Only the words are copyrighted.
Only the Words are Copyrighted! by David Geer
Yes, it's true; only the words in the body of your article are
copyrighted. The ideas behind them and usually even the titles
aren't protected. This is actually good news. You can take the
same basic facts from the same research, write a new and
different article that will have its own copyright and end up
with a separate, saleable entity. This practice can save you
time and make you more money.
Editors won't mind, really!
Are you worried that this will bother some editors if they find
out what you are doing? No, not the ones who know their stuff
and have their heads on straight. I recently overheard an editor
from one of the largest trade magazine publishers in the world
sharing how writers could make more money. One very interesting
point stood out. She (and most editors) really don't care if you
write an article on a very similar topic for another publication
as long as it's a completely different article. Use the same
sources, different quotes, (you may occasionally need to include
an additional source) and write a different article.
How do you go about it?
How do you come up with a second angle or idea from the same
basic research? You can start by seeing what other topics are
touched on in the original article. I once wrote a piece on
handhelds as used by physicians in their practice. In addition
to handhelds the article touched on doctors, training for
interns, device add-ons for handhelds and handheld device
software. By choosing these less central topics to write about,
I have four more article ideas. If I go through my article and
look for any questions that pop out which were left unanswered,
I may have several more ideas. This all can be repeated with
each subsequent article to generate even more.
Now for each new article I go back through the research from the
original article and write some boilerplate, tailored to the new
topic. I write as much of the new article from what I already
have as I possibly can. If I can't complete the new piece from
there, then I go back to those I interviewed and tell them I
have a wonderful surprise. They can get more exposure by
answering just a few more questions for this new piece. Take
that and write some more. If you don't have enough, go back to
the same sources and ask them to direct you to another source
who may be helpful. Interview him or her briefly, just enough to
get what you need to fill in the cracks. Now you should have
more than enough for a complete story. As long as you have
written it from scratch, you have a completely new and separate
copyright in the form of the new article.
You can use this approach to pitch article manuscripts or you
can tailor it to writing new queries. Then, come back to the
process again to write the new assignment. Simply find your
ideas as described above, collect one new source to add with the
rest, and write the new query.
If you're not sure the new piece is marketable, compare it with
the old one yourself. As long as no two sentences are the same,
you have an original work of art, ready for the unveiling. The
standards for having an original copyright are not as stringent
as most people, even most writers, tend to think. Relax and
create!