Accepting Submissions: O, The Oprah Magazine

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Although my blog is livicated to writing from the Caribbean and South Florida, I knew sooner or later that Oprah would make it here. For the April issue of O, which will celebrate National Poetry Month, Maria Shriver, “the first ever guest editor,” has issued a call for “readers to submit their own cherished poems”:

While the issue will include work from well-known poets and favorite poems from celebrities, readers are also invited to join the conversation by submitting their favorite poetry (or original work) to www.oprah.com/poetry. Submissions will be accepted through February 11 with the possibility of appearing in the magazine, which hits newsstands on March 15.

I’m betting “Love After Love” by Derek Walcott is bound to be on the list.

Here’s the direct link for submission:

https://www.oprah.com/ownshow/plug_form.html?plug_id=6998299

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Via Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/maria-shriver-o-magazine_n_816826.html

Related articles

• Maria Shriver To Guest-Edit O, The Oprah Magazine (huffingtonpost.com)
• Maria Shriver: Poetry Editor (observer.com)
• CONTEMPLATE THIS: Shriver editing poetry in O magazine (politico.com)
• http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/02/maria-shriver-to-guest-edit-o-magazine-poetry-issue/1?POE=click-refer
• http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2011/02/poetry-issue-of-o-magazine-set/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+HarrietTheBlog+(Harriet:+The+Blog)

Accepting Submissions: Pearson Publishing

Via Caribbean Book Blog:


The Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ) has announced that Pearson Publishing is inviting Caribbean authors to submit manuscripts for its Caribbean Writers Series. Authors may submit novels, plays and short stories for consideration for the general list. Manuscripts should be sent by email, in Microsoft Word. Authors may submit the first chapter or the manuscript in its entirety.


The manuscript should be accompanied by a 2-page cover letter including a synopsis, background information on the author’s reason for writing the story, any relevant social context, a short biography and resume, and information on the author’s published work and any writing awards. The story should be suitable for readers age 14-16. Interested authors are advised to look at Pearson’s other titles. Pearson is also accepting submissions for books planned for the primary school curriculum. Writers interested in submitting pieces for the primary curriculum are invited to write for more details.


Interested authors should contact Rachel Brown at rachel.brown@pearson.com.

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BBC International Playwriting Competition

By Gbenga Awomodu

Erin Browne of the United States and Efo Kodjo Mawugbe from Ghana were 2010's winners

Have you heard? The BBC wants your drama! The BBC World Service has launched a global search for two of the world’s best new radioplays with the International Playwriting Competition. Two lucky writers will win the opportunity to have their plays broadcast on the World Service. Here’s a fantastic opportunity for you to write a 60 minute play for radio and win cash prize as well as global recognition for your work.

What it’s all about.
The biennial International Radio Playwriting Competition is run by the BBC World Service and the British Council and is now in its twelfth year.

It is a competition for anyone resident outside Britain, to write a 60-minute radio drama for up to six characters.

There are two categories: one for writers with English as their first language and one for writers with English as their second language.

The two winners travel to London and see their play made into a full radio production, which will then be broadcast on the BBC World Service. They will also each receive a £2,500 prize and there are also prizes for the runners-up.

The play must be in English, unpublished and must not have been previously produced in any medium. Whether you’re experienced, new, or somewhere in between, the BBC wants to hear from you.

Just check the Rules and How to Enter sections to find out more about sending your play.

And the winners get….

Once again, there are two first prizes: for the best play by a writer with English as their first language and for the best play by a writer with English as their second language.

These two winners will each receive £2500 and a trip to London to see their play being recorded for broadcast on BBC World Service in the World Drama slot.

•£2500 sterling for the overall winning playwright of the best play written with English as a first language and a trip to London to see the play being recorded and to attend a prize-giving evening.

•£2500 sterling for the overall winning playwright of the best play written with English as a second language and a trip to London to see the play being recorded and to attend a prizegiving evening.

•A prize of a digital or short wave radio for the best radio play to be written from each of the following geographical areas: The Americas; Europe; Africa and the Middle East; South Asia; Russia and the Caucasus; Asia and Pacific.

•BBC goodie bags for all writers whose plays reach the judges’ final shortlist.

Deadline: 31 March 2011.

Eligibility: Entry is only open to anyone who is over the age of 16 as at 31 March 2011 who is not normally a resident of the UK.

Follow the link below for more tips and details. Get your pen and keyboard and start writing already!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/radioplay_2008.shtml

Source: BBC World Service

 ***

New Opportunity for Writers:Secret Identities Volume 2: Shattered

In the story “Driving Steel” (from Secret Identities), Fo Jim Saan, a Chinese laborer on the First Transcontinental Railroad, shatters negative stereotypes along with rail ties. (Drawn by Benton Jew.) 

Credit: Jeff Yang and Benton Jew

The Vilcek Foundation is pleased to announce its support of Secret Identities Volume 2: Shattered,  scheduled for publication in 2012.  Shattered will feature all new comic  stories and art that build upon the tales first presented in Secret Identities: The Asian American  Superhero Anthology, a best-selling title for non-profit publisher The New  Press.

“The Vilcek Foundation is constantly  seeking new ways to highlight the diverse range of immigrant contributions to  American culture,” said President and Co-Founder Dr. Jan T. Vilcek.  “We couldn’t have thought of a better vehicle  than Shattered, which not only brings  the history of Asians in America to the forefront of pop culture, but showcases  the work of Asian American artists and writers as well in its production.” 

The Vilcek Foundation, dedicated to  celebrating the contributions of immigrants in the arts and sciences, is  supporting the production of Shattered with a grant to facilitate the editorial process.  Like Secret  Identities, Shattered will be created as a collaboration between artists,  writers, and fans; for a limited time, editors will be accepting story pitches  and evaluating artists’ portfolios.

Unlike the first volume, which  viewed the Asian American experience through the lens of the superhero myth,  Shattered will focus on other comic genres - from hard-boiled pulp to martial  arts, adventure and science fiction - to explore stereotypes of Asians in  America – both negative and positive. “In  the first volume, we focused on using superheroes as a lens through which to  expose and celebrate Asian American history and culture.  This time, we wanted to expand our  perspective to the darker side of the Secret  Identities universe,” said Education Director and Editor at Large Keith  Chow.  “We want to use the various archetypes  of the villain to upend, reimagine – to shatter – distorted images that have  shadowed Asian Americans since the earliest days of our arrival in this  country.”

For  more information about the Vilcek Foundation, please contact Joyce Li at (212)  472-2500, or at joyce@vilcek.org.  For more  information on Secret Identities,  please email Jeff Yang at jeff@secretidentities.org or Keith  Chow at keith@secretidentities.org; for  details on how to submit story pitches, visit http://secretidentities.org/Site/v2 to  download Contributors' Guidelines.

The  Vilcek Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of the contributions of  immigrants to the sciences, arts, and culture in the United States.  The Foundation achieves its mission through  hosting immigrant artists and performers at its gallery space in New York City,  awarding annual prizes in the biomedical sciences and the arts and humanities,  and sponsoring cultural programs such as The Santa Fe Opera and the Hawaii  International Film Festival.

Contact:  Joyce Li

(212)  472-2500 or joyce@vilcek.org

Image source: http://www.vilcek.org/static/newsletters/2010/summer/newsletter_summer2010.html

“Put Your Vision to Reality”:Citizen Journalism at Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot

About four years ago while listening to Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry,": "In this great future, you can't forget your past," I wrote my first post: "Why Do I Continue to Write?" Little did I know, 1176 posts later that my blog would become the "premier [blog] on Caribbean book and literary events."

The relative success of the blog has been surprising. In those early days, I thought the Internet’s promise was to be lauded, especially within the Caribbean where cultural gatekeepers decided who would be published, but there were also some dangers with the of the democratization of data. I realized that the media revolution would alter every relationship in publishing and blur definitions that had been taken for granted: publisher, journalist. And as with all revolutions, there were going to be winners and losers. But how would the "winners"--the voices to be preserved/privileged--be decided?



These were just some of the concerns that I had when I began my journey as a citizen journalist. For as a former book reviewer of The Miami Herald and Miami Times, I had seen the work of Caribbean writers disappear, column inch by column inch, from the pages of newspapers in Miami and the Caribbean. And coming from a region plagued by poverty, earthquakes and the yearly round of hurricanes that threaten to erase memory, and which had already lost so many writers either because of their inability to support themselves financially or who had given up because of critical neglect, I didn't want the voices of the elders or my generation to be silenced, for them to become the "losers" in the media revolution.



So before I wrote my first post, I began reading other book blogs, especially those written by author/bloggers, and I made critical choices that would distinguish my blog within my niche. And after attending the We Media Conference in Miami under the auspices of Global Voices, I initiated several innovations that would affect the direction of the blog. 


Unlike other sites which charge a fee for a subscription and thereby prohibit the free flow of ideas, I decided that the blog would be a transparent data repository which would connect readers and writers in the community. Given the literacy rates in the Caribbean, it would also have to convince the occasional reader that writing was an important endeavor. Another strategy would be to use book reviews to introduce these readers to lesser known writers who did not have the support of multinational publishers. However, I didn't want the blog, although it bore my name, to be merely a list of by biases. I wanted to initiate a dialogue with readers that would broaden the scope of Caribbean writing and bring in as many voices as possible--even if I disagreed with the opinions or aesthetics. "Make it new," said Ezra Pound and I have always followed his sage advice in every aspect of my work. But where would I begin?


The first step was to make the design of the site as welcoming as possible and to transform the negative stereotype about bloggers: a lonely male geek dressed in a sweaty undershirt typing away in the basement of his mother’s home. For this, I had to learn basic JavaScript so that I could create a sidebars for sites such as The Caribbean Review of Books  and to publish a wide range of articles about Caribbean life in the hope of attracting newer readers to the rich vibrancy of our literature. The second step, as I described in “Blogger and Me: A Three Year Journey” and “Caribbean Publishing in the Internet Age,” was to overcome the “digital divide” that still exists in the region and the resistance that many older Caribbean writers have toward technology.


Luckily, with a little help from my friends, I began a series based on John Baker's blog, Five Questions I interviewed Kwame Dawes, Marlon James, Adrian Castro, Sandra Castillo, and Barbra Nightingale. Then, I expanded the idea to include individuals such as Erika Waters, the founding editor of The Caribbean Writer, who had played an important role in developing Caribbean writing in the late twentieth century. I also interviewed bloggers who were expanding the boundaries of Caribbean blogging: Patrice Elizabeth Grell Yursik, Fragano Ledgister, Tobias Buckell, and Karel McIntosh. Another improvement was to offer the writers from nearly every Caribbean island an opportunity to speak about their work without the filters of editors or critics. Several writers such as Cyril Dabydeen, Diana McCaulay, Sasenarine Persaud, Opal Palmer Adisa, and Kamau Brathwaite responded to the invitation for In My Own Words.


Kamau Brathwaite's support from the inception was very important, for it gave the blog instant stature. From the first time I met him at the University of Miami, his example of reaching back to help unpublished writers demonstrated his engagement with the Caribbean and his efforts in his generation's mission: the "decolonization of the mind." And as an educator who had worked in Miami, the heart of the Caribbean diaspora, I had seen the effects of those soul/self destroying memes of racism/colonialism on my generation and "The Children of the Matrix."



"If it doesn’t exist on the Internet, it doesn’t exist," argued Kenneth Goldsmith in his post at Harriet. This is especially true for the Millennials. Their cultural amnesia became clear to me after a discussion with a group of high school students about the poetry of Félix Morisseau-Leroy. Even though a street in the middle of Little Haiti was named after the old griot, the students did not know who he was. This prompted me to write another birthday post for Morisseau-Leroy and I published "Boat People," one of his better known poems from Haitiad & Oddities. But the more I talked with children at other schools, the more I realized that they knew very little about their cultural heritage. Some had never heard about Anancy. Caribbean children who did not know about Anancy? Something had to be done.


Based on the interplay, I wrote a children's book, Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories, and read at various book fairs and elementary schools. For everything in my writing life would have been in vain if it did not benefit the children, who face daunting challenges even as they try to cope with being caught between cultures. Frequently they adopt novelty over the wisdom of the "older" culture. During the readings, I talked about Anancy, the Middle Passage, and writing. One of the biggest surprises for the children was when they discovered that I was the author of the book. They never imagined that an author who looked like them was writing about kids who looked like them. This was even more pronounced when I had the opportunity to speak to high school and college students about essay writing, the work of Caribbean women writers, and the use allusions. For another aim of the blog is to convince readers that the new "flatness" of the world affords opportunities which had previously never existed—that to the call, of ancestors such as Marcus Garvey, they are the answer.


As had become the pattern, live discussions led to posts that engaged the virtual community. One post led to another and soon the blog had become a learning resource for students as far away as India, Australia, United Arab Emirates, and South Korea who wanted to know more about writers such as Mervyn Morris, Olive Senior and Derek Walcott.


Pam Mordecai helped me to respond to the requests with "Letter to A Young Writer." And based on private e-mails from teachers, I posted critical readings of Walcott, Olive Senior, and Dennis Scott. I also hosted original podcasts by Kamau Brathwaite, Ramabai Espinet, Lawrence Scott, Deborah Jack, and Joanne Hyppolite, author of author of two popular middle-grade novels for children Seth and Samona.

This is another aspect of the blog about which I am extremely proud: the Caribbean children author series which has featured posts by Summer Edward and Joanne C. Hillhouse. I am also proud that this blog was the first to publish digital photographs of Dennis Scott and Anthony McNeill. Tony's sister, who had been searching the web, found my post about her brother and donated the photographs to the blog when she found out that her brother's image did not exist on the web. I could tell about similar stories, especially the ones having to do with Don Drummond, and other musicians from the Caribbean.

And this, perhaps, is one of the noteworthy contributions of the blog--the exploration of the connection between literature and music of the Caribbean with a special emphasis on reggae and Bob Marley. 

However, my interest in Marley is not merely as a celebrity pop icon. Marley, as an adherent of Garveyite principles, owned his own recording company, Tuff Gong, and used legal and extralegal methods to safeguard his publishing rights, and any discussion of Bob Marley and reggae would be incomplete without the mention of Marcus Garvey and Rastafari. Again, writers such as Colin Grant, author of Negro With a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey, have been more that gracious with their time and have written excellent guest posts, free of charge to the community.

And at its heart this is what the blog has become: a meeting place for the community to be informed about book events, read reviews and interviews with authors, and sometimes to sound the alarm whenever one of our institutions is threatened. But it's also more than that. It has expanded the role of the book blog to include conversations about homophobia, climate change, censorship, and future of publishing in a digital age. Part advocate, cheerleader, and critic, it has provided information to writers about venues for publication, published original poetry and fiction, initiated discussions about topics such as What Does It Mean to be a Caribbean-American and What is a Caribbean classic?

In this respect the blog is not only innovative, it is also useful as the comments of readers attest. And to quote Derek Walcott in "A Letter from Brooklyn": "For such plain praise what fame is recompense?"

***

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New Online Journal: First Reads

Recent Caribbean publisher, Strategy Forum Inc. (SFI), has launched Storytelling Forum Inclusive, a platform for new voices, as well as the not-so-new, to tell their stories. The concept comes from the notion that storytelling is one of our most important needs as we try to grapple with and define our identity.


For the past four years, contributors and readers of SFI’s weekly newsletter have worked together to identify, understand and define the Caribbean sense of life. A review of that 4-year journey led to the creation of a new platform and First Reads, an online journal to “Quench our thirst for Caribbean and Caribbean-influenced creative works.” While the Caribbean can boast great writers, the Caribbean creative voice continues to be absent from many journals internationally. First Reads is a response to fill that void as it provides a space for well-written, well-researched topical issues.


First Reads Editor, I. Rhonda King, explains, “First Reads is based on the Village Ethic. Here, people work collaboratively and bring to the platform, that which they can—creative expression, financial resources, a commitment to spread the word.” The objective is to build and grow through community participation. King continues, “The Village Ethic presents a new paradigm, a viable alternative to the current corporate model.” Villagers are free to participate in one or any combination of participant levels as contributors, benefactors, and/or readers.


The inaugural issue of First Reads was released on March 31, 2010 with the publication of The Obeah Man, a short story by Godfrey Bobby Fraser, widely acclaimed Vincentian playwright, whose radio serials were popular throughout the Eastern Caribbean in the 80s and 90s. Fraser is well known for Leroy and The Courting of Beatrice which he co-wrote with the late Chester Rogers.  The Obeah Man, written in the 60s, has never been published before for public consumption. Beginning in May, Storytelling Forum Inclusive, through First Reads will introduce as a serial for the first time on the Internet, the audio files of the 12 episodes of Leroy.


First Reads is mailed electronically the last Tuesday of each month. Read more about the philosophy and mission of Storytelling Forum Inclusive and First Reads and become a part of the community at www.strategyforuminc.org.

Strategy Forum Inc is a company created by Inga Rhonda King in 2006 and registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. An online journal and an exquisite line of illustrated books of Caribbean thought and ideas are created under this label. These creations are dedicated to re-visioning the good life, celebrating the Caribbean sense of life and making critical reflection fashionable.

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Tell Tales: Accepting Submissions

Tell Tales is looking for short stories to publish online. Starting Spring 2010 we’ll be publishing one story every month on our website. Stories can be of any genre and style. We’re looking for authentic and original storytelling that is compelling and exciting.

Please send your submissions to showtime@telltales.co.uk.  Submissions are accepted from new and established writers.



Guidelines:

1. Stories should be previously unpublished and between 1,500 to 2,500 words in length
2. Put the title and your name at the top of the page and in the footer
3. Number each page
4. Put word length at the end of the story
5. Double space your work

Authors retain all rights to their work. Allow eight weeks from submission to receive a response from us.

Happy writing!

***

Poor Man's Copyright?

I have a dark secret and I owe one of my students an apology.

It began with two car accidents in consecutive years. Two cars totaled by drunk or careless drivers left me unable to work at the level to which I had become accustomed.

Then, the bills started to pile up.

It would be an understatement to say that I was hard up for money. I was desperate and when I saw an ad in a very reputable magazine for a screenplay, I answered the ad. I'd been tossing around this idea in my head for some time and I bit. I emailed a proposal. The agent followed up and asked for a treatment.

I sent him this synopsis, but just to be sure, I mailed myself a copy of the treatment and followed the advice that one of my teachers had given me: "Use Poor Man's Copyright."


It  has been one of the biggest mistakes of my writing career.

***

Synopsis of The Blackheart Man

Opening Scene: Westmoreland, Jamaica.

The camera moves lowly over rows and rows of cane fields under a gorgeous Jamaican full moon. It’s as if the camera is bending the heads of the cane stalks, but there’s no sound—just the movement of the camera over the canes. A light rain begins to fall. The pace quickens over a hill to a Great House and toward a beach and circles back to cane fields.

Spling! The sound that machetes make when cutting cane.

The sound intensifies and the camera moves faster and after over the cane fields and suddenly we see a couple obviously in love racing towards a fence that has a sign “Keep Out! On Pane of Deth!” They ignore the sign and almost as if seeking shelter from the rain they race towards the dilapidated Great House.

Spling!

We see the machete glinting in the moonlight. As they run, the woman begins to unwrap the skirt she’s been wearing. Obviously they are going to make love. We assume she’s going to lie down on the skirt. They enter the Great House cautiously, and then, race towards the center hall where they start to make out and then, to have sex.

Spling!

The rain begins to fall harder and they are getting wet while they are making love, but they don’t seem to mind—the sex is too good. They are both giggling and laughing and we have a close-up of the man’s face. He is loving this.

Spling!

In split second, the camera pans the woman’s’ face that goes from her own pleasure and giving pleasure to blood all over her face. The man has been decapitated. There is a thud on the floor. We never see the head. All we see is the look of horror on her face as the body falls on top of her and twitches. She screams. And screams. She picks up what she can and races out of the Great House.

The rain is falling harder. She is racing towards the beach. The sound of a heartbeat. We see the machete again.

Spling!

A hand reaches out to touch her, but she fights it off a runs even faster away from the hand. Close-up of her as she apparently reaches towards her legs as if she had been cut down.

Spling!

She falls and looks up at the camera, almost in recognition, but not quite. Scream…

Spling!

Bunny Wailer’s song “Blackheart Man” begins.

Trevor Matthews, the protagonist
Janice Williams, the love interest
Uncle Wallace, the antagonist
Henry DaCosta, weed smoker and comic relief
Norman Higgins, sidekick and betrayer
Beeline, wise old Rasta man
Blackheart Man, a dreadlocked force of nature
The Mistress, comic relief

Trevor Matthews, who works as a manger at a hotel in Miami, has returned to Jamaica to take over and run Hog Heaven Hotel that has been placed in trust to his Uncle Wallace until he is twenty-nine years old. Trevor is educated, has a degree in hospitality management, and knows the hotel business in a bookish way. He has never been tested in Jamaica where he is a bit of a fish out of water. He has invited his friends Henry (weed smoker and comic relief) and Norman (secretly a coward) with him so that they can help him run the hotel. They have been friends with him in Miami and he figures they will be with him through whatever problems he comes up against in Jamaica.

On the night before Trevor returns from Miami, the murder has already occurred. Uncle Wallace (ex-cop) covers up the murder of the Jamaican couple with little or no fanfare. Uncle Wallace thinks he is going to buy out Paul's portion of the business.

When Trevor returns to Jamaica, he tells Uncle Wallace that he intends to take over Hog Heaven. This upsets all of Uncle Sam's plans. A murder of a tourist occurs and Uncle Wallace doesn't cover it up. In fact, he makes it a media event. He wants to discourage Trevor from buying the hotel. He wants the hotel for himself and his very expensive mistress.

Enter Janice Williams, Paul's' old girl friend. She works for the Tourist Board of Jamaica and is there to help Trevor so he won’t lose any more tourist business. Trevor still loves her and she still loves him. Trevor wants to prove that he is no longer a dilettante( “You can always run back to Miami and leave us the way you’ve always run away from everything” she says to him) and she wants to prove that she's no longer Daddy's little girl (“Did Daddy get you this job, too?” Trevor asks her the first time they meet: “He’s dead” she counters, “but I guess you were too busy in Miami to follow what’s been happening here in Jamaica.”

Paul also meets up with the Rasta man Beeline who gives him the background story of the Blackheart man who has been stirred by the boundary transgression of the Jamaican couple and the tourists and Uncle Wallace’s plan to extend the hotel to the land that was owned by the Blackheart man. A murder of a cook who worked at the hotel when Trevor’s father was alive has occurred before when Trevor’s’ father tired to expand the hotel. But once Trevor’s father restored the fence, nothing happened again.

Another murder attempt occurs and Trevor must act to solve the mystery. If not, another tourist will never step foot in the hotel. Who is the Blackheart man? Beeline gives more information. Uncle Wallace sees this as the perfect opportunity to kill Paul. He hires a hit man to do the job ala the Blackheart man. The Blackheart Man kills the assassin.

Trevor tries to rebuild the fence, but Beeline tells him it is futile now. The Blackheart man wants blood. The fence is still repaired. The next day they find it broken down again.

Fear takes over the hotel. Everyone is fleeing, checking out. Going to other hotels and islands.

Trevor is betrayed by his friend Norman who decides to go back to Miami, “I don’t want to die, man.” Uncle Wallace has bought off Norman. Henry will stay for the weed that Beeline supplies

Together Trevor, Janice, Beeline and Henry must join to kill the Blackheart man.

The Blackheart man kills Norman who is one the way to the airport.

The Blackheart man also kills Uncle Wallace. His expensive mistress gets away without her weave. Trevor is next. They all join forces and they kill the Blackheart man.

Trevor is reunited with Janice. The hotel opens under new management with Trevor and Janice about to get married.

***

I never heard from the agent again.

Then, a few years ago, my son and I were walking through Blockbuster and we saw this movie, XYZ, that was set on a Caribbean island, so we decided to rent it.

As we settled back in our seats, a sickening feeling overcame me. This was my movie. A few changes had been made, but it was my movie. I'd been ripped off.

I called all my friends and then we contacted a lawyer, who after reviewing the case told me that because we couldn't prove a “material connection” between he agent and the production company, we couldn't bring a law suit. Plus, he added with the costs of expert witnesses, etc, the costs made it impossible to win.

I asked him about "Poor Man's Copyright."

After he finished laughing, he basically informed me about what is now found in Wikipedia: "There is no provision in copyright law regarding any such type of protection. Poor man's copyright is therefore not a substitute for registration. According to section 408 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, registration of a work with the Copyright Office is not a prerequisite for copyright protection."

Dejected, I put away the information and thought I'd gotten over it until a few weekends ago when a popular cable station had a movie marathon with the movie.

I was steaming mad, but there was nothing that I could do about it.

And then I remembered the advice that I'd given one of my students about copyrighting his poems. I told him it was probably a bad idea to copyright every one of his poems because of the cost and the chance of his work being stolen was infinitesimal.

I'm wondering now if I gave him the right advice. I don't think I did. So, my student, if you are reading this, I'm sorry that I gave you bad advice and I hope you have not lost any work to unscrupulous agents or producers.

For in this Internet age when everything on the web can be scraped, copied, and mashed, unless you're willing to let go of the work, then you'd better apply for copyright: U.S. Copyright Office.

It may just save you from the rage that I am still feeling right now.

***

Words from flickr

Created by kastner

***