Im making my own graphic novel, but i need a little help.

[Massacre Crow]

Hello everyone. So I've been working on my graphic novel for over a year now and I've gotten a lot written down, i drew most of the main characters, already started writing the script and got most of the lore written down as well. (Though its still far from finished.)

But here lies the issue; Ive got a lot of work done as you can see above. But i don't know where i should go to get my graphic novel and characters copyrighted under my name. Ive been itching to show the world what I've done, but I'm afraid showing it this early to the public without my copyrights first will risk my idea from being stolen. I know there are plagiarizing thieves out there who steal other people's ideas and claim it as their own, and i don't want my project to be stolen.

If anyone out there who has been in this same situation; that can give me a contact to or web link to someone who can help me put my graphic novel under my name, i would highly appreciate that. I have big plans for this graphic novel and hopefully when i get my rights to it, i will get a kick-starter to help fund this project. Once I'm able to do all that, then i will be more than happy to show my hard work to the public.

I know there are other independent writers and artists out there who are making a manga, comic-book or graphic novel that have been in my shoes before and have succeeded with their project.

Thanks for your help and hope i can share my project with the world.

[Static Sludge]

my first and foremost tip is to email yourself all the content you post/plan to post. that way it copyrights it for you automatically. im not too sure on actual copyright companys where you pay, but I vaguely recall someone saying it can be pretty cheap to really expensive.


also if you do alt + 0169 it will make the ©sign which helps also. and plagiarism is really scary but at least on communities like DA FA tumblr etc, a lot of people will report it.


Sorry I couldn't be more help, I hope others post with better advice, this is something id like to get more knowledge on as well

[Kyousouka]

Static Sludge

my first and foremost tip is to email yourself all the content you post/plan to post. that way it copyrights it for you automatically. im not too sure on actual copyright companys where you pay, but I vaguely recall someone saying it can be pretty cheap to really expensive.

This is incorrect information. Please don't spread it. What you are referring to is an email version of Poor Man's Copyright, which is meaningless even when done the "right way". The original idea is to send yourself a (printed) version of your work, and not open it. The postmark acts as "proof" that your work existed at least as early as that date, so if anyone tries to sell it at a later date, you can prove you had it earlier. This does not tend to hold up in court. Moreover, it doesn't give you copyright of your work.

Your creative works are automatically copyrighted to you if live in a country that is party to the Berne convention (all but a few countries are). You do not need to do anything just to obtain copyright. The point of a copyright notice in creative works isn't to say "this is copyrighted", but to make it clear who they are copyrighted to.

Registering your work just means you obtain proof that your work was yours at least as early as a given date (see where the Poor Man's Copyright idea came from now?), which will help you in court in case anything does happen. However, it's not necessary, especially in this day and age where everything is online and it's possible to know when it was put online. Moreover, going to court over copyright is usually a waste of your money even if you win, and court is really the only place where a copyright registration is worth anything.

Instead, spend some time familiarising yourself with the basics of copyright and derivative works and with writing C&D (cease & desist) letters, so that in the unlikely case that someone does try to steal your stuff, you can present your case to them in a sound manner. In most cases, that alone is enough to stop them.

If you have money to spend for the small chance of something happening that might go to court, then by all means register your work. Google copyright registration + your country for detailed information. It's usually not very expensive ($35-55 in the USA, for example).

In most cases of art theft, the thief doesn't care about copyright, and will usually back down when presented with a C&D. If they don't, you can send the C&D to whoever is hosting "their" work, they'll generally listen.
However, if someone takes your ideas but not your actual work (e.g. if someone traces your art, or steals your story, changes the names and some dialogue, and redraws it), copyright laws will not protect you. In these situations, creating the better work and having the bigger fanbase that sees the derivative work as a copy are the best things you can hope for.

If you're worried about theft, then use watermarks and the like. Make it easy for people to know where the work came from, and hard for other people to hide that.


By the way, to include a copyright symbol on a website, you should use the &copy.; (remove the .) HTML entity. I recommend having a copyright notice as part of your website template.

[Static Sludge]

Kyousouka

Static Sludge

my first and foremost tip is to email yourself all the content you post/plan to post. that way it copyrights it for you automatically. im not too sure on actual copyright companys where you pay, but I vaguely recall someone saying it can be pretty cheap to really expensive.

This is incorrect information. Please don't spread it. What you are referring to is an email version of Poor Man's Copyright, which is meaningless even when done the "right way". The original idea is to send yourself a (printed) version of your work, and not open it. The postmark acts as "proof" that your work existed at least as early as that date, so if anyone tries to sell it at a later date, you can prove you had it earlier. This does not tend to hold up in court. Moreover, it doesn't give you copyright of your work.

Your creative works are automatically copyrighted to you if live in a country that is party to the Berne convention (all but a few countries are). You do not need to do anything just to obtain copyright. The point of a copyright notice in creative works isn't to say "this is copyrighted", but to make it clear who they are copyrighted to.

Registering your work just means you obtain proof that your work was yours at least as early as a given date (see where the Poor Man's Copyright idea came from now?), which will help you in court in case anything does happen. However, it's not necessary, especially in this day and age where everything is online and it's possible to know when it was put online. Moreover, going to court over copyright is usually a waste of your money even if you win, and court is really the only place where a copyright registration is worth anything.

Instead, spend some time familiarising yourself with the basics of copyright and derivative works and with writing C&D (cease & desist) letters, so that in the unlikely case that someone does try to steal your stuff, you can present your case to them in a sound manner. In most cases, that alone is enough to stop them.

If you have money to spend for the small chance of something happening that might go to court, then by all means register your work. Google copyright registration + your country for detailed information. It's usually not very expensive ($35-55 in the USA, for example).

In most cases of art theft, the thief doesn't care about copyright, and will usually back down when presented with a C&D. If they don't, you can send the C&D to whoever is hosting "their" work, they'll generally listen.
However, if someone takes your ideas but not your actual work (e.g. if someone traces your art, or steals your story, changes the names and some dialogue, and redraws it), copyright laws will not protect you. In these situations, creating the better work and having the bigger fanbase that sees the derivative work as a copy are the best things you can hope for.

If you're worried about theft, then use watermarks and the like. Make it easy for people to know where the work came from, and hard for other people to hide that.


By the way, to include a copyright symbol on a website, you should use the &copy.; (remove the .) HTML entity. I recommend having a copyright notice as part of your website template.

hmm, well that's not what I was told when the author jenni james spoke at our local comic con. and she started as her own advertiser and everything. but whatever, if it swrong its wrong, I just wish a public speaker wouldn't say that then.


bottom line to OP, make sure you state that it is your work and sign it if you can (probably not comic pages)

[Ashenflame]

I don't think it'd hurt to look into registration or trademarks either, if applicable. I have no idea what that costs or where you'd go to get it. Maybe a lawyer?

[Massacre Crow]

Thanks for the tips. I have been putting my signature on my work with my name and date on each drawing, but i would like to have some legal ground on my work. At first i thought i needed a lawyer that specializes in this kind of stuff and licensing Ive never done any of this before so most of the things that you guys posted is completely new to me, and it seems overwhelming at first; but I'm willing to do anything for this project. No matter the time or cost. This graphic novel is my future. I DO have a lawyer, though I'm not sure if he can help me since he's a different kind of lawyer. I doubt you can use any lawyer for this? there must be a certain type of attorney that does this stuff.

[Massacre Crow]

Ashenflame

I don't think it'd hurt to look into registration or trademarks either, if applicable. I have no idea what that costs or where you'd go to get it. Maybe a lawyer?

Im willing to do all that, but is there a specific lawyer that i should look for that specializes in this kind of field?

I do have a lawyer, but im not sure if he's the type of lawyer to do this.

[Ashenflame]

Massacre Crow

Ashenflame

I don't think it'd hurt to look into registration or trademarks either, if applicable. I have no idea what that costs or where you'd go to get it. Maybe a lawyer?

Im willing to do all that, but is there a specific lawyer that i should look for that specializes in this kind of field?

I do have a lawyer, but im not sure if he's the type of lawyer to do this.

I have no clue, and I'm not having any luck with a search engine at the moment. gonk
Sometimes I hit up Avvo.com for legal questions. This situation had a guy say registering with the United States Patent and Trademark Office is $30. That's the best I can come up with.

[Massacre Crow]

Kyousouka

Static Sludge

my first and foremost tip is to email yourself all the content you post/plan to post. that way it copyrights it for you automatically. im not too sure on actual copyright companys where you pay, but I vaguely recall someone saying it can be pretty cheap to really expensive.

This is incorrect information. Please don't spread it. What you are referring to is an email version of Poor Man's Copyright, which is meaningless even when done the "right way". The original idea is to send yourself a (printed) version of your work, and not open it. The postmark acts as "proof" that your work existed at least as early as that date, so if anyone tries to sell it at a later date, you can prove you had it earlier. This does not tend to hold up in court. Moreover, it doesn't give you copyright of your work.

Your creative works are automatically copyrighted to you if live in a country that is party to the Berne convention (all but a few countries are). You do not need to do anything just to obtain copyright. The point of a copyright notice in creative works isn't to say "this is copyrighted", but to make it clear who they are copyrighted to.

Registering your work just means you obtain proof that your work was yours at least as early as a given date (see where the Poor Man's Copyright idea came from now?), which will help you in court in case anything does happen. However, it's not necessary, especially in this day and age where everything is online and it's possible to know when it was put online. Moreover, going to court over copyright is usually a waste of your money even if you win, and court is really the only place where a copyright registration is worth anything.

Instead, spend some time familiarising yourself with the basics of copyright and derivative works and with writing C&D (cease & desist) letters, so that in the unlikely case that someone does try to steal your stuff, you can present your case to them in a sound manner. In most cases, that alone is enough to stop them.

If you have money to spend for the small chance of something happening that might go to court, then by all means register your work. Google copyright registration + your country for detailed information. It's usually not very expensive ($35-55 in the USA, for example).

In most cases of art theft, the thief doesn't care about copyright, and will usually back down when presented with a C&D. If they don't, you can send the C&D to whoever is hosting "their" work, they'll generally listen.
However, if someone takes your ideas but not your actual work (e.g. if someone traces your art, or steals your story, changes the names and some dialogue, and redraws it), copyright laws will not protect you. In these situations, creating the better work and having the bigger fanbase that sees the derivative work as a copy are the best things you can hope for.

If you're worried about theft, then use watermarks and the like. Make it easy for people to know where the work came from, and hard for other people to hide that.


By the way, to include a copyright symbol on a website, you should use the &copy.; (remove the .) HTML entity. I recommend having a copyright notice as part of your website template.

I re-read your post twice just to make sure i understand everything you explained, and now i get the gist of what you mean. I will take this into consideration definitely. I will speak to my older brother about this issue since he has a business of his own and has experience with this kind of stuff. so thanks for your help. If there is anything you want to tell me that you forgot to mention, just send me a Private Message.

[Massacre Crow]

Ashenflame

Massacre Crow

Ashenflame

I don't think it'd hurt to look into registration or trademarks either, if applicable. I have no idea what that costs or where you'd go to get it. Maybe a lawyer?

Im willing to do all that, but is there a specific lawyer that i should look for that specializes in this kind of field?

I do have a lawyer, but im not sure if he's the type of lawyer to do this.

I have no clue, and I'm not having any luck with a search engine at the moment. gonk
Sometimes I hit up Avvo.com for legal questions. This situation had a guy say registering with the United States Patent and Trademark Office is $30. That's the best I can come up with.

I will check that out. Thanks for the link.

[a simple dude]

dude devian art will protect the rights to your work. also some artists have gotten some well paying work through da. your work can be filtered through da and seen everywhere else.

[Kyousouka]

Angry Tigris

dude devian art will protect the rights to your work. also some artists have gotten some well paying work through da. your work can be filtered through da and seen everywhere else.

The bolded part is false, but the rest is generally true. dA is in fact a useful site for getting your work out there and getting commissions, even with all its problems.

dA has tools for dealing with art theft, but it can't "protect" your rights any more than a random person on the street can. dA is notorious for letting art theft go unchecked, although their track record is slightly better when the original artist makes the report. At best, they make an effort to keep your art from being duplicated without your permission on their site, they don't protect your rights in any other way or anywhere else (understandably).