Expert: Rene Hasekamp - 9/3/2011

Question
Hi,

The issue is about international copyright law.

Hypothetical Scenario:

I made a research paper recently, and I published in Google Books. They asked me to verify that I am the copyright holder by telling me to click a button named: I swear under the penalty of perjury that I am the copyright holder of this material.

My Question is:
1. In Patent law inventors keep a inventor's notebook, to prove that they are the one's who invented it. So are there any similar requirements or steps I can take, to solidify that I am the copyright holder? ( in case of an infringement)

2. Most of the material is mine,-- that is I wrote it full--- and I cited around 10/12 sources. I could not find links to the other net sources. So did I make a mistake by clicking the button? What should I do?

Answer
Hello,

You could (also) keep a journal or notebook, similar to an inventor, in which you describe how you work. But - like with patents - a notebook only does not prove anything. If it is accepted as proof, there also must be other factors that make the notebook to be considered authentic.

In copyright there normally are two main issues: 1) Who was first to publish the material (if there are more publications) and 2) Is all the materials authentic.

1) To prove that you were the first author, assuming that you create your work on a computer, you could show the computer files, that are always dated by your computer.

2) Have you copied the material from other authors? You are allowed to cite "small portions" of other works, provided that you give accurate source information. So, if your paper contains citations from other works, give the sources, and see that you only use "small portions" (what that means exactly depends on the case) of the cited works.

If you stick to these rules, in my opinion (not really being a copyright expert, but being a patent expert!) you are acting correctly.

Hope this answers your question.
Rene Hasekamp.