Protecting Ideas

As soon as you put word to parchment (or the equivalent) - it is copyrighted to you. Besides nearly everybody here is busy with their own ideas.

I have had certain pieces 'borrowed' from the poetry main forum (exercise threads) that have cropped up around the net on student forums and one or 2 social profiles being passed of as someone else's - but there I'm guessing this was done by non-members as the critique rooms are locked with passwords as far as to my knowledge only available to members.

As long as you keep what is serious and important posted behind that security (and they run a pretty tight ship here), you can relax a bit more. Generally we are a good community of decent people with a common goal - there may be a few bad apples, but the don't last long.

You could always add extra copyright information to all your posts.

A foreign idea in the hands of a thief can only go so far before becoming skewed. Only you, the progenitor, can make it blossom into what it is meant to be.


With that said, I wouldn't go around posting every short story you have goin' "LOL, aren't deez great!?" so some scumbag can come and rob it from you and try and sell it off to an internet magazine. But sharing ideas with your fellow artists won't hurt

I'm pretty relaxed. There's absolutely nothing new about what I'm writing - I'm relying on the execution to make it unique and exciting. Nothing to steal.

I've thought about it, but ultimately, the ability to connect to authors is worth the risk. Besides, it gives a pretty good record/timeline of your ideas should someone ever take them.

No matter how unique you think your idea is, I can practically guarantee that at least three people have already written it.

Protecting ideas is futile, especially since an idea by itself can't be copyrighted. Only the expression of an idea (such as a manuscript) can be copyrighted (and in most of the world, is copyrighted as soon as you write anything down).

If you want to know how to keep people from lifting entire stories or manuscripts from you, basically don't post it online except in limited-viewing areas such as the password-protected "Share Your Work" sub-forum here and be very careful about who you allow to be your beta readers. That will probably protect you.

The only way to protect an idea is to not tell anyone about it. Frankly I don't think my ideas are worth stealing, so I don't worry about it.

Most of the time on AW people are posting snippets of ideas. Even in Share Your Work, you're advised to post short sections to get better responses from crtters. Nobody shares a work in full unless you look in poetry.

Some people hold their stuff close to the chest, others do not. This isn't a site where we post all our work and gaze upon it, it's a place to interact, help each other out, get information on a million topics, and have fun. More than that, but well...

If you are writing a novel and aim to be published, it is advisable that you not put up too many pages (I'd say no more than a chapter) on any website or blog. Any eventual publisher will ask you to take it down. They'll have different requirements about how much you can display for free. Some teaser bits are usually fine, and posting some stuff in SYW then deleting it is a common practice too.

Do what YOU feel comfortable with.

I wish I had something original that someone would be interested in stealing. : )

Seriously, as a newbie, I also would have some reservations about putting too much out there. I think I'd be more worried about the general plot of the book being reworked than lines and characters showing up somewhere. For example: I was thinking this morning that I'd like to see a television show called "The Home." The show focuses each week on a different resident in a retirement home. Someone visiting or taking care of the resident would say or do something to trigger a past event. This is where the show would actually start. Some feel good shows, some tragedies, and some evil would be depicted in the residents' pasts.

My step-dad was in a nursing home. I witnessed some of the staff talking very disrespectful to him. I thought, you know this guy was a Navy boxer, fought in WWII, obtained his engineering degree, was a wonderful family man; and all most people see is a drooling and immobile old man. What a tragedy to have such honor and pride all your life to come to the end crapping in your pants with no dignity. I used to walk the halls of the nursing home wondering about the stories in each room. There was one extremely sweet and always smiling little old lady who I thought could have poisoned her 3 husbands. I guess my imagination is weird. I think there's a book (or series) in there somewhere for me to write. Unless, someone steals the theme from this forum. : )

Take some time and read the Newbie Guide and the Stickies found
at the top of Forum pages. They are your best guide to learning about
Absolute Write.

Don’t forget to read the FAQ regarding posting pictures at AW.


Members who want to start a thread in Share Your Work to have work critiqued need
50 posts. So take some time to greet fellow newbies, critique other members’
works, or join a discussion.

Anyone who's a good writer already has more than enough ideas of their own to keep them busy. And anyone who's not a good writer isn't a threat to your idea. As someone else said, it's really all about your own comfort level.

Welcome (-:

-Suzanne

Welcome

I don't have anything that I think people will steal. I think everyone here is about the craft and not taking others work. Welcome to AW.

Just share what you are comfortable with.