Technical writing: defining copyrights and copywriting

Defining copyrights and copywriting

You can request a copyright or you can request some copywriting, but they are totally different things. In the first case, you are requesting a document that gives you the right to publish something. In the second, you are asking for a job as a writer. Writers often confuse them.

Copyright

A copyright is a legal document issued by the Copyright section of the United States Patent Office. It states that the person named in the document as the author has the right to publish the written material designated in the document. That does not mean that the person named actually wrote the copy, only that they have the legal right to publish it.

It is not necessary to have copyright of anything. Legally, as soon as a person writes words on paper, they are protected by copyright, whether or not they have acquired a government document. In practice, if you write something and I apply for it and I get a copyright, it will be difficult for you to prove that you wrote it.

From the tech writer’s point of view, it’s a bit different. The law says that work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment, or specially commissioned or commissioned work is “work done to order” and the employer is considered to be the author. If you get paid to write something for someone else, you have no right to do so.

In its correct forms, the word is:

– copyright: the right to publish

“She owns the copyright to that book.”

– protected by copyright: the condition of being covered by a copyright

“You can’t post that because it’s copyrighted material.”

– copyright: the act of obtaining a copyright.

“I’m copyrighting this even as I’m writing it.”

There is no form such as copyright or copywriter correctly associated with this definition even though Microsoft Word’s Spell Checker accepts copywriting as a correct spelling (but doesn’t say what for), and copywriting appears all over the web instead of copyright.

Drafting

Copywriting is the act of creating copy or content. Generally, the term refers to writing in the sense of creating non-technical material. It’s different from the type of writing that tech writers do. Some jobs that require copywriting are marketing brochures, magazines, newspapers, and consumer communications. If you are a writer, you may be a copywriter.

Cousin

Here’s another comparison to keep in mind. If you want to write plays, you want to be a playwright. Yes, that is correct. You have to write correctly when you write about writing plays. We hardly ever use wright on its own. It is mostly used in compound words like wheelwright, millwright, or wainwright. We see it a lot as a name; Frank Lloyd Wright or Wright / Patterson Air Force Base.

Wright has the same story as Smith. A blacksmith was anyone who worked some type of metal with a hammer; blacksmith, tinsmith, silversmith. A wright was a craftsman who did something. The name of the occupation became the name of an individual.

A person who does plays is a playwright. It is true that he may write them, but he is not a playwright. I suppose you could argue that a person writing a copy is a copywright, but it is not used that way.