Publishing under a pseudonym

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James Dollan
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Publishing under a pseudonym

Post by James Dollan » January 2nd, 2015, 12:33 pm

Hey guys. I have recently published a book on amazon. I decided to publish under a pseudonym but in the copyright section of my book I put "Copyright © 2014 by J. Dolan". I wanted to know if doing this is ok. I haven't registered the book with the copyright office as yet. What are the implications of this strategy?

Thanks for your help/advice/suggestions.

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polymath
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Re: Publishing under a pseudonym

Post by polymath » January 2nd, 2015, 2:46 pm

Copyright starts when a creative work is in a fixed and tangible form: manuscript, DVD, audio recording, music score, computer application, etc., not necessarily paper, and is at least machine receivable. A copyright notice only notes that otherwise superfluous detail of when the copyright clock starts.

Copyright registration is the gold standard though not overtly required anymore in order to assert copyright. Registration is required within three months of first publication date in order to enjoy the full range of litigation rights; for example, stronger damages penalties for infringement and litigation cost recovery if the prevailing party is the complainant infringed.

By publishing under a pseudonym and entering a real name on the copyright page, you associate your two names with each other. Many readers skip copyright pages, though that detail is revealed for those who do read them. If the pseudonym is the copyright holder, though, a greater privacy protection results. Which is probably one of the more subtle yet profound reasons for publishing under a pseudonym.

In order to meet statutory requirements, the alias must be registered with a local records office, usually a clerk of public records, also known as a Doing Business As, DBA, which is necessary for banking under the alias and suitable for government documents as a business alias. Copyright registration, however, and other important legal documents, eg, tax filing, must be under the copyright holder's statutory name -- legal name and the alias DBA.

A copyright holder is not necessarily a creator. A spouse, for example, or other person may be assigned a copyright at the time of registration. Works for hire are usually registered under the hiring person or agency's name: a corporation, for example.
Last edited by polymath on January 3rd, 2015, 10:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
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James Dollan
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Re: Publishing under a pseudonym

Post by James Dollan » January 2nd, 2015, 10:13 pm

Thanks for the wealth of information polymath but just to be sure,are you saying that if my authorship is being challenged it would be a harder case to win because my pseudonym is not registered as a DBA?

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polymath
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Re: Publishing under a pseudonym

Post by polymath » January 2nd, 2015, 10:44 pm

Infringement is where litigation and timely copyright registration benefits acrue.

A DBA alias is a benefit if a writer wishes to legally conduct business activities under the alias. Whether a writer's pseudonym needs to be a public record statutory alias depends on whether a writer wants to do business under the alias. Cash checks payable to the alias, open a business bank account, hold out the alias identity as a trade name for sales, personal appearances, sell merchandise to the public, whatever business activity a sole proprietor writer may wish to conduct using the alias as the trade name. Corporations register officers similarly through a state agency and conduct business activities under the corprorate name.

If a pseudonym is just a pen name and no actual business activities take place under the pen name, no need to register the alias. Royalty checks made payable to a statutory name are a common practice, even though a narrative is published under a pen name.
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James Dollan
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Re: Publishing under a pseudonym

Post by James Dollan » January 3rd, 2015, 10:54 am

Ok, thanks a lot polymath.

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