I am planning to launch a subscription-based webzine and wanted to
accept fiction & nonfiction writing submissions from other writers. My
question is: what process do I (as a small, grassroots ezine editor)
have to go through to make sure copyright laws and other legalities
are followed properly? I would like to make sure I am following the
law & also convey a modicum of professionalism to the authors who
submit their writing.

I won't be offering payment for accepted submissions at this point
(however, the author will get a free subscription to the site). And I
don't necessarily need to acquire exclusive rights to the material;
just permission to publish it on my site for a certain number of
months. With perhaps an option to negotiate anthologizing it sometime
in the future. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi rbsiv~

As a longtime author and a once-upon-a-time publisher, here's my
advice:

Publishers (whether online or print), acquire pieces from writers one
of two basic ways:
1. You will contact writers and ask them to write something new, or
ask permission to reprint something they've already had published
2. You will accept queries and/or completed pieces that have never
been published before

In the first instance, you can contact the writer directly, if the
writer's contact info is readily available. Simply write to them,
expressing interest in reprinting their work on your website--asking,
if reprint rights are available. If the writer has sold "all rights"
to another publisher, you cannot reprint the piece. If the writer has
previously sold first or second rights, you can reprint the piece with
their permission. Be sure to lay out your terms clearly (more on
terms, below).

If you want to ask the writer to create something new for your
webzine, first let them know where you've seen their work, then
express interest in having them write a piece for you. You can either
suggest a topic(s), or leave that up to them.

If you don't have easy access to the writer's contact info, you can
write to the original publisher directly. Let them know you're
interested in reprinting such-and-such a piece (name the author, title
of the work, the magazine or newsletter you saw it in, as well as
information about what month or number it was seen in), and ask if
they will put you in contact with the writer. If the author has sold
all rights to this publisher, they should let you know right away.

If you use method #2 to acquire pieces for your webzine, you'll need
to advertise your interest in freelance material. There are several
places to do this for free, although not all will accept queries from
publishers who do not pay their writers. Possibly the best place to
advertise a need for writers is www.writersweekly.com. In order to get
a listing there, however, you must pay your writers. Some other top
places are SunOasis ( http://www.sunoasis.com ), FreelanceWriting (
http://www.freelancewriting.com/fjb.html ), The Write Jobs (
http://www.freelancewriting.com/fjb.html ), and The Writer's Market (
www.writersmarket.com ). Of course, you should also provide a very
clear link in your webzine, flagging the attention of writers and
taking them to a page where information about how you want pieces
submitted, as well as your terms, are stated. Don't neglect bulletin
boards, either; find some that are related to the topic/theme of your
webzine, and post a request for material.

You do not need to contact the copyright office regarding your
writers' work. Providing a simple copyright notice at the end of each
piece will suffice. (Example: (c) 2003 by Elmer Fudd. All Rights
Reserved.) It's also a good idea to have a general copyright notice on
the home or main page of your webzine. (Example: (c) 2003 by rbsiv's
Webzine. All Rights Reserved.)

If you're not paying your writers, a formal contract between you and
them would be "too much." However, upon accepting any piece of
writing, you should send a snail mail letter to the writer, clearly
stating that you will be publishing such-and-such an article, planned
for "print" at such-and-such a time, to be available on the webzine
for X amount of months, and that in return, the author will receive a
free subscription good for X number of "issues." The letter should
also make it clear that you are acquiring either reprint rights or
"one time" rights. ("One time" rights will allow your writers to sell
their work elsewhere, if they desire, and is only fair when the
writers aren't getting paid.) If you prefer, you can make this letter
an official contract simply by having the writer sign and date the
bottom, and returning a copy to you.

It is my suggestion that you do not mention anthology rights at this
time. To ask for such a thing without paying your writers initially
will turn many writers "off." Instead, should a time ever come when
you are in the process of making an anthology, you can send out snail
mail letters to the writers you wish to include, along with a
contract. For a sample book contract, you can consult "The Writer's
Legal Companion" by Brad Bunnin and Peter Beren; this book should be
averrable at any good bookstore; here's its Amazon listing:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/073820031X/qid=1045008418/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-6861860-3519831?v=glance&s=books

When the day comes that you are paying your writers for contributing
to your webzine, you will probably still want to reserve any mention
of anthologies until you have one planned out. Most authors will be
happy to have their piece reprinted, so you shouldn't expect that a
letter asking them to contribute to an anthology will pose any
problem.

Good luck!
kriswrite

This was far more comprehensive & informative than I expected, and
given the turnaround time (a few hours or so), I am extremely
impressed. kriswrite addressed all the points I was hoping for and
also touched on a number of things I didn't explicitly ask but was
wondering about. Firsthand knowledge of the subject doesn't hurt
either. Thanks a lot!