Guest Bloggers

Is it Safe to Post Your Work on Critique Sites? Helen Sedwick

Guest post by Helen Sedwick

Every writer knows the challenge of finding readers willing to critique our works-in-progress. We beg, barter, and guilt loved ones into reviewing just one more draft.

But there’s an easier and faster way to get a fresh pair of eyes to look at your work; online critique sites such as Scribophile, Writer’s Café, and Critique Circle. Some of these sites operate on a credit system; you earn credits by giving critiques and spend credits by posting your work for feedback. Others use an honor system. Some, such as Inked Voices, set up cloud-based, on-going groups. In my experience, these online communities are incredibly helpful and supportive.

But many writers worry about posting their work online. Will they lose their copyright? Will someone steal their work?

Good questions and an opportunity to explain what to look for when giving anyone rights to use or display your work, including critique sites.

Will you lose your copyright by posting online?

First, be assured that you own the copyright in your work as soon as you put it down on paper or type it into a computer. Posting the work online does not void your copyright, even if you don’t include a copyright notice.

Years ago, you could lose your copyright by publishing a work without a copyright notice or by failing to register it. That is no longer the case. Copyright attaches automatically.

What rights are you giving away?

When you post work on a critique site, you are giving the site limited permission to display your work. But it’s important to look at their terms of service or FAQs to make sure. Look for the following:

  • You are granting them only a non-exclusive right to display your work.
  • Their use is limited to their own site and the site’s business.
  • You may terminate their rights at any time.
  • When you terminate, the site may retain an archival copy only.

That’s it. No transfer. No right to publish. No right to resell your work.

Scribophile has a fun way of explaining it:

You keep all rights to the work you post at Scribophile. The short version is that by posting on Scribophile, you grant us the non-exclusive right to display your work (we have to display it, otherwise nobody could critique it!), and that’s it. We’re here to help you improve, not to cruelly steal your rights while twiddling our moustaches and cackling madly.

Writers Café, owned by Aresta Enterprises, is a little more formal, but just as clear:

Aresta Enterprise does not claim ownership of Content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Service. However, with respect to Content you submit or make available for via the Service, you grant Aresta Enterprise a perpetual, irrevocable, world-wide, royalty free and non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify and publicly display such Content on the Service.

About the broadest provisions are those of WEbook which say: Member grants WEbook a non-exclusive, worldwide, unlimited license to copy, display, render, distribute, transmit, store, and otherwise use the Content covered by this section for all purposes associated with WEbook’s operation of the Site and WEbook’s business.

Those last three words “and WEbook’s business” permits them to use your work to advertise and promote the site. WEbook has a broader business model than most. It hosts collaborative projects where writers jointly contribute to a work. Online collaborative projects create a hornet’s nest of legal issues, and I would avoid them.

Can you still offer a publisher first-publication rights?

Yes. Because copyright law lags behind technology, posting work online is generally not considered “publication,” but is treated as a “display.” It cannot hurt to tell a publisher the work was posted on a critique site, but I have never heard of anyone treating postings of works-in-progress as a first publication.

Will someone steal the posted work?

Possibly. Someone could cut and paste your work. In reality, however, outright stealing of copyrighted work is rare. For most writers, obscurity is a bigger problem than piracy. Generally, these sites require people to log in to view postings, so if you find your work stolen, you may be able to trace who has read it.

Which critique site is right for you?

Writers may have to try several sites before they find they one that suits them best. Each organizes content differently and draws a different crowd. In addition to the sites mentioned above, take a look at:

Writing.com

YouWriteOn.com

Absolute Write Water Cooler, a huge and active forum that also facilitate critiques.

And there are many informal groups on Facebook, Goggle Plus, and LinkedIn.

If you don’t find a site you like this week, try again in a month or so. New sites keep popping up.

Bottom line, there is much to gain and little to lose by posting your work online, although I recommend you take a look at the site’s fine print before you submit. And until your most loyal friend, the family dog, is willing to read your latest draft, these online communities may be the more consistent source of valuable feedback.

For more information about the legal issues of self-publishing and blogging, check out my book and my blog at http://helensedwick.com/blog/.

Website http://helensedwick.com/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+HelenSedwick/posts

Twitter:   https://twitter.com/HelenSedwick

Disclaimer: Helen Sedwick is an attorney licensed to practice in California only. This information is general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of an attorney authorized to practice in your jurisdiction.

Sedwick.HeadshotHelen Sedwick is a California attorney representing small business and entrepreneurs. She recently released Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook to help writers navigate the legal minefields of blogging and self-publishing. Her historical novel Coyote Winds earned five-star reviews from ForeWord Reviews and Compulsion Reads and is an IndieBRAG Medallion Honoree.

Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook was recently listed in the top five Publisher’s Weekly!

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