‘I have
nothing to declare except my genius.’ - Oscar Wilde
Not too long ago, Britain
Demand for her tale about an orphan (Harry Potter) who has
inherited magical powers set the world on fire and she went on to make
publishing history! It wasn’t long before Hollywood UK
The
Chronicles of Narnia blockbuster films based on the novels by
Lewis C. Clark also spawned a multi-million-dollar franchise (the creator was
dead by the time the movies were made so deals had to be signed with his
estate). The movies in the series include The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Prince Caspian (2008), and The
Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). As of 3/9/11, the third Narnia movie had
made $104,029,149 (Source: Box Office Mojo). The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was made by Walt Disney while the songs from the movie were distributed by
EMI Music Group. According to Wikipedia, the series has now grossed over $1.5
billion, making it the 19th highest-grossing film series of all time.
‘Intellectual Property’ is real property, just like land,
cars or houses, and - as you can see from the above examples - can be quite
lucrative. Intellectual Property is protected under international law. It is
also subject to protection according to the Kenyan Constitution (The
Copyright Act, The Trademarks Act et al).
Copyright (basically ‘right to copy’) is branch of
Intellectual Property. It refers to a set of exclusive rights to regulate the
use of a particular expression of an idea or information. Under international
copyright law, a new idea, artistic work or other copyrightable work is automatically
copyrighted after being expressed. A book, for example, is an expression of the
author’s ideas. If the author/publisher of the book comes across a pirate
infringing his copyright, he can make a citizen’s arrest and take the suspect
to the nearest police station with the pirated books as evidence.
Copyright subsists in a work from the instant it is
expressed (eg. when a book is written) and is enforceable by International Law.
The symbol for copyright is © ; in some jurisdictions (c) is also accepted; and
is usually followed by a year and the name of the copyright holder eg.
Copyright ©
2011 Alex Nderitu
It’s a good idea to place this kind of copyright notice
on your poems (eg. when posting them online) and all other literary works (even
if you’re giving them away for free). It allows people to know who to contact
in case they want to use your work elsewhere or make a derivative work/product
from it.
The Kenya Copyright Board keeps a database of
Intellectual Property works registered with them. To patent something, contact
the Kenya Intellectual Property Institute.
Copyright may subsist in a wide range of creative,
intellectual, or artistic forms or ‘works’. These include poems, plays and
other literary works; films, choreographic works such as dances, musical
compositions, audio recordings; paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs;
software; radio and television broadcasts and industrial designs (eg, a design
for a new car, new ship or new airplane.) Copyright law covers only the ‘form
of expression’ of ideas or information, not the idea/concept itself. For
example, some years ago, pop singer Madonna was successfully sued by a European
photographer for some poses that she struck in one of her music videos. The poses
included the entertainer sitting atop a running TV set with her legs splayed
all the way to the sides. The photographer could prove that those poses were
taken from magazine pictures he had previously shot, featuring a female model.
The photographer could not have sued Madonna for sitting in a chair or walking
down the street, since those are not new ideas that he had expressed. But the
concept or image of a woman sitting atop a TV that's on, with legs splayed
wide, was unique (unless you’re some kind of freak!) It was an idea from a creative mind and by
directing a model to assume that pose while he took pictures, the photographer expressed the idea and therefore had
copyright over it.
With so many derivative products now being made from
literary works (especially novels), it is paramount that young writers learn
all they can about Intellectual Property and know exactly what they are signing
away when they get published the traditional way. It might shock some people to
learn that if you’re published the traditional way, they publisher might own
your copyright (until your book goes out of print in which case copyright
reverts to you). What this means is that if a film company wants to make a
movie based on your book, or if a foreign publisher wants to publish your book
in another language, you might not have any say in the matter!
Admittedly, that sounds rather unfair, but it happens. A
book can be successful but the author doesn’t seem to be doing well in the
money stakes, especially when you consider that an author usually gets between
10% and 12% as royalties on his Intellectual Property. I once decided against entering
a local short story competition, where the prize for the winners was
publication and thereafter royalties, because they made it clear that they
would own the ‘first rights’ for the stories. I am in touch with a local
filmmaker who likes my short stories, especially the humorous ones like the
Konkodi articles, and I’d hate to be in a position where I would have to
buy back my own Intellectual Property in order to make derivative works. A
local poet got a rude shock when she asked her publisher if he could give her
several copies of her books to sell during a Spoken Word Poetry session she was
performing at, only to be told that she would have to buy her own books – at the same discounted rate as the bookshops!
This issue of rights/Intellectual Property makes
self-publishing/independent publishing ever more attractive to the creative
writer. If you write on topics such as gardening, interior design, gadgets,
motivational or self-help issues, Bible studies/companions, textbooks etc, then
a traditional publisher is still the best option for you. After all, no board games,
video games, movies, TV shows or other derivative products will ever be made
from your work. But a creative writer is different since there are so many
rights that could come into play as far as his or her work is concerned. These
include:
- Paperback and Hardback rights
- Film and TV rights
- Software rights (video games, computer games etc)
- E-book rights
- Stage rights (Theatre)
- Translation rights (To other languages)
…and so on. And with e-books and independent publishing
(such as Print-on-Demand) growing in leaps and bounds, some novelists are
starting to wonder why they would need a bricks-and-mortar publisher.
[1] She
went on welfare after being fired
from a couple of jobs for writing instead of working! (Source: Bloomberg GameChangers)
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