i dont know what to do now thanks for the advice though

oh and another point how does someone like david icke get away with what he writes? i mean he reachs a huge audience doe she have some sort of legal lopehole hes using or what?

paul your obviously taking this personally. why don't you calm down and actually show that you know something by saying it e.g why don't you give some authority. law having grey areas is one of the most bullshit answers a lawyer can give to non-lawyers. cases can last years and some can last days what does this proove? talking of proof where is the proof that you are a comedy writer? why don't you put up an example on the critique so you really can let your comedy do the talking. let SlagA speak for himself, i'm sure he does not want someone else speaking on his behalf. i hate to get personal, bringing myself down to your level, but grow some balls and put something up instead of having a go at people who want to help.

everyone else, i know this post sounds petty but all i was trying to do was tell you the legal position. i was not having a go at SlagA, the Slag Brothers are great writers, i was just explaining what the law says. if i've annoyed or offended any of you, with the exception of paul, then i am sorry. i'm especially sorry to dyingtolive as his thread has been hijacked by this discussion and to SlagA as my reply to his post, in retrospect, does seem to be very malicious. Sorry.

P.S. I do have a pair of balls check out the Adverteyes thread.

I have to wave the white flag 'ere. AJP is right. The Dan Brown case was wrong.

I knew that anything a person writes is their copyright from the moment they write it. (The problem often is proving you wrote it first.) I realise there was confusion about me saying it is the writer that arranges copyright, i was referring to copyright permissions rather than the copyright of a writer's own original work. Sorry.

The idea that the author has to arrange copyright permissions (or arrange permissions) for including quotes / song lyrics in a published work came from personal experience. I signed a contract with a publisher, one of the clauses being that i had arranged all copyright permissions for quotes in the book and absolved the publisher of all legal liability, if it wasn't the case. The arranging of permissions became so complex (i had to phone agents / music publishers / got passed to secretaries / was expected to pay ludicrous money for single lines etc) that i scrapped the quotes and made up quotes from fictitious people and fictitious lines from made-up songs to get out of the hassle.

Apologies to Paul and AJP especially. And to the rest of you for not keeping me trap shut in an area i should have kept schtumm in. Consider my ass spanked.

I've PMed an apology to Paul and AJP for getting them embroiled.

Yeah I'm sorry I ever got involved in this thread really.

I have "calmed down" now and I don't want to argue its not really in my nature it is a petty arguement and Im going to take some of my own advice and give it a rest.

SlagA there is no need for an apology it was me and ajp argueing not you.

and finally ajp if your intrested in reading my sketches etc etc. try 4laughs Im very active on that site (Im cosmos100). and if thats not enought I will (in the next month or so) be posting a scene from my sitcom.

If it helps, I've enjoyed this debate. It's raised some important issues - mmmmkay? - and the ultimate advice (whatever it was) seems sensible: ask the experts.
Personally, I'm trying to live by these rules: avoid libelling/slandering everybody, but if some rich bastard gets me in the end, it's only because I'm successful - otherwise they wouldn't bother.

dyingtolive, honestly, don't worry about it. Unless you're presenting it as solid fact, and somewhere with a large audience, then you're highly unlikely to hear anything of it. I've put some utter venom on the Web over my time, and never heard anything of it.

Besides, you could always claim that what you wrote was a parody...