Holding the Copyright

eaglelady11 · Feb 7, 2007

Hi,

I realize I am new, but I do have a question. I submitted a story through craigslist and got a repsonse back. The guy sent me a contract, but in the contract, it says his company keeps the trademark and that I cannot publish it elsewhere.

I am leary of signing it, because i want to be able to market this story down the road.

What do you think?

Bubastes · Feb 7, 2007

Did the contract say "trademark" or "copyright"? They're vastly different things.

eaglelady11 · Feb 7, 2007

trademark. what's the difference?

victoriastrauss · Feb 7, 2007

A trademark is something that uniquely identifies an organization, its products, or its services. It can be a logo, a name, a phrase, an image, or any combination of these.

Copyright is the ownership of intellectual property--i.e., you own your written work and have the right to grant others the ability to publish, sell, or otherwise exploit it.

Someone who doesn't know the difference between a copyright and a trademark shouldn't be publishing anything.

- Victoria

zizban · Feb 7, 2007

Thats weird. Something is screwy.

A publishing house will get you the copyright but will buy the rights to publish it for a certain period of time.

Bubastes · Feb 7, 2007

victoriastrauss is correct. Do NOT sign the contract. The "publisher" sounds like bad news.

Sassenach · Feb 7, 2007

It sounds definitely fishy. Did you ever deal directly with this guy or was it all via Craigslist emails? Did he mail you a contract? Do have have contact info for this guy?

Unimportant · Feb 7, 2007

Could it be that the OP wrote a story using a trademarked character or world owned by the Craigslist guy and that's why he wanted to retain the trademark?

Hillgate · Feb 8, 2007

Walk away.

eaglelady11 · Feb 9, 2007

I walked away. He would hold the trademark to the character. thanks for your help.

James D. Macdonald · Feb 9, 2007

What was the name of the market?

Holding the Copyright

eaglelady11

Bubastes

bananaed

eaglelady11

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess

zizban

Bubastes

bananaed

Sassenach

5 W's & an H

Unimportant

doggone

Hillgate

On location

eaglelady11

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle