Need info on publishing/copyright

[May]

Have a friend (currently living in USA) who has written a few books in Indonesian. Its a spiritual-self help book. SHe's got a publisher there in Jkt but no one here.. aware that there will be few people reading Indonesian/Malay. Malaysia might be another place too.. is there anyone who would be interested to promote her book?

Another friend has written a crossword book and also needs to find a publisher, she's sent out her stuff to all the publisher's here. nothing. Unfotunately some people have used her stuff and she has no legal recourse. She's not working and is very broke so cant afford a lawyer... how can she 'copyright' her book? Someone said she needs to put it in an envelope, seal it and post it to herself, and not open it. Is that true?
Poor girl, she has done a great job with the crosswords and took a lot of time and pride doing it but cant seem to find people to take in on. Ive told her she should try to self publish..

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[bizopsg]

Disclaimer: This reply does not constitute legal advice in any form.


Your friend could possibly have copyright in an unpublished work. I suggest you ask her to talk to an IP Lawyer. If you delay, then you could lose your right of an action in court.

Cheers
Joel Teo

[jpatokal]

Copyright is applied automatically to anything you write (including posts right here on SingaporeExpats!). However, for legal action the tricky part is proving that it actually is your work, not somebody else's. As insurance, you can usually register works at your local patents & registries authority for a reasonable fee (and should of course do this before you send out unsolicited submissions!), but the exact details depend on the country.

[molchew]

i can do publishing for her here in singapore,

contact me at [email protected] if she is interested

[May]

i can do publishing for her here in singapore,

contact me at [email protected] if she is interested

Thank you . Sent you an email several days ago.

[Maestro68]

copyrighting your written works legally is very simple. put your work in an envelope and post it to yourself via registered mail. Don't open unless you find that your work is being used unlawfully elsewhere.

It is also neccessary to include in any of your copyrighted works that you send to anyone (be it friends or possible publishers) the small letters at he foot of your title page "the usual copyrighted" trademark. It keeps people from actually trying to steal your work when they see that.

Lastly, in the case of your friend. If she has any proof at all or anything to show that her works were written before the "copycat" writter's work, there may be a case for her to pursue the matter.

[Guest]

The actual proof is when youl seal and date stamp the envelope, make sure it is also date stamped over the seal. The post office will do this for you!

If claims are pursued by either person, you have the actual date stamp, when your work was sealed.