Copyright – can someone steal my idea?

January 28, 2010 by Jo Herbert (Editor, Writers' & Artists' Yearbook)
Filed under: Writing Advice 

Jo work picDo you worry about how to protect your literary efforts?

Many writers are concerned that submitting their book to publishers or agents runs a risk – a risk that their work might be stolen (gasp!).

Isn’t there a chance that an agent would pick up their idea and pass it onto to an already established author? Or perhaps ‘sell’ it to a publisher who in turn might go and commission a book on that very subject?

I always tell writers not to waste their time fretting about this. Firstly, reputable publishers and agents are not in the business of ‘stealing’ work. They are inundated with plenty of writers with plenty of ideas and if yours has potential then rest assured the agent or publisher will be interested in you and your work.

Likewise, if they reject your manuscript, it’ll be because your book isn’t suitable for their list of titles, not because they’ve passed the idea on to someone else.

But should you happen across a book similar to yours, could this mean your idea has been stolen? Well let’s be realistic, bearing in mind the number of writers in the world, there is every chance more than one might arrive at very similar themes. It might then be a case of who writes it in a more marketable way or even who gets there first.

What you are able to copyright is ‘the expression of an idea’. This means your actual written sentences, your characters, plot, argument and conclusion. All you need to do to safeguard these (and to gain ownership of the copyright of your work) is to get them down on paper.

A book idea floating around your head or hatched out with your best mate in the pub will not be covered.

Just be sensible and keep all your initial workings and preliminary plans, whether saved on your computer or as scribbles in your diary. Some writers post themselves a dated copy of their finished manuscript to ensure they have concrete proof that the work belongs to them.

So, worrying about your work being stolen is really just giving yourself one more thing to worry about (easy if you’re a natural worrier – I am). Your ultimate aim is to express your idea in book form, as a sellable product to a publisher, and fortunately this is exactly what your copyright protects.

Want to know more? The printed Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook has an entire section devoted to the tricky subject of copyright and libel.

Warm wishes, Jo
(Editor, Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook)

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Comments

6 Comments on Copyright – can someone steal my idea?

  1. Victoria Stitch on Jan 28, 2010 at 09:50am

    2. thank you for that, I was wondering about this

  2. Jessica Blake on Jan 28, 2010 at 11:06am

    3. How nice of you to mention this.

    When I started working on my book, I put first ten chapters or so on deviantArt, for the sake of useful comments and general feedback. Back then, I wasn’t quite thinking about ever publishing it or guarding my copyrights.

    Then a friend of mine read what I was writing and said that it’s excellent, I should work on getting it published (eventually) and I got paranoid because exposing my work on deviantArt wasn’t the best thing for marketing or for guarding the copyrights.

    So, I erased all my work there and keep it on my computer and I’ve come up with a fail safe, in case my computer crashes (and you never know). For those interested, my fail safe is dropbox. Google it. Excellent thing.

    All in all, it’s a work in progress, won’t be finished for years. I’m hoping that all the stuff about vampires will fade out of human collective memory by then and thus make room for other things…

    As far as the thing with agents in concerned, I agree with the post above. I am sure that a respectable publishing house such as… (we could throw names here for hours) will respect the intellectual work of any person that comes across the desk of any editor or agent.

    All best to everyone!

  3. paddyo on Feb 12, 2010 at 21:47pm

    4. i,ve worked over two years writing my book, along with a 12 hour day job and a little boy to deal with. many times i had to drag myself to bed in the small hours only to spend the next hour our so writing thw next chapter in my head. all this now seems for nothing as every time i approach some one, agent /publisher im told to double space, we only accept submissions in this or that form, all i want is for someone to actually read it before dismissing it. i have let 5 people read it to date renging from a graduate student to a local government offical and the feed back has been beyond my dreams. so i started the follow up which is now a struggle as i keep thinking what the point. i wrote my book on works because thats what is on my lap top and you’d think i’d written it in swahelli or on something sacred. im so frustrated as i’m a road worker not an IT nut so my computer ability is limited. i believe the plot and theme of my book is so unusual with an already big fan base of the subject it would sell no problem. it was described by my law student friend as saw and seven comming together, a description i love. so tell this lowly road worker where to go from here please

  4. Jo Herbert (Editor, Writers' & Artists' Yearbook) on Feb 14, 2010 at 16:08pm

    5. Hi Paddyo, thanks for your comment and your question. Firstly, it’s quite easy to set your document to double space when using Word. I work on a Mac so what I’d do is click on ‘format’ then ‘paragraph’ then ‘indents and spacing’. There you’ll find the option to set the line spacing to suit your requirements. Double spacing is a general prerequisite when submitting your manuscript to a publisher or agent. It makes the document easier to read and allows the reader to make comments in the margins. However, all that aside, when preparing for submission, always find out how an agent or publisher wants your proposal submitted to them. A quick phone call or look on their website will tell you. This will save you time and ensure your manuscript isn’t dismissed in the first instance because it isn’t presented according to specifications. For more submission advice, look in the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook. Good luck and good for you for fitting your writing around your busy life. All best Jo

  5. darcibm on Feb 17, 2010 at 19:18pm

    6. Jo, I appreciate your comments on the unlikelihood of agents passing on ideas. But I wonder, how does copyright law apply to unassociated writers reading a manuscript?
    My manuscript is currently being read by other writers. I felt a bit uneasy to learn that one of them is working on a project that is thematically very similar to my own (a fact that she didn’t relate when she offered to read the manuscript!). She is a more established writer than myself, but is currently in a bit of a slump- to what extent could she use my ideas?
    I understand that my characters, plot, argument and conclusion are copyrighted as my own, but could these be tweaked in a different setting and therefore be considered different material? ( or am I simply finding fuel for a febrile, and often neurotic, imagination?)

  6. Jo Herbert (Editor, Writers' & Artists' Yearbook) on Feb 19, 2010 at 14:19pm

    7. Hi darcibm, as I say in my post, make as many notes of your preliminary work as you possibly can and keep them in a fireproof box (humour). It’s not possible to copyright an idea (ideas are classed as fair game) but hopefully the writer in question has ideas of her own. If you strongly suspect some of your work is being used, then you would need to investigate to what extent your copyright has been breached. Contact the organisations listed above for additional advice using your notes to back up your claim. Hopefully your worries are speculative, so deep breaths and concentrate on your own writing. All best, Jo

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