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[Kimbro]

How Do You Keep People From Stealing Your Book Ideas?

Go To: Ask A Lawyer

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ABOVE IS OF A GENERAL NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED AS LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC LEGAL ISSUE OR QUESTION, SEEK THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT ATTORNEY.

[JoeSpirit]

That article fits what I've always read about ideas. They can't be copyrighted.

Seems to me the only way to truly keep someone from taking, and using, your idea is just don't let anyone know what it is.

[Kimbro]

Hi Joe,

Ideas are very hard to protect - even patents are continuously being perused to get a slant on an idea - changed slightly and used.
If you have a good idea - produce it and get out to the marketplace as fast as possible - people are less likely to emulate an idea that is already commercially exposed.

As far as books are concerned:

Proof that you wrote the book is paramount to a successful litigation if the need arises.

"Writer Guard" [you will note I use it - see bottom RHS of the MyScribeWeb website at http://www.myscribeweb.com ]

is a vault where you submit and register ownership of your work as you are working on it.

 When you click on the seal you get the following info:

"Digitally Protected Content
 
This content, so affixed with the WriterGuard Digital Rights logo, is protected by United States federal copyright law.
 
The content has been electronically filed with the WriterGuard Creative Works Registry, thereby establishing a permanent record of this material.
 
The registrant of this content

attests to a lawful claim of intellectual rights for this material as permitted by U.S. copyright law and international treaties.
 
Reproduction of these protected works is prohibited without the written consent of the owner."

I think this protection is well worthwhile.

Cheers,

Kitty.

[JoeSpirit]

Hi Joe,

Ideas are very hard to protect - even patents are continuously being perused to get a slant on an idea - changed slightly and used.
If you have a good idea - produce it and get out to the marketplace as fast as possible - people are less likely to emulate an idea that is already commercially exposed.

As far as books are concerned:

Proof that you wrote the book is paramount to a successful litigation if the need arises.

"Writer Guard" [you will note I use it - see bottom RHS of the MyScribeWeb website at http://www.myscribeweb.com ]

is a vault where you submit and register ownership of your work as you are working on it.

 When you click on the seal you get the following info:

"Digitally Protected Content
 
This content, so affixed with the WriterGuard Digital Rights logo, is protected by United States federal copyright law.
 
The content has been electronically filed with the WriterGuard Creative Works Registry, thereby establishing a permanent record of this material.
 
The registrant of this content

attests to a lawful claim of intellectual rights for this material as permitted by U.S. copyright law and international treaties.
 
Reproduction of these protected works is prohibited without the written consent of the owner."

I think this protection is well worthwhile.

Cheers,

Kitty.

Hi Kitty,

I'm not sure if I understand your meaning. Are you talking about protecting an idea or a produced, or published, product?

I'm sure ideas can't be patented, and the safest way to create an "in demand" product is to improve on an already hot idea. At least that's what I believe is the case. You can waste a lot of time creating a product that nobody wants to buy, and often the reason nobody has produced products in line with particular subjects is because nobody will spend money on that subject area.

I do think it wise to protect your published works.

[Kimbro]

Hi Joe,
You can patent ideas [not that I am necessarily recommending you do so]
Lodging a patent can be an expensive project especially if you are looking to patent worldwide.

You wrote:"the safest way to create an "in demand" product is to improve on an already hot idea. At least that's what I believe is the case. You can waste a lot of time creating a product that nobody wants to buy, and often the reason nobody has produced products in line with particular subjects is because nobody will spend money on that subject area."

Firstly there is hardly a topic that people won't spend money on if written by an expert on that topic.

If you use the model that most big internet marketers recommend/teach I don't believe you will have much success.
Here is the usual pitch:
1. Do keyword and trend research to find the most sought after topic with the least competition.
Sounds sensible enough - trouble is that everyone is doing this - therefore the topic you choose immediately has huge competition.
Just like a recommendation from a reputable investment advisory service recommending a value for money share buy - turns into an expensive share buy within hours - because of the recommendation.

2. Outsource the creation of the product. [ This is a quick fix that usually produces a very inferior product as the writers are not necessarily experts on the topic].

3. Rinse and repeat. [ Do this often enough with inferior products and your name will soon be mud, that is why you see a lot of products created by the same people using different names].

All these system that create one page websites and fly by the night products are designed to make a fast killing online - using clever hyped up sales pages - I call all these methods legal scams and personally I don't want any part of it.

Actually I believe creating products the right way is far better in the long run.

Here is my slant on creating products to sell online.

I firmly believe that everyone has a personal field of expertise that can be beneficial to others.
It could be on a topic you feel passionate about or a bit of knowledge/tip handed down through your family that the general public is not aware of.

For instance I have personally found a very simple method on how to get rid of cockroaches, without using any poisons or usual pest control methods.
As cockroaches are a continual menace here in Queensland I might create a product on this topic.

Now "cockroaches" is not a trendy subject or a highly sought after keyword - however I know that I would make sales of this product for years to come as there will always be a need to get rid of cockroaches, simply and safely.

It would be a good product because I have used it myself and know it works - people who bought this product would be delighted with the results - therefore they would look out for any other product I created or recommended. In other words my name would be trusted.

To create a product like this you do not need to be a literary genius -  all you need to do is write the instructions in plain understandable language - as though you were speaking to someone about it. If you know your topic, this is not hard to do.

So to sum up:

Only create products on topics you really understand yourself and you know would be useful to others.
All products you create along these lines will add to your residual income for life.

Cheers,
Kitty.

[JoeSpirit]

Thanks Kitty for explaining that.

Maybe I'm confusing patenting with copyrighting in relation to ideas.

I do understand that you risk creating poor quality products if you don't know the subject area, or have experience in that area.

Considering what you say about there not being a subject people won't spend money on I'm wondering if the ability to reach the right market comes into play. I can see that if you create a quality product you'll need to find the people who want that product in order to accomplish any sales.

Now see. You've gone and got my gray matter churning again. And just when I thought I'd take a rest.

[Kimbro]

Hi Joe,

You wrote "I can see that if you create a quality product you'll need to find the people who want that product in order to accomplish any sales."

Sorry but that way of thinking is upside down in my world.

Instead of trying to find the people who want that product all you need to do is put yourself in the position where they can find you/your product easily.

Put yourself in the position of the person who needs your product.

Let's take the example of the cockroach product.

What do you think someone needing this product will enter in their search query?

Think of all the possible combination's of keywords they would use and build a website around those keywords.

For instance they may search for "pest control + their area" when they get to the results they find a lot of companies but they are all using chemical solutions - which they don't want. So then they enter "Get rid of cockroaches without chemicals" Or "chemical free pest control" Or "DIY cockroaches" or "cockroach info" or "cockroach life cycle" or "cockroach traps" or "catch live cockroach" or "break cockroach cycle" or "how do I get rid of cockroaches"
I could keep going but I think you get the drift - put yourself in the shoes of someone looking for a solution to their cockroach problem and imagine what words they may use to find a solution.
Now if you built a static website [not a blog]. Using each of the search terms above as the title to a separate page on your site - your site will be an authority site on the topic of the product you want to sell. Connect that site to other RELEVANT sites, blogs, article directories etc. and your site will be presented to your potential customer via the major search engines.

When you set up your online business in this fashion you don't need to find people - PEOPLE COME TO YOU - interested targeted people who will buy your product because they found exactly what they were looking for.

You may not make $$$,$$$,$$$ worth of sales with this method overnight - but you will make steady sales for years and years.

In contrast to the hyped up product launches, which make big amounts of sales for a few days - until the public catches on that the product is not all it promised to be. I have found that my product sales increase as time goes by. This is because my customers are happy and they spread the good news for me.
As an example I created the "Make Money Online with Free Website Traffic" program in January 2010. The sales for this product have steadily increased over the year and now in February 2011 the sales have tripled.
There are businesses that build websites and refer all their customers to buy my Free Website Traffic product - so that their customers will get traffic to the websites they built for them. I don't have an affiliate program attached to this product so these referrals are totally unsolicited.

I am not writing you this to blow my trumpet - I just want to impress on you that if you create useful products, they do sell well.

Getting back on topic "How Do You Keep People From Stealing Your Ideas"

 You wrote: " Maybe I'm confusing patenting with copyrighting in relation to ideas."

Ideas need to be patented [expensive process]
Books and Online publications need to be copyrighted.

You really can't stop people from taking an idea from any published work - rehashing it - and making it their own.
I know that its annoying but that's the way it is.

I don't see these people as a big threat - they have a stealing mentality and through this wreck their own reputation online.
Trust is a big issue when people purchase products - your good reputation - which you should keep at all costs will win out at the end of the day.

When people copy and paste your copyrighted material somewhere online - then they are in direct breach of copyright.
This has happened to me on several occasions. The first thing I do in a case like that is:
1] Try to contact the offender and tell them to remove the copy immediately. If they do not respond or can't be contacted - or just don't comply with your demand.

2] Look up the domain via "Who Is" there you will find which hosting company they are using. Get in touch with the hosting company and make them aware that one of their clients with domain name XXX is in breach of copyright. You will find the site with your material on it will be permanently shut down within hours.

Hope this info helps,

Cheers,

Kitty.

[JoeSpirit]

Hi Kitty,

What you said,

"Instead of trying to find the people who want that product all you need to do is put yourself in the position where they can find you/your product easily."

is pretty much what I meant. Maybe I didn't phrase myself as I thought.

I do agree that you can't stop people from using your material if they decide to.

I haven't run across anybody stealing mine, and am happy about that.

Your point #2 "Look up the domain "who's who" is good. I hadn't thought about that before. I see a lot of informational products that threaten legal action for plagiarism, but I've wondered in many situations if that legal action would actually be financially feasible.

[Kimbro]

Hi Joe,
You wrote:
"Your point #2 "Look up the domain "who's who" is good."

The domain to look up is "Who Is" at: http://www.whois.net/

You wrote:

"I see a lot of informational products that threaten legal action for plagiarism, but I've wondered in many situations if that legal action would actually be financially feasible."

Yes in most serious cases it is financially feasible. All you need to do is report the incident to a magistrates court. It is a criminal offense to steal copyright material and re-sell it. Therefore there are no legal expenses to the claimant and the courts will confiscate property, wages etc from the perpetrator.

Cheers,
Kitty.

[Alejandro]

Private data security and content copy rights are the key factors that have been the burning question among the developers of the web. And I would love to know that how I can be able to protect my data from stealing.

[Kimbro]

Private data security and content copy rights are the key factors that have been the burning question among the developers of the web. And I would love to know that how I can be able to protect my data from stealing.

The answer to your question depends on what type of data you are referring to.
Cheers,
Kitty.