This week: Luck is Your Lady Edited by: Legerdemain  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.
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Luck is Your Lady
I know how it is, you're deep into editing your novel and your character is crooning some hot Sinatra lyrics to his girl and you hit the brakes and wonder how much your character can do or say without running into copyright problems with lyrics or poetry. I'm not a lawyer, attorney or even the person who sweeps the courthouse floors. But I did find some advice on the internet and thought I would pass it along.
In short, I would give the same advice about Fair Use: "There are no specific laws regarding how much of someone’s material you can use under the fair use doctrine. For the music industry, the prevailing wisdom is that you need permission for as little as one lyric line. Attributing the lyric and copyright to the artist, in your story, does not exonerate you from copyright infringement. Attribution is not a substitute for permission. So answering the question, can you use a single lyric line if you attribute the line to the artists? The answer is no. You still need to acquire permission from the publisher for a single line."
Understand that public domain work is not covered by copyright. Anything published before 1924 fall into public domain. Anything after that has to be checked for public domain at www.copyright.gov U.S. Copyright protection for works created after January 1, 1978, are for the life of the author plus 70 years.
If the work isn't in public domain, you have to look for the publisher of the work. This isn't necessarily the author of the work. You can look in the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) or Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). Contacting the publisher can be hit or miss. They may very well ignore your request.
In the long run, even using one line of lyrics from a song in your work can invite litigation. Song titles are generally okay to use without permission, as are movie titles, book titles, album titles and article titles. If you really need to use someone's work, take the time and make the effort to get permission from the publisher.
Write On!
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Excerpt: "She will be a magical one and the embodiment of all your dreams," he told her. "She and all who follow her will be the protector of words and legends." With those words and a final caress, he flew off into the sky.
Excerpt: Leah Clearwater wrinkled her nose at the foul, bleach-like stench of vampires. Sometimes it sucked to have a werewolf's keen sense of smell. Holding her breath, she stepped deeper into the antebellum farmhouse. Even if she couldn’t smell them, she would have known this was the Cullens’ home in New Hampshire from the tastefully arranged antique furniture around the living room. The place reeked of Esme’s maternal touch.
“Hello?” she called out. “Anyone here?”
Excerpt: "I didn't do it, mama." The five year old's voice rose in a whine. "I told Masada no; said you'd be mad.
"Lying makes it worse." Her mother gingerly picked up the ancient rag doll. "How many times do I have to tell you this doll is too old and too precious for you to play with."
Excerpt: Matthias lifted the bottle and twisted it between his fingertips, examining its contents. The spell sat trapped within the clear glass appeared invisible. He unscrewed the cork, dependent on the magic he once despised.
"This is the final stage of the spell," Nyra said. "It should give you the power." The priestess sat a tiny bottle onto the parlor's table.
He stared as thin, white smoke materialized within the bottle. The smoke snaked upward, past the bottleneck, and stretched toward his mouth.
"It's time to make amends,"Nyra said, her words hypnotic. "Drink. You know you can trust me."
Excerpt: Every step was made in caution as he prowled further from his family and deeper into these woods. His wife and the twins back at the camp site wouldn’t worry about him nor wonder where he had disappeared to; he explained he was off to find cool rocks to add to his collection. It was a viable alibi, and he’d already picked up three smaller rocks to take back to show the kids and one larger rock to use out here.
Excerpt: She picked up one of her other notebooks filled with thoughts about her father, when he was so sick. She said prayers for him to get better, even wrote poems and stories for him. How he loved listening to her! She brushed her hand against her check to chase droplets of tears away. How did she even have tears left to cry? She turned off her light and lay back, snuggling under her covers, and felt Ginger jump on the bed. Soon, Lynn began to dream ...
Excerpt: She could feel the stories fill her as the river pulled her canoe further from home. Each bend told its own tale a mile long, a mile closer to the beginning of her destination. This was her journey and these were her tales to tell as each Storyteller in the past had been gifted their own stories through whichever way the gods had seen fit to present them.
Daily contest with great prizes!
Flash fiction is fun to read and a challenge to write.
It must contain all the elements of a larger work of fiction, but in a much shorter space.
Are you up for it?
Character Prompt for May 2021: Write a story about a character with a ton of potential in a certain regard,
but who can't seem to get out of their own way and keep things together |
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This month's question: Do you feel it is important to get permission for using copyrighted work? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (April 28, 2021)" question: Do you have any ready-made characters in your head?
Imogen Elliott  : I look for this newsletter first and above all other newsletters! You always have helpful, relevant and useful information. In response to This month's question: Do you have any ready-made characters in your head? Yes, I do have 3 characters. Olivia J Hamilton, Vincent Jonez and Angel Perezes.
Shanachie  : Absolutely I do! Sometimes that's where they stay and sometimes they get their own stories.
Anna Marie Carlson : Yes, I do, but sometimes I'm afraid of writing about the character.
JCosmos  : Sam Adams and Maria Lee are my main characters. Like me, they are a retired couple who had a long love affair. Jake Lee is another character that pops up. Both Sam and Jake are mixed race. Maria is Korean born.
Dragonfly : Sometimes, then as the story progresses, I come up with others I hadn't even thought of before.
Matt 2021 Dean : Several. Trust me, they never tell me to hurt anyone.
elephantsealer : Ready-made characters are boring. However, it is fun to build a character when a writer starts with what she/he thinks is a good story. Although there may be a danger of over-building a character and its relation to the story, it would be interesting how a writer would be able to fit it in the story.
jolanh : Yeah we'll just say I want to meet them all.
TheBusmanPoet : It comes when I start to write about the subject.
s : Heaps. Sometimes I get a story idea and have a character ready to slot in, sometimes thinking about a character suddenly suggests a weird short story. Writers are many people sharing the same brain.
wdwilcox: So many voices . . . so many voices.
Stephanie Vanderboom : I actually have a journal where I write down the characters I come up with who don't have a storyline yet. I used to always forget my characters because I had so many and I can only work with a few at a time, so now I just write them in my journal when I make a new character. My favourite right now is Cleo Navarro.
Kåre Enga in Udon Thani  : I interview my characters and keep notes of likes and dislikes and how they answer. If they're stubborn and won't cooperate I just choose for them.  A mirror of real life...
I have to talk to my silkpunk characters a.s.a.p. before I write down their stories.
bryanmchunter: Oh, I have many. One of my favorites is Ryan McHiggins, the kind but cowardly two-and-a-half-year-old main protagonist of Toddlerhood, my future animated series.
Thanks to everyone for your replies, it's much appreciated! Leger~ |
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Short Stories: May 26, 2021 Issue [#10790]
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