Nervous Question

[lurker_in_the_wire]

I wish to write fiction set in OA and host it on other other writing-sharing sites. First, am I allowed to do this, and second, how should I avoid copyright issues? Like, I want to give credit where it's due; most of the people on this site are way smarter than me, and I don't want to take credit for their intelligence. But I also don't necessarily want to end every short story with a Works Cited page.

[Drashner1]

I wish to write fiction set in OA and host it on other other writing-sharing sites. First, am I allowed to do this, and second, how should I avoid copyright issues? Like, I want to give credit where it's due; most of the people on this site are way smarter than me, and I don't want to take credit for their intelligence. But I also don't necessarily want to end every short story with a Works Cited page.

Yes, you are allowed to do this.

Regarding the copyright issue, there are a couple of common ways to handle this:

a) Include an explicit reference to the Orion's Arm Universe Project, or the Orion's Arm setting in the title or subtitle of the work. For example:

Tales from Orion's Arm: <Insert your title here>

Or

<Insert your title here>: An Orion's Arm Story

Or something to that effect.

We also generally like it if the OA web address (www.orionsarm.com) can be tucked in somewhere just to help point readers to the project.

b) Rather than explicitly mentioning the setting in the title, use an attribution statement. This generally goes on the copyright page or an acknowledgements page. Somewhere reasonably easy to find and see it, but it doesn't need to be as prominent as the title of the story is. Based on what you've said here, such a statement might look like this:

This story is set in the Orion's Arm universe (www.orionsarm.com). All concepts used with permission.

The exact details of the statement (or title/subtitle standard) would be worked out in conversation with our managing members (of which I am one).

The OA management has the right to grant you permission to do what you're suggesting (so you don't have to reach out to each individual author of each individual EG article), which we are generally inclined to do as long as proper attribution or title reference or the like is done.

You would retain the copyright to the story itself, but as a condition of using our setting, all other members of the project would have the option of also writing stories or EG articles set in the OA universe that use concepts or characters you might introduce in your story. We (the project) would also probably look very kindly on it if you would have at least some of your stories posted in our Fiction section.

Hope this helps, and if you have additional questions or would like to discuss this further, please don't hesitate to contact us or post further to this thread.

Todd

[lurker_in_the_wire]

I wish to write fiction set in OA and host it on other other writing-sharing sites. First, am I allowed to do this, and second, how should I avoid copyright issues? Like, I want to give credit where it's due; most of the people on this site are way smarter than me, and I don't want to take credit for their intelligence. But I also don't necessarily want to end every short story with a Works Cited page.

Yes, you are allowed to do this.

Regarding the copyright issue, there are a couple of common ways to handle this:

a) Include an explicit reference to the Orion's Arm Universe Project, or the Orion's Arm setting in the title or subtitle of the work. For example:

Tales from Orion's Arm: <Insert your title here>

Or

<Insert your title here>: An Orion's Arm Story

Or something to that effect.

We also generally like it if the OA web address (www.orionsarm.com) can be tucked in somewhere just to help point readers to the project.

b) Rather than explicitly mentioning the setting in the title, use an attribution statement. This generally goes on the copyright page or an acknowledgements page. Somewhere reasonably easy to find and see it, but it doesn't need to be as prominent as the title of the story is. Based on what you've said here, such a statement might look like this:

This story is set in the Orion's Arm universe (www.orionsarm.com). All concepts used with permission.

The exact details of the statement (or title/subtitle standard) would be worked out in conversation with our managing members (of which I am one).

The OA management has the right to grant you permission to do what you're suggesting (so you don't have to reach out to each individual author of each individual EG article), which we are generally inclined to do as long as proper attribution or title reference or the like is done.

You would retain the copyright to the story itself, but as a condition of using our setting, all other members of the project would have the option of also writing stories or EG articles set in the OA universe that use concepts or characters you might introduce in your story. We (the project) would also probably look very kindly on it if you would have at least some of your stories posted in our Fiction section.

Hope this helps, and if you have additional questions or would like to discuss this further, please don't hesitate to contact us or post further to this thread.

Todd

Thanks so much for the reply! I'd be glad to share my stories with the fiction section in these forums! It's just also a way to branch out and attract new people to the project, hence why you want the name and URL included. I will follow these rules and guidelines and try to do Project proud!

[Drashner1]

Thanks so much for the reply! I'd be glad to share my stories with the fiction section in these forums! It's just also a way to branch out and attract new people to the project, hence why you want the name and URL included. I will follow these rules and guidelines and try to do Project proud!

Glad to help.

On a related note, a couple of things:

1) OA is a very complicated and detailed setting which also occasionally suffers from not being as organized as we might wish (we're working on it as time and inspiration permit). As such, we generally recommend that authors of new content (EG articles or stories) bounce ideas and drafts of their work off the forum prior to fully writing them. This can take a bit of time on the front end but results in what we generally call a 'Canon compliant' work - meaning it fully fits into the OA setting and is accurate to our current conception of how the OA universe works. Plus it avoids the issue of writing up a full story and only then being told that some particular element doesn't work - either by conflicting with OA Canon or real life physics or something else.

2) If/when things reach the point where you have some stories appearing in other places online, and you are a 'member in good standing' of the OAUP, we are generally happy to help promote the work and/or other place on our site. Details TBD and vary with circumstances, but please let us know if/when things reach that point and we can discuss.

3) If/when you reach the point where you are looking at getting paid for a story somewhere - all monies (and any tax issues) belong to you (not that we'd turn down a donation if you felt so inclined). If we need to pull a particular story from free access on the OA website because it's on sale somewhere else, we can do that. And if you happen to create the next Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, we'd be very appreciative of any nice things you might want to say about us during your awards speech or the like.

Hope this helps,

Todd

[lurker_in_the_wire]

Heh. I'm no Lucas or Tolkien, but I'll be sure to remember my beginnings on the OA forums! May I ask what defines a member in good standing? I know I just started, but in a little while it'd be good to know once I've got some stories in the ether.

[Drashner1]

May I ask what defines a member in good standing? I know I just started, but in a little while it'd be good to know once I've got some stories in the ether.

There's no hard formal definition or set of requirements.

Generally, I would define a 'member in good standing' as someone who is reasonably active with the project, takes part in the discussions (here or on the Discord or both) in a good faith and friendly way, and aims to try to contribute to the ongoing development of the Orion's Arm setting, either expanding it into new areas in various ways or 'filling in the gaps' in various ways. Or helping us refine the existing concepts. This may involve actually writing new articles, updating existing articles, or just sharing good ideas and good logic in the course of discussions even if you personally don't do the actual writing per se.


Writing fiction set in the OA universe potentially checks most or all of those boxes, depending on the subject matter and such. So if that's what you're looking to do, you're already on the right track to 'in good standinghood'.

Hope this helps,

Todd

[lurker_in_the_wire]

Thanks! That helps a lot. I will continue doing what I'm doing then!