I want to post my original short stories. I've been working on them for weeks, months and some for a few years. I'm only a student so I prefer the idea of posting stories online for free reading but really value my stories as they came from my heart and mind. So which site will give my stories more security?
Which site should I post my stories, Wattpad or Quotev, safely from story thieves?
- Posted:
- 3+ months ago by alwayscur...
- Topics:
- safety, stories, copyright
Details:
Responses (6)
Free reading websites are usually uncopyrighted, which means that anyone can steal your stories, as far as I know. Here is some text from janefriedman.com:
Your work doesn’t need to be formally published to be protected, and you do not have to display the copyright symbol on your manuscript to have it protected. (One of the reasons there is so much confusion surrounding this issue is that the law changed in the 1970s.)
Since your work is copyrighted from the moment you create it, the existence or validity of your copyright will not be affected if you don’t register the work with the U.S. Copyright Office. In fact, you can register the work after you find infringement and still be afforded all the protections as if you had registered it earlier.
That said, let’s go down the series of events that must happen for a lawsuit against an infringer to make sense:
(a) Someone must steal your work
(b) Someone must develop and package the work (or make it desirable for someone to pay for it)
(c) Readers have to find it and pay for it
(d) Meanwhile the person who did the stealing needs to keep a low-enough profile that the infringement is not detected while still making enough money to make it worth his time
Most people don’t view unpublished writings (or writers) as an untapped gold mine. It’s a lot of hard work to profit from a piece of writing (especially writing from an unknown, unproven writer)—isn’t it?
Both are not copyrighted, so I'd be careful. And I posted stories on Quotev for a while, and let me tell you, those other users will treat you like shit. They only want you around for the stories/roll playing. So yeah. I'd be careful. If you're posting fanfiction, go right ahead. Stories you made up? DO NOT. I guarantee that it'll be stolen.
I'll keep that in mind! Thanks for the advice!
You need to be aware of copyright law. You can not copyright a plot, a chapter heading or a title. You can only copyright the words you use to tell the story. That's why there are so many versions of Romeo And Juliet.
Think about fashion designers, magicians and comedians: they don't bother to copyright their material, they just leave the competition sweating and stealing, a year or so behind. Of course you never hear of designer's block, magician's block, or comedian's block; you only hear of writer's block. Maybe that's why writers worry about theft and the others don't. I have no idea why this situation exists. Maybe it's because the others are trained in their fields and there is no training for writers.
I see, thanks for your answer. Appreciated.
Thank you. That made lots of stuff clearer for me.