WritersCritique.com has undergone an ownership change with Rivux Entertainment taking over control of the site and forums. Rivux Ent. is extremely excited to be part of WritersCritique.com with new additions and features to the site already in planning. We would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions so please send us any feedback you may have.

Regards,

Jay Goodfellow
Rivux Entertainment

I recently purchased a Palm Zire 71. Since that day I have not written a single word on paper. Instead, all of my notes, grocery lists and appointments are all digitally stored.

Coupled with the built in digital camera, I am now equipped to visually capture any moment as well as write down any interpretations or ideas I may have.

Read the entire review here.

The United States adopted the Berne copyright convention on April 1, 1989. This means that original works are automatically copyrighted as soon as they are put down in tangible form (written on a restaurant napkin, typed into a notepad document, doodled on a post-it note) and anyone using that work for their own use (whether they are paid for it or not!) are in violation and punishable by law. The amount of damages the violator can be sued for is sometimes higher if the copyright is registered, but not seeing the copyright notice on an author's work DOES NOT MEAN IT IS NOT COPYRIGHTED.

The purpose of a copyright is to protect an author's right to the commercial benefits of their work, and the right to control how their work is used. When someone copies an article from a web page and puts it on their own, they are taking control away from the author. If they are reviewing the author's article, and use bits of it in their own work, that is considered 'fair use' and is not punishable. Fair use judgements mainly rely on the purpose of the use.

So, anyone who writes an article and posts it here is automatically copyrighted. Anyone who critiques that work is also copyrighted. In regard to stories, anyone who uses someone else's characters in their own story without specific permission from the author is violating copyright laws. (Fan fiction writers who don't ask the author's permission are in violation of copyright laws, but many authors allow it and don't prosecute. They have the right to prosecute, however, so anyone writing an article and posting it here that includes, for example, Princess Lea, COULD be prosecuted by the original author. Myself, I wouldn't want George Lucas breathing down MY neck!)

Have you read a book related to writing that you like (or hate)? Do you have a technique for improving your writing you want to share?

If so, we want to hear about it.

Your articles and reviews are what makes Writer's Critique such a great site!

Writer's Critique was an idea I came up with about a year ago. I was just getting back into writing after a 15 year absence.

As a Software Analyst by trade, my specialty has been around the development of high quality software for the organizations I work with.

About a month after join a few writing forums, I noticed a gap that needed filling. All writers at some point need critiques by their peers. Unfortunately, there is no good way of doing this without risk of theft.

Putting on my Software Analyst hat, I decided to do something about it. Writer's Critique is my offering to the writing community. Instead of email based critiques or public forums, this site has been designed to let writers create their own private critiquing groups.

As a member, you can create or join a critique group that interests you. The administrator (or founder) of each critique group determines who and how many people are allowed in. This gives you the ability to have your work privately critiqued by a predefined list of members. The risks to you are much less than a public forum.

However, I understand that sometimes you need a public critique. So, a public critique forum is also available. Anyone can read your posts in this section and registered members can reply with a critique.

I hope you enjoy this site and it is of value to you.

Thanks

John Simpson