Before selling a book, do you need to just copyright it, then sell it?

Please can anyone help me.

[frenzy77]

Hello everyone:)
From: frenzy77

I have some questions regarding selling a ebook/document online. I hope you don't mind answering.

Well, I hope that you have the answers.

Anyway...My questions are:

Q. 1. Before anyone sells an ebook/book or document, what exactly do you need to do? Meaning, do you need to just get the book copyrighted.

Q. 2. And then can I start selling it online? Is there anything else I need to do before selling it?

Q. 3. And if I were to sell it on the internet, can I sell it to anyone in the *world*.
Meaning *distributing* it outside of the U.S.
***(downloadable ebook/document)

The reason I ask is because I have a ebook/document that I registered and I want to sell it globally.(around the world)

Please address and answer each question.
Thank you for all your help:)
Thank you for taking the time to read this message.
:)

frenzy77

[limbo]

I am no laywer, so please don't take this as gospel

I think if you publish anything to the net it gains copyright. A basic priciple. However it might be a good idea if you are selling book to have them fully copyright'ed to avoid awkward lawsuits. Then you have the weight of officiality behind you.

If you don't and somebody does pinch them you will have to prove that you wrote them. This would probably include sending a copy to your self in a sealed envelope so you get a postal mark and date - this is still considered to be 'hard' evidence in claims courts (UK) (US?).

There is a lot of excellent discussions around this subject in the Content, Writing and Copyright forum [webmasterworld.com]

Ta, Limbo

[Macguru]

*BUMP*
Moved from foo to here.

[rogerd]

Don't do the sealed envelope thing, it's not proof of anything. You could have sent an unsealed envelope through the PO and substituted documents later. If you are looking for a "poor man's copyright", consider having a notary public sign & seal a copy of the document/book - I haven't heard of a court case where this was used, but notaries are generally accepted as accurate witnesses of signatures and dates.

Frenzy77, if you have actually registered the copyright in the US, I don't think there is much else you need to do (from a legal standpoint) to sell it online. Be aware that in some countries the protection afforded intellectual property is minimal, so you may get ripped off regardless of what you do. If this is an important work, of course, you should consult an experienced intellectual property attorney.

Good luck with your ebook!

[frenzy77]

From: frenzy77

Thank you everybody for all your help:)
Also, thanks rogerd for the good luck.
I appreciate it.

Anyone elses input is welcome:)

frenzy77

[stapel]

It would be a good idea to file your copyright on your book, and to do this before publishing. This is because you then gain statutory protections. If somebody steals your intellectual property, you still have rights, even if your copyright isn't registered. That is to say, you can still sue and still win. But your judgement would (likely) be the actual monetary damages that you could prove. Do you think you could prove damages? And in an amount sufficient to cover your court costs (which, I have learned from experience, tend to start at around US$25K)? If your copyright is registered, however, you don't have to prove an actual dollar amount in damages. You can claim that you've been damaged, but then only ask for statutory damages (which may be more than the "actual" damages anyway). However, you can't ask for statutory damages if your copyright isn't registered.

In other words, say you find that X has made illegal copies of your book and, in the course of your lawsuit, you find that he has sold ten copies of your work at fifteen bucks a pop. If you have not (previous to discovery of his theft) registered your copyright, you can spend $20K suing him, and in the end be awarded the $150 that he's made in income. (Well, and maybe court costs, if you're lucky.) On the other hand, if your copyright has been registered (previous to the infringement), then you can ask the judge for statutory damages (up to $150,000, is my understanding, depending upon the statute used and the type of infringement), and court costs are likely to be added in.

You don't "have" to register your copyright to your work in order for it to be copyrighted; the act of creation in a fixed form (like "written down") is sufficient to create the copyright. But if you ever are plagiarized, your life will be a whole lot easier if you have registered your copyright beforehand.

Just my $0.02.

Eliz.
frequently-plagiarised math teacher, but not a lawyer