Resolved Concern about Losing the Rights to Creative Writing

[KilroywasNOTHere]

I’m not sure how much of this is going to come off as a concern and how much of it is going to be a petty complaint as a result of ignorance, in which case please bear with me. I hesitate to post original fiction onto the site, because the impression I get is that any OG fiction I post here I’d essentially be giving away.

As per terms of service:

Content Ownership. The Sietch is a content creation and social media platform. You retain sole ownership of every text post, image post, video, audio file, creative work, and commentary which you post to The Sietch. You permanently retain life-long sole ownership regardless of posting these materials on The Sietch or elsewhere. You also grant a permanent, non-exclusive, irrevocable, transferable, royalty-free license for The Sietch and Belter Alliance Media LLC to use your content as defined above. This grant is automatic upon using The Sietch

There is also this: Original fiction (You lose rights if you post it here), poetry, bardic creations, and fanfiction story and posting threads

Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but it seems like if I post here even if it’s just for feedback or beta purposes, I’d essentially be giving you guy’s free reign to poach said content. IF this is the case, why would I post anything? Fanfiction is one thing but I’d seem silly to essentially give content away when there is a good chance I could gain resources or even make a living off of it. That’s frankly a stupid risk, and honestly I think it actually hampers the community somewhat. People who are serious about writing are not going to put their best foot (Or even good foot forward) if they have nothing to gain from it except maybe likes and smiling emojis. I understand if this is something that’s out of your hands due to legal reasons, and if I’m misunderstanding please please PLEASE correct me, but if I’m correct about this, is there not some kind of alternative that can be done, or maybe some kind of alternative suggestions for those who simply need a beta reader or a test audience? I’d love to share my stuff here, but not if it’s essentially the equivalent of throwing it away into cyberspace.

if you are reading this, thank you for listening, I hope I'm not causing trouble.

 

[LordSunhawk]

What this basically is is saying that if you post your content here, you can't later on go and file a copyright claim against us for the content that you posted here.

In other words, once you post it here, you are explicitly stating that we are not in violation of copyright laws by it being posted here. So no posting a story then running off and filing frivolous DMCA claims in an attempt to take the site offline for copyright violation. Nor can you later say 'well, yes I did post my copyrighted work there, but I've changed my mind and now want to sue them for copyright violations derived from the copyrighted work that I have the rights to being posted there by me.'

It's lawyer speak because of bad actors, nothing more.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

What this basically is is saying that if you post your content here, you can't later on go and file a copyright claim against us for the content that you posted here.

In other words, once you post it here, you are explicitly stating that we are not in violation of copyright laws by it being posted here. So no posting a story then running off and filing frivolous DMCA claims in an attempt to take the site offline for copyright violation. Nor can you later say 'well, yes I did post my copyrighted work there, but I've changed my mind and now want to sue them for copyright violations derived from the copyrighted work that I have the rights to being posted there by me.'

It's lawyer speak because of bad actors, nothing more.

That makes me feel a heck of a lot better, but.....why in the heck would someone sue you guys? Why not just delete the thread?

 

[LordSunhawk]

Because there are bad actors out there who want to cause trouble.

Most of the time when you see odd things like that in a ToS it's there because of some bright spark trying precisely that either in hopes of scamming a few bucks or out of malicious intent towards the site in question.

It's not meant for people who are acting in good faith and just want to get feedback on their work, it's meant for people who are acting with malicious intent.

 

[Emperor Tippy]

Every single site that accepts user created content has some variation on that clause in its Terms of Service.

As a general rule, if you plan to sell something or otherwise do anything that requires clear and exclusive control over the IP in question then DO NOT post it here or on any web platform that you do not own without first consulting a lawyer with a relevant specialty.

Bluntly put, unless you are a published author or the like it's irrelevant boilerplate. If you are then talk with your published and legal council about the specifics of your situation.

It exists to protect TS and BAM from anyone bitching at us over what we do with content posted on TS.

 

[Deleted member]

Original fiction (You lose rights if you post it here),

Is also a warning that TS counts as publishing for purposes of selling an original story in the future (this is a publisher policy, not our's), so a publisher will probably not accept your original work if you put it up here for free first.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

Original fiction (You lose rights if you post it here),

Is also a warning that TS counts as publishing for purposes of selling an original story in the future (this is a publisher policy, not our's), so a publisher will probably not accept your original work if you put it up here for free first.

*Sigh* well thanks for the warning. Seriously though films can have test audiences, why not books?

 

[Big Steve]

*Sigh* well thanks for the warning. Seriously though films can have test audiences, why not books?

Test audiences are considered more of a limited access thing. Like if I wrote a book and the publisher and I arranged to give it to various people early to see reactions. As opposed to asking a publisher to put money down on something people can read for free, legally, on the internet. Typically this is only done with public domain works that still get book sales (stuff like Frankenstein, The Red Badge of Courage, works of Shakespeare, etc.), not a new author's new intellectual property.

 

[SemperFun]

So, I found this community and thought it would be a great place to post an original fanfic idea i had, as most websites for this kind of thing always focus on romance or shipping fanfiction. The thing is though I'm really concerned about how if I do I have to give up the rights to it. I know the odds are literally one in a million but some part of me likes the concept of maybe the story getting picked up and published officially. Beyond that at the end of the day I want it to remain my story, whereas if I give up the rights by just posting it I feel I'm losing possession of it in some way.

 

[Bear Ribs]

I can understand your concern. However all websites have to ask for certain rights to your fanfic, because they have to be able to publish the fic in digital format without you hitting them for violating your copyright.

I wouldn't post your magnum opus that you think is worth serious money on an internet forum. Put your fanfic and play stuff here and if you think you have written something valuable and monetizable, publish it on a place like Amazon and leverage the rep you get from your fanfics here to draw readers attention towards your paydata. I've seen several authors use this technique to increase their ebook sales.

 

[Emperor Tippy]

Since this was also asked, and answered, in Staff Comm's; I decided to merge the threads into QCC.