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Getting copyright right

Copyright law - the rules that apply to the use of your own or someone else's created material - is complex. But for creators, including editors and writers, it's valuable, and an understanding of how copyright works is vital.

But where do you get that understanding? Law degrees deliver whole subjects about this topic, so there must be a lot to know. Copyright law changes from time to time, and it also varies from country to country.

The good news for writers and editors is that you don't need to be an expert in copyright law. You do need to understand the basics, and you do need to know where to go for advice and guidance.

But a whole law degree is not necessary for you to do what you do. (Phew!)

What even is copyright?

Copyright is designed to protect the rights of creators, so that their ability to make a living from their creative work is not compromised.

The basic idea is that:

  • you generally cannot use someone else's creative work for your own purposes without seeking permission
  • but there are a limited set of reasons ('exceptions') that allow you to do so.

So if you're writing a book, an article or anything for a readership and you decide to include a few words from a song, a few lines from a poem, a statement of fact from another book, a photo you didn't take yourself - indeed, anything that someone else wrote or made - you need an alarm bell to go off in your head.

'Woah, this isn't mine. Can I use it?'

Help with copyright

So where do you turn after the alarm has rung? Good news: there are organisations whose entire mission in life is to help people understand copyright.

(I'm an Australian editor, writing in Australia, so I'll focus here on Australian resources.)

My go-to favourite for advice and guidance on copyright in Australia is the Copyright Council. They maintain an extensive (and free!) library of downloadable information sheets on every aspect of copyright you could think of. They also publish handbooks on key topics and you can purchase those through the website.

The reason I love the Copyright Council's publications is that they are sooooo readable! They've taken complex matters of law and turned them into clear, accessible, understandable information for the layperson.

The other people you should know about is ArtsLaw, the national community legal centre for the arts in Australia. ArtsLaw have free information sheets online, too, in their Information Hub, but they also offer a couple of legal advice services for eligible arts practitioners, for a fee.

(You may need to subscribe or join ArtsLaw to get the most benefit from their resources, but if you're a serious writer, that could be a good thing. For example, you can also buy adaptable templates for contracts, confidentiality agreements and website terms of use, among others.)

Legal eagles

As an editor, I make sure to tell my authors that I am not a lawyer, I am not qualified to provide legal advice, and my recommendations do not constitute legal advice.

The extent of my responsibility in relation to copyright, as the Australian standards for editing practice (2nd ed, 2013, section A4) says, is to have knowledge of copyright requirements and what implications they could have on a publication and to flag anything I think the authors should seek professional legal advice on.

In short: to be really sure that you're not breaching copyright law, ask a lawyer.

Copyright wrongs

If something is complex, it can easily be misunderstood - and that goes for copyright, too. How many of these incorrect copyright 'facts' have you heard?

  • "Anything on the internet is in the public domain." (Wrong.)
  • "I'm only using a few lines/words, so it's okay." (Not necessarily.)
  • "It's been over 70 years since it was published, so it's out of copyright now." (Not for writings.)
  • "I see that image on T-shirts all the time, so anyone must be able to use it." (That's not how it works.)

Your homework is to head over to the Copyright Council and ArtsLaw websites and fact-check these claims! Let me know what you decide.

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The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage

The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage, 2nd ed.

Pam peters | 2007 | isbn 978 0 52170 242 3 (PBK)

So, you're writing in Australia for local readers, and you strike a few language questions as you progress. Is that word spelt manoeuvre or maneuver? What is it that's wrong with He could of saved some time? And is your historical story fictional or fictitious?

If you're serious about your writing, these are important questions. You don't want to confuse your readers, appear unprofessional or embarrass yourself. But who can advise you, with reliable authority?

(Hint: not Dr Google. Or Wikipedia. There you'll get answers from anyone and everyone that are usually not focused on the Australian version of English.)

You need a usage guide, and one particular to Australian English, since you're writing for an Australian readership.

A usage guide is like a style guide, only ... different. A style guide covers matters of writing style, while a usage guide covers, would you believe, questions of language usage. (See my previous article to learn about style guides.)

So let me tell you about The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage (2nd edition, 2007) by Professor Pam Peters.

This weighty book (906 pages, and now available for Kindle) is one of my go-to resources for writing and editing. It lists and explains over three thousand queries and quirks of contemporary Australian English.

The entries are in alphabetical order and include prefixes, suffixes, grammar terms, Indigenous terms and alternative spellings. The text is accessible, the explanations clear, and the cross-referencing between entries is logical.

For example, let's say you're wondering whether to use leveled or levelled. You turn to page 471, where you'll see:

leveled or levelled The choice between these is discussed at -l/-ll-.

This is because there are lots of words that cause you to wonder the same thing, so why repeat the explanation under every entry? Off you go to the -l/-ll- entry and find out what to do with pretty much any example of that particular letter-doubling puzzle.

Even though the book was published in 2007, it seems that not much has changed. I've rarely had a usage question it didn't answer.

And the Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage should be good: it's written by an expert. Pam Peters is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Macquarie University with a long list of academic and general publications to her name, including several usage guides and editions of The Macquarie Dictionary.

Professor Peters initiated and led Macquarie University's postgraduate program in editing until her retirement in the late 2000s and was on the editorial team for the recently launched Australian Manual of Style.

For quality writing, you want a little library of quality resources. The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage is one to include. (And for other resource ideas, see 'Writing and editing resources'.)

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Associating with the right crowd

How do you find an editor? How do you know if the one you found is 'any good'? How do you know what editing should do for you, anyway?

Well, you can Google. As always, you'll get some good results and some ... not-so-good results, which will take you time to sift through.

Or, you can go straight to the best resource there is: your local professional association for editors. Each one will likely have, among other resources:

  • an editor directory, where you can find a professional editor recognised by the association
  • a downloadable guide to editorial standards, to help you understand what to expect of editing
  • blog posts or information about language or writing, useful when preparing your work or manuscript
  • an indication of pay rates for editors in your country, which will give you an idea of the cost of your editing.

So who is your national editing association? Here are some of the world's biggest, with links to their websites:

Mind you, these professional bodies are valuable resources for us editors, too. They're definitely 'the right crowds' for us to associate with, for a number of reasons.

When you first switch to freelancing, one of the biggest changes you notice is the loss of an in-house team. There are some pluses to that: you no longer waste time caught up in Monday morning conversations about who's winning The Bachelor. (I guess for some, that's actually a minus ...!)

However, you don't have someone *right there* that you can bounce ideas off or chat to about a challenge, either.

While I really enjoy working on my own, I also love collaborating on a project. And having a network of peers and colleagues to kick problems around with or share resources with is super-valuable.

That's a large part of the reason why I've been a member of IPEd, Australia and New Zealand's editorial professional body, for years. I've joined the UK's CIEP as well. (Both have granted me 'Professional'-level status, which recognises my editing experience and accreditation.)

Between these two associations, I have a huge network of peers and colleagues around the world. But I also have access to diverse and ongoing training, reference resources, information on editorial standards, and industry news.

As I've increased my editing work over the past few years, these peer networks have offered kind and enthusiastic support, provided job leads and shared their collective knowledge. They've welcomed me at conferences, waved to me over Zoom, cheered me through the IPEd accreditation exam and joined me for both online and in-person coffees.

Thanks to IPEd, CIEP and other associations, there's no way freelancing is a lonely gig for me.

And finding a freelance editor shouldn't be a hit-and-miss gig for you, either!

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Instant professionalism: just add style

An easy way to make your written message matter is to be consistent, both in the message content and its style. Why?

> It makes your messaging more effective, and
> it shows that you're professional.

Tell me more ...

Inconsistency in spelling, terms used, tense, abbreviation forms, or any other aspect of a text is distracting to the reader. It makes them stop, even for a split-second, to think about what's wrong.

But you don't want your audience to be distracted from what you're saying. It's like them being interrupted while you're talking to them! You want to engage them with your message and keep them engaged.

Inconsistency also detracts from your professional image. If you can't get your own writing looking schmick, how can potential customers or clients believe that your business actually IS schmick?

A style guide is the answer.

What's a style guide?

It's a simple Word or PDF document that records all the decisions you make about your organisation's preferred ways of styling your communications.

For example: the headings in this post use sentence case, which has a capital on the first word but not the others. That's my personal style preference. But for your business's communications, you might like them all capitalised .

I'm an Australian business owner, so I use Australian spelling and word usage. But maybe you deal with a lot of customers in the USA, so you prefer -ize and -or spellings to -ise and -our.

I've chosen this font ('Poppins') for my web text. You might prefer Arial or Calibri or Times New Roman or something else.

Compiling a style guide is a service I offer as a professional editor. I work with you to identify or choose all the style elements you'd like for your communications. It would usually include your branding elements, too.

Then I compile them all into one document that you can provide to all your employees (or contractors, or whoever is relevant). Once your style guide is developed and in place, your written communication will begin to look consistent, cohesive and connected.

Even the smallest organisation will benefit from having all its style preferences captured in one place for any staff member to follow in any written text they send out.

Instant professionalism and maximum engagement! And a personalised style sheet doesn't even take much time or money to establish.

But it can certainly #makeyourmessagematter!

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Writing and editing resources

If you're starting out in writing, editing or marketing communication, it would be helpful for you to know where to go to check spellings, word usage, grammar, style and punctuation.

Why? Several reasons. Mainly: your aim is to get your message across, and introducing errors can cause misunderstandings. It can also distract your reader if they notice the error (and forget what you're trying to say). Another reason is that if you'd like to be taken seriously as a business or professional organisation, poor English can say otherwise.

So to help you communicate well, here are some of the standard reference guides used widely across the editing profession.

In Australia, the go-to resource for spelling and word meanings is the Macquarie Dictionary. This is now published online and accessed via subscription (check if your local library has a subscription for its members). The hardback 6th Edition currently costs AUD99.99 on Macquarie's online shop.

The standard style guide here is the Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers (6th edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2002). Work is currently underway on a long-overdue digital 7th edition, but meanwhile, turn to the Style Manual to check conventions in titles, capitalisation, punctuation, numbering, use of italics, and a million other perplexing practices. Do you or don't you capitalise each entry in a bulleted list? See the Style Manual (pages 142-3).

Language being the ever-changing beast that it is, it's worth checking that, once you've chosen your words, you're using them correctly. This is where usage guides are handy. My favourites are Modern Australian Usage by Nicholas Hudson (3rd edition, Allen & Unwin, 2015) and Pam Peters' The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage (2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2007).

New editors in Australia regularly turn to Janet Mackenzie's The Editor's Companion (2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2011) for help with editorial processes and working as an editor.  I also like The Australian Editing Handbook (3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2014) by Elizabeth Flann, Beryl Hill and Lan Wang.

I hope you find these as helpful as I do in making messages matter!