As a freelance writer, you'll need to be aware of the legal protection your work enjoys so you don't sign away rights that you should retain. This is a guide to some key aspects of UK copyright law.
As a freelance writer, ideas are your bread and butter. Getting a commission means revealing your idea for a great article to an editor or someone else. There's no way around it, but how can you prevent people from ripping you off? Here's what you need to know about UK copyright law.
In the UK, copyright is an automatic and unregistered right. That means there's no need to apply specially or fill in any forms. Copyright takes effect as soon as certain works (this term applies to all copyright protected material) are created and there are nine types of work that enjoy this automatic protection. These are literary work (including newspaper articles), dramatic, musical, artistic (photos, drawings, diagrams, maps etc), sound recordings, films, broadcasts, cable programmes and published editions of works. All of these are known as intellectual property. Intellectual property is a bit like real estate - it can be bought, sold, transferred and inherited, though only with your written permission.
The key thing to remember as a writer is that ideas themselves are not protected but the way ideas are expressed is protected. So if you think of an idea for an article, that isn't protected; when you write it, it is. It's the information you select and the way you arrange that information that makes it unique.
In order for material to have copyright protection it has to result from independent intellectual effort. In other words, you must have put some work into it. You'll need to be able to prove this if challenged, so although it's not obligatory, you can protect yourself by sending a copy of your work to yourself by recorded delivery and leaving it unopened. Recorded delivery post is date stamped so you'll be able to prove that your work existed on a particular date.
Copyright lasts for the duration of the author’s life plus 70 years for literary, dramatic or musical works. Different periods apply for films (70 years after the last to die of the director, screenplay authors and musical director), sound recordings (50 years) and published editions (25 years). People are allowed to publish excerpts from your copyrighted work for the purpose of news, review or criticism. This is known as fair dealing. Works used in this way should be properly acknowledged.
When you give someone the right to publish your work, you are assigning that right temporarily (a bit like renting out your house). As a writer, you'll want to avoid signing away any of your rights permanently. Instead, be clear on what rights you are assigning. First serial rights are normal. This gives the publisher the right to publish your material first in whatever country or region (for example, the UK or US) the rights apply to. Once the material has been published, all rights revert to you. Some publishers will also request online rights and the right to keep your work in an online archive. You'll want to make sure these rights are for a limited period or are non-exclusive, so you can make the most of your material.
A key term to be aware of is moral right. This is the right to be credited as the author (have a byline) and to object to alterations or errors which might damage your reputation (known as derogatory treatment of your work). It also includes the right not to have work falsely attributed to you. In other words, no one should say you wrote something if you didn't.
So what do you do if someone tries to pass off something you've written as their own work? If your copyright has been breached you can take the infringer to court but beware. There are two things that could damage your case. The first is if the person commits innocent infringement, which means the person genuinely didn't know you owned the copyright; the second is if you have previously allowed someone to use copyrighted work without complaint. This is known as acquiescence.
Summary
So there you have it: the lowdown on UK copyright law. In essence, freelance writers need to be aware that their written work enjoys automatic copyright protection, that they are entitled to be credited as the author of any work they right, that they should only assign limited rights to their work and that they have the right to sue if their copyright is infringed.
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Showing posts with label Get Started. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Get Started. Show all posts
Making Money Online
t is nice to be back. I wouldn't be surprised if dozens,or even hundreds, of writers found themselves blocked out after the January server repair/crash - which would explain why it is slow here.
How to Write Good Articles
At last night's chat we ended by talking about 'making time to write'. I told the new writers about niche writing, but I also brought up a few new things.
When most writers start to write, they hit free web content sites looking for articles they can 'harvest.' (remember, copy one article and it is plagiarizing, copy three and it is research)
However, this puts you 'behind' the professional writers. If you want to win full time clients then you need to be ahead of the professionals - people like me - and that can be hard.
The best place to find fresh information is 'news' and 'online stores'. The online stores do not need to worry about buying stock, so they can advertise high end products that can never be shown in the average store.
Get Paid to Write
I have written about copper ceiling tiles, ceiling molding, concrete mantles, natural grassrugs, silk wallpaper - and dozens more topics that you'd never find in a free content site or a home decorating site.
News is the next place to look. I never look more than 1 week ago. In fact, I've put a spin on a news release only to find that more than 1000 writers have already posted - ah well, you can't be the first all the time.
So, if you want to win long term clients, become a niche writer. If you want to become a professional writer then learn how to stay ahead of the pack.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
How to Write Good Articles
At last night's chat we ended by talking about 'making time to write'. I told the new writers about niche writing, but I also brought up a few new things.
When most writers start to write, they hit free web content sites looking for articles they can 'harvest.' (remember, copy one article and it is plagiarizing, copy three and it is research)
However, this puts you 'behind' the professional writers. If you want to win full time clients then you need to be ahead of the professionals - people like me - and that can be hard.
The best place to find fresh information is 'news' and 'online stores'. The online stores do not need to worry about buying stock, so they can advertise high end products that can never be shown in the average store.
Get Paid to Write
I have written about copper ceiling tiles, ceiling molding, concrete mantles, natural grassrugs, silk wallpaper - and dozens more topics that you'd never find in a free content site or a home decorating site.
News is the next place to look. I never look more than 1 week ago. In fact, I've put a spin on a news release only to find that more than 1000 writers have already posted - ah well, you can't be the first all the time.
So, if you want to win long term clients, become a niche writer. If you want to become a professional writer then learn how to stay ahead of the pack.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
SEO Articles vs. Human Articles
Web2.0
That one new buzz word will shortly change how the search engines rank websites. Web2.0 does not rely on the savvy and wit of the SEO manager. In fact, many people believe that the Internet bottomed out in 2001. It didn't - instead, it was the birth of web2.0
This was the year when big business lost control of the Internet.
Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> itunes
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domainname speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication
SEO articles --> Human Consumption articles
While freelance writers do not need to learn how to optimize for client's articles - but they do need to learn how to build their own sites if they want to be taken seriously and win big clients.
I just wrote a course on building a web presence. While I do not believe that CMS are out (our firms still use Joomla) we have noticed that you must change as much of the code in the templates and in the system as you can. There are so many CMS out there that Google is seeing them as duplicate content and leaving long before they reach the content. (Theory - If Google reads 200 words of duplicate content than it will not crawl the rest of the article).
I have seen many successful websites built on WordPress and b2evolution blog platforms - but the same thing applies - you need to change code. I know someone who will alter your site for $20.00.
The main difference between Web2.0 and the old system is found in the site's content. Yes, there must still be sticky content. What good is syndication to bring in new visitors if they can read the entire site in an hour and then leave - forever.
The mission of web2.0 is 'harnessing collective intelligence'
One major component that most online business owners miss is the wikipedia encyclopedia - ADD TO IT - as long as some of the links go back to your resources!
Articles
The most important thing is to remember that keyword density is out. Write for users. Use sub titles every 100 - 150 words, and put your keywords in those. Use the heading code (h1, h2, h3, = IN ORDER). Last, include links to other webpages that include the same content/keywords.
These things will increase your rank much faster than any SEO program. If you want to rank high then I have two words for you - social networking.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
That one new buzz word will shortly change how the search engines rank websites. Web2.0 does not rely on the savvy and wit of the SEO manager. In fact, many people believe that the Internet bottomed out in 2001. It didn't - instead, it was the birth of web2.0
This was the year when big business lost control of the Internet.
Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> itunes
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domainname speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication
SEO articles --> Human Consumption articles
While freelance writers do not need to learn how to optimize for client's articles - but they do need to learn how to build their own sites if they want to be taken seriously and win big clients.
I just wrote a course on building a web presence. While I do not believe that CMS are out (our firms still use Joomla) we have noticed that you must change as much of the code in the templates and in the system as you can. There are so many CMS out there that Google is seeing them as duplicate content and leaving long before they reach the content. (Theory - If Google reads 200 words of duplicate content than it will not crawl the rest of the article).
I have seen many successful websites built on WordPress and b2evolution blog platforms - but the same thing applies - you need to change code. I know someone who will alter your site for $20.00.
The main difference between Web2.0 and the old system is found in the site's content. Yes, there must still be sticky content. What good is syndication to bring in new visitors if they can read the entire site in an hour and then leave - forever.
The mission of web2.0 is 'harnessing collective intelligence'
One major component that most online business owners miss is the wikipedia encyclopedia - ADD TO IT - as long as some of the links go back to your resources!
Articles
The most important thing is to remember that keyword density is out. Write for users. Use sub titles every 100 - 150 words, and put your keywords in those. Use the heading code (h1, h2, h3, = IN ORDER). Last, include links to other webpages that include the same content/keywords.
These things will increase your rank much faster than any SEO program. If you want to rank high then I have two words for you - social networking.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Monetize Your Website
One of the most misunderstood aspects of 'earning money from your website' is which company you should use.
The three major search engines have their own programs: Google, Yahoo, MSN.
There is also Bidvertiser - the relatively new boy on the block.
Adbrite has been around for a long time. The potential is unlimited, but the competition is voracious.
Step 1
The first thing that you need to understand is that keywords are not important to hits - they are used to determine what adds appear on your website.
You need to know what you are selling, and what your visitors are willing to buy. Then, you use keywords to lead the right types of visitors to your site.
Step 2
You need to select the right search engine. Google is not right for everyone. If your site is a social community - then you need Yahoo. If your site is information based - Google is your choice. If you have anything to do with shopping - MSN is your ticket to wealth.
If you have a high graphic site, and want to regulate whose ads appear on your page - then you want Adbrite or Bidvertise.
But, don't just sign up! The first thing you need to do is experiment. When I went to Bidvertiser and entered a few dozen web pages from www.inspiredauthor.com - our #1 FREE online tutorial site for writers, and work at home business people - the ads that appeared from bidvertiser were for candles, dating, and get rich quick schemes.
So, we ran the same pages through Google and we got sites that our readers would need including helium, and online schools. Adbrite didn't have a great list of PPC text ads, but we were impressed with some of the graphic ads.
We did the same experiment with www.novel-writer.com This site was even more random, because it is new. We decided to use Commission Junction and select advertisers like cafepress and palmpilot for this site.
Step 4
Once the research is done, it is important to try and make the ads look like they are a part of the page - and don't use too many. The content should take prominence on the page. The navigation tools should be next. And, the PPC ads should be next.
Your goal should be to get people to sign up for a newsletter or subscribe to an RSS feed 'BEFORE' they click off site.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
The three major search engines have their own programs: Google, Yahoo, MSN.
There is also Bidvertiser - the relatively new boy on the block.
Adbrite has been around for a long time. The potential is unlimited, but the competition is voracious.
Step 1
The first thing that you need to understand is that keywords are not important to hits - they are used to determine what adds appear on your website.
You need to know what you are selling, and what your visitors are willing to buy. Then, you use keywords to lead the right types of visitors to your site.
Step 2
You need to select the right search engine. Google is not right for everyone. If your site is a social community - then you need Yahoo. If your site is information based - Google is your choice. If you have anything to do with shopping - MSN is your ticket to wealth.
If you have a high graphic site, and want to regulate whose ads appear on your page - then you want Adbrite or Bidvertise.
But, don't just sign up! The first thing you need to do is experiment. When I went to Bidvertiser and entered a few dozen web pages from www.inspiredauthor.com - our #1 FREE online tutorial site for writers, and work at home business people - the ads that appeared from bidvertiser were for candles, dating, and get rich quick schemes.
So, we ran the same pages through Google and we got sites that our readers would need including helium, and online schools. Adbrite didn't have a great list of PPC text ads, but we were impressed with some of the graphic ads.
We did the same experiment with www.novel-writer.com This site was even more random, because it is new. We decided to use Commission Junction and select advertisers like cafepress and palmpilot for this site.
Step 4
Once the research is done, it is important to try and make the ads look like they are a part of the page - and don't use too many. The content should take prominence on the page. The navigation tools should be next. And, the PPC ads should be next.
Your goal should be to get people to sign up for a newsletter or subscribe to an RSS feed 'BEFORE' they click off site.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
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