Copyright on NaNoWriMo

by Anthony Doran
1st November 2014

I may be dim but I can't see how the user of the NaNoWriMo website retains his or her copyright in their work. This is a quote from the website:-

'You give the party (the “Account Holder”) who owns the domain name as hosted on the Service in which you post your Content (the “Hosted Area”) a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable , fully-sublicensable license to publish and use your Content. In addition to the right to publish, you also grant the Account Holder under said license the following rights, without limitation: (i) the right to reproduce or copy or create derivative works thereof; (ii) the right to transfer, deliver, and sell the Content, which includes the distribution via computer and networks; (iii) the right to edit, modify, adapt, arrange, improve, correct, develop, translate, in all or in part; (iv) the right to update/upgrade by adding or removing; (v) the right to film, perform or post the Content in any media, and (vi) the right to use or incorporate all or any part of the Content in any products or services of the Account Holder (whether or not associated with the Service). Except as described in our Privacy Policy, neither the Company nor any Account Holder will be required to treat any Content as confidential. By posting Content you hereby waive any and all rights to be compensated by UserVoice or any Account Holder for such Content.

In order to operate and improve the Service, the Company needs the right to make certain uses of your Content as well. Therefore, when you post Content in any Hosted Area, you also agree to grant the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, fully sublicenseable, non-exclusive license to copy, distribute, sell, publicly display, publicly perform and make derivative works of your Content on the Service and on services affiliated with the Service regardless of the form of media used or of whether such services now exist or are developed in the future.'

Apologies for the length of the quote, but how can it mean that we the writers keep our copyright in our work?

Replies

I read it as they can use it for PR purposes, so they might use the bits you've listed as an advertisement for NaNoWriMo and if you don't want them to don't put any blurbs/ cover images/ extracts. I'd assume they have no rights to anything NOT hosted by them (ie your actual novel)

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Katie
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Katie Gerrard
01/11/2014

Hi just to add to my answer, I have just checked with people in my house who job it is to decipher the law and they say you do give up ALL rights to your work and they don't have to give you a penny. hope that helps

Paul.

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Paul
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Paul Garside
01/11/2014

having read your post I take it to mean the exact opposite, and from what I can make of their legalize, it looks like if they have a best seller or blockbuster film all you get is the nice feeling it was yours... once.

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Paul
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Paul Garside
01/11/2014