Copyright form/using a pseudonym?

DevinPhilips · Apr 3, 2006

I’m new and wasn’t quite sure where to pose this question, so please be gentle!

I’m filling out the dreaded Form TX (Copyright Form)

I want to use a pseudonym on a possible published book and on the Copyright form.
How do you establish ownership of a book and Copyright while keeping your real name off the Copyright document?
I understand the publisher would know the circumstances and my name and hopefully someday sending me a check!!
Can the Copyright be granted to a corporation and then “hire” my pseudonym to write the book?

Unimportant · Apr 3, 2006

Devin

If you hope to be published in a way that the publisher will be sending you a cheque, I assume that means you hope to be traditionally published. In that case, the publisher will register copyright in your name for you (at their expense) =after= the book has been edited. And traditional publishers do, one and all, edit books. What they get from the author, and what ends up between the covers of the printed book, are often very different; certainly different enough that the new version would require a new copyright. So there's no point in you paying the fee and going to the trouble of copyrighting an unedited book.

Submit the book to publishers, sell it, and =then= worry about pseudonyms.

Kasey Mackenzie · Apr 4, 2006

I second the vote about waiting until you get a publisher to worry about copyright. Once you put pen to paper your work is already copyrighted, and the publisher will officially register the copyright when they publish the book. Copyrighting it ahead of time is unnecessary and, in many cases, makes writers look amateurish.

As far as using a pseudonym, you can either wait until later to worry about it, or, if you wish, include it on the cover page of your submissions. What I do is in the upper lefthand corner put my REAL name followed by my contact information, enter down to the center of the page and put the TITLE on one line, enter a couple more times, and put "by PEN NAME." From the research I've done this is an acceptable way to handle it.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 4, 2006

DevinPhilips said:
I’m new and wasn’t quite sure where to pose this question, so please be gentle!

I’m filling out the dreaded Form TX (Copyright Form)

I want to use a pseudonym on a possible published book and on the Copyright form.
How do you establish ownership of a book and Copyright while keeping your real name off the Copyright document?
I understand the publisher would know the circumstances and my name and hopefully someday sending me a check!!
Can the Copyright be granted to a corporation and then “hire” my pseudonym to write the book?

It can be done, and I've done it on a few occasions, but the publisher still did it for me, and that's the best way. But if the registration isn't under your real name, you lose some years of protection. Not that it matters, really. Baring a medical breakthrough, you'll still be dead well before it expires.

DevinPhilips · Apr 4, 2006

More explanation is necessary, so I asked the moderator to move this question to non-fiction.
When I sent out query letters to possible agents I received two different phone calls from people who were not related to any of the agencies I queried.
I’ll have many more questions and I want to thank you all for your very informative answers!

Ashleen · Apr 7, 2006

I handled the name-thing differently. I made my "writing name" my legal name -- not instead of, but in addition to, my civil name. This cost me about $300, but was worth it to me. Now my books are copyrighted under my professional name, and there's no conflict or confusion because my professional name is a legal name.

I had to go first to Court to get the change made legal -- and I was the first person in my county to ask for an additional name rather than a change of name -- and then to Social Security to add the new name, and then to the Department of Motor Vehicles. (I also had my passport reissued with both names. When it expires and I have to renew it, I'll make sure my professional name is the main name and my civil name is the secondary one.)

The only real problem I had is that gov't computers aren't equipped for either two legal names or apostrophes -- so now my Social Security card shows a hyphenated last name and my driver's license shows my whole civil name hyphenated with my whole professional name. This bugs me, but I've not had any difficulty using my driver's license as ID.

It's a little extreme, but it is an option that solves the copyright problem.

Blessings,
Ashleen O'Gaea

CaoPaux · Apr 7, 2006

DevinPhilips said:
More explanation is necessary, so I asked the moderator to move this question to non-fiction.
When I sent out query letters to possible agents I received two different phone calls from people who were not related to any of the agencies I queried.
I’ll have many more questions and I want to thank you all for your very informative answers!

First, did you research these agents before you queried? No legit agent sells addresses, etc.

Second, spammers/scammers just want your money, not your mss., so the chance of "piracy" is vanishingly small. (The very least reason being: if they had what it takes to sell your work to readers, they wouldn't need to spam/scam you.)

DevinPhilips · Apr 9, 2006

CaoPaux said:
First, did you research these agents before you queried? No legit agent sells addresses, etc.

CaoPaux said:
Second, spammers/scammers just want your money, not your mss., so the chance of "piracy" is vanishingly small. (The very least reason being: if they had what it takes to sell your work to readers, they wouldn't need to spam/scam you.)

`

DevinPhilips · Apr 9, 2006

Ashleen said:
I handled the name-thing differently. I made my "writing name" my legal name -- not instead of, but in addition to, my civil name. This cost me about $300, but was worth it to me. Now my books are copyrighted under my professional name,

Thanks Ashleen, that is a possibility I will definitely consider. I really want to use a pseudonym on the book and its copyright filing.
Anyone else have suggestions or something that has worked for them in the past?

Sassenach · Apr 11, 2006

Ashleen said:
I handled the name-thing differently. I made my "writing name" my legal name -- not instead of, but in addition to, my civil name. This cost me about $300, but was worth it to me. Now my books are copyrighted under my professional name, and there's no conflict or confusion because my professional name is a legal name.

I had to go first to Court to get the change made legal -- and I was the first person in my county to ask for an additional name rather than a change of name -- and then to Social Security to add the new name, and then to the Department of Motor Vehicles. (I also had my passport reissued with both names. When it expires and I have to renew it, I'll make sure my professional name is the main name and my civil name is the secondary one.)

The only real problem I had is that gov't computers aren't equipped for either two legal names or apostrophes -- so now my Social Security card shows a hyphenated last name and my driver's license shows my whole civil name hyphenated with my whole professional name. This bugs me, but I've not had any difficulty using my driver's license as ID.

It's a little extreme, but it is an option that solves the copyright problem.

Blessings,
Ashleen O'Gaea

This seems like a lot of trouble to go to. I've written under a pen name, and all the paperwork's under my legal name. No problem.

Copyright form/using a pseudonym?

DevinPhilips

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Kasey Mackenzie

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Jamesaritchie

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CaoPaux

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DevinPhilips

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Sassenach

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