Are you planning to sell your writing or offer it for publication? Make sure you know whether you are transferring digital and electronic rights to the publisher.

The issue of copyright is becoming increasingly complicated -- and potentially profitable – due to advances in Internet technology and electronic media.

American Copyright Law and Electronic Media

Under United States copyright law, the author retains all rights which are not explicitly granted to the publisher. However, copyright law has yet to keep up with the rapidly evolving world of e-books, e-zines, personal and professional blogs and websites, and electronic distribution of photographs, writings, music and video.

Entertainment Writers Strike and Digital Media

The recent three-month strike by members of the Writers Guild of America against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers resulted in assurances that writers will be compensated for digital use of their work.

Unfavorable Ruling in Class Action Electronic Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

Months earlier, a disappointing precedent was set when writers learned they could not seek settlement for unauthorized electronic use of their writing unless they had previously registered their work with the U.S. Copyright Office.

The ruling was given to a group of freelance writers who had, along with the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Authors Guild, and the National Writers Union, filed an $18 million class action suit to gain compensation for work listed in online databases and distributed electronically without their permission.

Protect Your Own Work

Writers can take steps so they don't unwittingly transfer unlimited electronic rights when selling their work.

Make sure the contract clearly states how the work can be used. For example, you might give the publisher first-time electronic rights for e-book format only; or you might offer a website online use of an article for a specified period of time.

Future Electronic and Digital Technology

Specify that you retain all rights for your work's subsidiary use and use in electronic and digital formats not yet created but later implemented or available. Read your contract's fine print to ensure that the publisher isn't trying to transfer this particular right.

Understand Copyright Basics

Copyright is a legal protection that you, as creator and owner of a piece of writing, are the only one entitled to use, sell or distribute your work.

As soon as your writing takes on a tangible form, the copyright is yours. Adding a copyright line to your documents will remind readers of this fact, but for legal protection writers should register work with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Writers Don’t Always Own Copyright

You typically won’t own the copyright to work created for an employer or for writing contracted as "work made for hire." A staff reporter’s articles for a newspaper and copy written by a freelancer for a corporation are two examples.

Transfer of Rights

When you offer or sell work for publication, you transfer some – less commonly all -- of your rights to the publisher. Until recently, publishers most often asked for first-time print rights.

But in the age of Internet technology, an increasing number of print publishers also want electronic rights. This might include the use of the work on CD-ROM, DVD, websites, online databases and more.

Understand the Writer Contract

Look for phrasing which transfers more rights than you intended. Some red flags in publisher licensing agreements are "all rights," "non exclusive" or "exclusive," and "work made for hire." Ask for clarification and re-wording if necessary. In particular, know if your contract allows you or the publisher to re-sell the work, and insist on your right to receive payment for any uses other than what is explicitly stated.

The writing is, after all, yours. And you should be the one to profit.