An Experimental Life

(This is not a comprehensive discussion of copyright law, but a summary of the facets that are of most interest to webcomicers and other online content providers. All of the proceeding is from research at http://www.copyright.gov, and applies to the United States. You should also read my trademark article, as that goes into much of what people confuse with copyright. I am not a lawyer, and--as usual--accept no liability if this information pees in your Cheerios, drinks all your beer, and eats your babies. You may also want to see my essay on the Orphaned Works bill.)

There is quite a bit of misinformation floating around the webcomic community about copyright, big chunks of which have changed over time. Here's how current (as of this writing) copyright law affects you, the webcomic creator or other online content provider.

What does copyright protect?
As the creator of a work, you have exclusive rights to make and distribute copies of your work, to display the work publicly, and to prepare derivative works. You may sell, give away, or waive any or all of your rights either temporarily, permenantly, or for specific purposes, and sue anyone who violates your copyright.

How long is my work protected by copyright? Do I have to renew?
No, you don't have to renew. As a general rule, copyright protection lasts until seventy years after your death.

A good example of selling a portion of your rights would be a short story writer who "sells" a story to a magazine. He or she isn't really selling the story itself, but certain specific permissions--usually "first publication" rights. (There are many magazines that will buy second publication rights, too, or more specific rights like "first North American publication rights.")

How do I copyright my stuff?
Create it. Yes, it is still that simple. Once a work is established in a fixed form (i.e., a printed document, a picture, etc.), it is copyrighted.

Do I have to register my copyright?
You are not required to register your copyright. There are some advantages to registration, but for most webcomicers the benefits of registering will not be worth the cost or hassle. (If you get very big, it may be worth your while.)

Even if you're not registering your work, though, you are for some reason required by law to deposit copies with the copyright office if it is considered to be published. To quote the exact language used at copyright.gov, "Electing not to register your copyright in the work with the Copyright Office does not exempt you from the mandatory deposit provision of the law." Seriously. You can--technically--be fined for failure to do so.

Here's the weird part, though--YOU get to decide if your webcomic is considered published or not. Seriously. Check the third page at the PDF link below.

The copyright site admits that regulations need to be updated to handle web-delivered content. "The definition of 'publication' in the US copyright law does not specifically address online transmission. You, it says, are asked to "determine whether the work is published or not."

The gist seems to be that public performance or display does not constitute publication, but distribution does, and they so far haven't decided where a lot of web-delivered content falls.

See http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/mandatory_deposit.html#mandatory for general information, and http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ66.pdf for details (such as they are) on web-delivered content.

If someone infringes on your copyright, you will have to register before you can bring a lawsuit against them.

Aha! I'll just mail a copy of my stuff to myself to do a "poor man's copyright!"
::shrug:: Okay. It has nothing to do with copyright law, but you can certainly mail your work to yourself if you've nothing better to do. Maybe you're lonely and just want to get some mail?

If I decide to register my work with the copyright office, do I have to register each comic page separately?
To debunk another myth that has spread through the webcomic community, even if you decide to register your work, you don't have to register each and every comic separately--You can register it as a body of work. If you decide to register, you may want to do it in chunks, or volumes, since webcomics ideally keep getting new material added to them.

Can I copyright my characters?
No. Not in the strict sense of that question. However, every single drawing you've ever made of that character is copyrighted, as are your writing, initial character design scribbles, etc., and since copyright law prohibits most derivative works, anyone else using your characters (with a few exceptions, covered further down) is breaking the law, meaning that if you can get a lawyer to take your case, you can sue to make him or her give you munnies--If he or she has any.

You also cannot copyright your title, your characters' names, catch-phrases, or symbols (although you can trademark these--That's a separate article). Every drawing you make of that symbol or any logos is copyrighted, though, even though the symbol or logo itself isn't. Therefore, again, anyone using it--even if they draw it themselves--is violating your copyright. Their rendition would be a derivitive work.

Can I copyright an idea or premise?
What kind of question is that? No, of course not. You can't sue the makers of The Matrix because at some point in the seventies you wrote on a piece of cocktail napkin, "Do a story about people trapped in an evil computer." The makers of Tron can't sue them, either. If that sort of thing were possible, there would be very few (if any) new works produced.

Now, your specifically-worded explanation of an idea? That can be copyrighted. This document, for example, is copyrighted. The information in it is public, but my explanation and discussion of it is mine, mine, mine. (Of course, you can print, reprint, distribute, or whatever, as long as you give credit and the url.)

Oh noes! I forgot to put my copyright notice on my stuff!!!one one eleventy one!!!
Relax. The laws have changed. As of 1989, even without a notice, your work is copyrighted. A notice is good, though, for several reasons. It provides public notice of protection, clearly states when the work was created, and shows the name of the creator.

Without a notice, you can still ping someone for infringement and vice versa, but if there was no copyright notice, the offender can always plead innocent infringement and get off the hook. It's also a good idea to have some kind of contact info on each of your comics--The url of your comic site should be enough.

So, no, they're not technically required, but put copyright notices are on each individual comic and on the page itself anyway.(Again, see my article on the Orphaned Works bill for more on this.)

Note: You may want to put some sort of notice somewhere on your site to allow exceptions for certain purposes, i.e. non-commercial fan art and cosplay outfits for personal use that may be displayed, but not sold, distributed, or used in any manner that competes with your work.

How do I display my copyright?
Like this:
© 2007 Joe Schmoe
(HTML for the copyright symbol is: ©
You can also use (C), or just write out "copyright," instead of using the c-in-a-circle symbol.

What about world-wide international copyright?
No such thing in the strict sense of the word, but there are international treaties about how to deal with copyright infringement, so you have recourse even if someone in the Ukraine rips off your work. Most countries respect the intellectual property rights of citizens of other nations.

What about parody laws?
In general, you're safe with blatant and obvious parody. Hence Mad Magazine's parodies of... well, everything.

What about sprite comics?
Many (not all) sprite comics are in violation of copyright and/or trademark law.

What about fair use?
This is a big gray area. There is no hard and fast rule for how many lines or words constitutes fair use as opposed to infringement. There are a lot of factors involved, including how large a portion of "your" work is word-for-word or paraphrased from theirs. In general, though, quoting brief passages for the purpose of criticism is fine, and you can have your characters quote from something, as well, but not recite great big chunks. Pete Abrams of Sluggy Freelance had to remove song lyrics from one of his storylines because he quoted pretty much entire songs. If he had used just snatches of a bunch of different songs, he'd have been fine.

According to the U.S. Copyright Office, some other instances of fair use include "quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author's observations... summary of an address or article, with brief quotations," and, well, you get the idea. Many novels and short stories have brief quotations from other works at the beginning of the story, and sometimes at the beginning of each chapter--For example, my friend Lane Robins quotes Christopher Marlowe's Edward the Second at the beginning of her novel Maledicte.

Why should you love him whom the world hates so?
Because he loves me more than all the world.

Although Marlowe is in the public domain, even if Lane had quoted Amy Tam or Steven King, a single short quotation like that would still be considered fair use. The thing to remember is brevity.

Note that while you should attribute any direct quotes or paraphrases, doing so is not enough to cover you when using lengthy passages from someone else's work.

What is "public domain?"
Public domain works are works with no copyright protection--You can legally bend, fold, staple, or otherwise mutilate them. You can, for example, legally make a comic version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Bram Stoker's Dracula, or any of the works of Shakespeare. For that matter, you can print and sell copies of any of the above without paying royalties or anything. They are all in the public domain.

There are a few ways that works can fall into the public domain. The most common thing you'll run into are works for which the creator has waived copyright, or for which the copyright has expired.

In conclusion
Relax, put copyright notices and your url on each comic, don't do anything sleazy, and you'll most likely be just fine.

Go to http://www.copyright.gov and check things for yourself. When in doubt, play it safe.