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Should I get my story published?

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Joe90
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01 Oct 2018, 3:28 pm

I wrote a story but it's similar to the book Room, which is where I got the idea from. I love that book, and the movie, so I made my own version of the plot.

If I tried to get it published, would I get sued for copying? My mum says she read a book that had a similar plot to one of the Stephen King novels, yet that got published with no sueing. So should I try to get it published anyway, or will I get sued?


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Kraichgauer
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01 Oct 2018, 7:50 pm

Do it. You won't get sued, unless you've stolen from Room word for word.


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redrobin62
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04 Oct 2018, 2:55 pm

Go ahead and get it published. In case you don't know where to look, I've linked to The Submission Grinder. They list all the markets for short stories and novels.

https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/


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AnonymousAnonymous
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06 Oct 2018, 10:42 pm

Publish your story, but get it copyrighted first. Just review your country's copyright laws before you publish.


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Trogluddite
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07 Oct 2018, 8:23 am

I don't see any reason that you should be sued. As you say, you have made your "own version" of the story, not just copying and pasting passages from the book which inspired you. There would be very little literature, films, art, or music if it weren't for artists being inspired by those who went before them.

AnonymousAnonymous wrote:
Publish your story, but get it copyrighted first. Just review your country's copyright laws before you publish.

A simple outline of UK copyright law can be found here.
In particular...
Quote:
Copyright is an automatic right and arises whenever an individual or company creates a work.

Quote:
...your idea for a book would not itself be protected, but the actual content of a book you write would be.


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