The world of English-language creative writing is a tricky one to navigate, especially when it comes to intellectual property law. What does “intellectual property” mean in the context of writing? The law protects the various rights that come with creating something new, such as copyright, trademark, and trade secret protection. In other words, it protects the writer’s ability to control the material they’ve created and prevents others from benefiting financially from the fruits of their labor.
What exactly does that mean in the case of a creative writing degree? Who owns the various rights to a unique and creative piece of writing, or is it truly the product of collective effort? Let’s take a quick look.
What Is Copyright Protection?
Copyright law gives authors the exclusive rights to their work, including the right to reproduce it, to distribute it, and to make it available to the public.
To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be original and creative, and must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression — such as a book, song, or movie.
What happens if I write a short story or novel and decide to publish it? I have to give you some credit for discovering this little gem of an article, because you asked about copyright law. 🙂 Thanks for reading! As the author of this piece, I hold the copyright to it and can choose to give or deny other people permission to use it on their own websites or in other publications. If I decide to allow others to use it, I can require that they give me credit and link back to the source of the material.
Trademark Protection
A trademark is a brand name, corporate logo, or distinctive symbol, such as a design, color, or sound, that is used to identify goods and services and distinguish them from those of others. A trademark owner can prevent others from using similar marks in a way that interferes with the ability to do business.
In the world of English-language creative writing, a common trademark is associated with a publication brand or academic institution — for example, Harlequin and Cambridge University Press (CUP) — which indicates that a degree from one of these accredited publishers is associated with a particular trademark and cannot be used without permission.
Trade Secret Protection
A trade secret is a special skill or know-how that is used to provide competitive advantage to a business or person. For example, consider the case of LeapFrog, a company that makes children’s books and toys based on fairy tales and classic stories. They have a secret recipe for their chocolate chip cookies, and when you find out what that is, you can effectively stop making them, because they won’t be able to compete with you. That’s a trade secret. It’s very similar to copyright law in that it provides an author or creator with the right to control how their work is used and how others perceive it.
If you decide that you’d like to pursue a creative writing degree, keep in mind that while your work is protected by copyright laws and you can choose to license it to others, you have no choice in the matter when it comes to protecting your trademarks and trade secrets. In other words, you’re putting your creativity on the line every time you sit down to write a word. Are you sure you want to do that?