragraph or a bit of code. At the same time, CCC has worked to make Rightslink responsive to publishers' needs to offer myriad permissions, currently 150 types, including options for coursepacks, corporate use and translation rights.

That CCC has been successful in getting publishers and authors paid for their works that have been used by others can be seen in the steady climb in royalty distribution over the past 15 years, a span in which the organization has distributed more than $1 billion. Going forward, said Armstrong, her goal is to continue to think about how book content can be monetized for the small publisher, the individual creator or large house. “We're investing in the future and in growth,” said Armstrong. “I have more and more publishers asking me, 'Can you license my video, my images, my digital content?' ” Last fall CCC introduced a beta version of Ozmo, an online point-of-content service created for micro-publishers, bloggers, photographers and other artists. It's streamlined so that users new to copyright can set it up in five minutes, gratis. Income from licensing fees is split with CCC.

Other new projects include the Web portal Rights Central, which launched in late 2008. It's modeled after an online financial portfolio and supplies publishers with reports and statistics indicating underlying trends of licensing use. Publishers can view charts showing which titles are driving their royalties and where. About 800 customers have signed on to Rights Central to date.

In December, CCC also introduced Copyright Labs, a permissions utility for users who want to license content found via Google Scholar.

CCC is also expanding its efforts to collect royalties from international sources. For the last fiscal year, ending June 2008, international licensing grew by 25%, and CCC repatriated $30 million in payments to U.S. rightsholders. Now Armstrong is pushing CCC into emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and eastern Europe.

As for fiscal 2009, Armstrong indicates that this has been a solid year, but like everyone else, CCC has felt the effect of the fall's economic slowdown. The final figures will not be available for several more months. But that hasn't kept CCC from continuing to move forward with more copyright choices, including an iPhone app, which should be available in a few weeks. That's one way to ensure that copyright remains part of the conversation.

Coinciding with its one-year anniversary, the nonprofit organization Copyright Alliance has established a social networking site for artists and other creators of intellectual property to interact with each other on issues of copyright. For $35 (or $15 if they are students) annual fee, members get access to a network of other creators concerned about copyright via an interactive members-only website. The site also provides resources and information about copyright.