You asked your legal, copyright, and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are culled from the comments section attached to the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions.
Kelly says:
Hi Jean,
I asked a question awhile back that didn’t get answered – I’m wondering what to do in situations where an author wants to maintain copyright, but needs to remain anonymous. I am working on a blog and book that are being done under a pseudonym, and I don’t know how to go about protecting the material while not publishing my legal name.
KellyDear Kelly
The Copyright Office has a procedure for handling anonymous and pseudonymous registrations. Go to copyright.gov and download the instruction for the TX form AND the instructions. In the instructions for Space 2, it explains what you have to do.Jean
Hi, Jean,
I have a client who’d like to keep his authorship name anonymous, yet still be able to obtain a copyright.
Others say that to copyright solely by the pseudonym is purposeless and would be worthless to defend.
Before he sends his manuscript into interested hands, he’d like to :
either copyright it with pseudonym only
or
set up an independent publishing company, sign himself as an author to it, and have the publishing company as the copyright holder, then license or sell the works to larger publishing entitles.
or
make a separate contract with an attorney or a manger and use his name on the forms for copyright and for signing to a publisher.
What do you suggest?
Thank you.