Posted by Jarrod Chambers on 2/25/11 4:41pm
Msg #374234

A question for California notaries

A friend of mine asked me today if I could notarize a few of his creative writings today. He wants them notarized to insure that they are indeed his writings. I asked him if anyone had directed him to utilize a notary's services for this, and he indicated that no one had, but that he just wanted to insure that he had assurance of a notarization to protect his creative writings.

As a new notary, and with the thousands of documents that can be notarized in this state, I wasn't sure if he really needed a Notary, but I am curious - this sounds more like an issue of Publishing, so should I refer him to a Publisher since, in accordance of California law, I cannot tell him what should be notarized.

Reply by bob/IA on 2/25/11 4:59pm
Msg #374240

I'm not a CA notary but... you can not "notarize his writings", all you can notarize is his signature.

Reply by Cheryl Meril on 2/25/11 5:10pm
Msg #374244

If I were a notary I would be weary of such a request because he could potentially say you told him notarization ensured copyright. I'd refer him to an attorney by giving an excuse he needs to let you know what kind of notarization he needs.

Reply by James Dawson on 2/25/11 5:32pm
Msg #374248

Notarize his signature on whatever Doc he presents, take the ten dollars and go. That is your responsibility. Copyright = copyright attorney. Patent = patent attorney. Notary = signature.

Reply by LKT/CA on 2/25/11 7:13pm
Msg #374265

<<<A friend of mine asked me today if I could notarize a few of his creative writings today.>>>

If your friend wishes to protect his creative writings, he should look into having them copyrighted.

http://www.copyright.gov/

Reply by PAW on 2/25/11 8:22pm
Msg #374270

Original works of authorship are automatically protected under the Copyright Act. As the copyright office states in their "Copyright Basics" brochure (http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf)

"Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created
in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship
immediately becomes the property of the author who created
the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights
through the author can rightfully claim copyright."

The author need not do anything to have his/her original work product protected by copyright. However, it may be advantageous for the author to register his/her work with the federal copyright office.

Reply by Blueink_TN on 2/25/11 9:30pm
Msg #374275

This seems like a legal issue and of course, we cannot offer legal advice.... but if we could suggest an idea, we could suggest a statement from your friend stating that he wrote the writings and he could request a jurat, notarizing his sworn statement .... but this may or may not protect his writings... we wouldn't know..because we're not attorneys.

Reply by Jodith/WA on 2/26/11 12:11am
Msg #374284

According to my husband, this kind of thing is not unusual in Canada. He was quite surprised when I told him we didn't generally do that kind of thing here in the US.

He said that when he wanted to have something to prove that his software code existed as of a certain date, he had a copy sealed in an envelope and notarized (on the envelope) and the notary kept custody of the envelope for him for a fee for a certain number of years.

I would agree with BlueInk that he should write out his own statement of ownership to sign, and you notarize that signature. The issue with copyright is proving your writing existed before that of the person who stole your IP. This is the poor man's way of proving that the IP existed as of a certain date. I've seen this recommended on a lot of writing boards over the years. How well it stands up in court, I don't know, but it seems to be a widely held belief in the amateur writing community that this will help protect their copyright.

Reply by docs2go/ca on 2/26/11 2:45pm
Msg #374347

As Notaries, we notarize Signatures. Period.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 2/26/11 4:26pm
Msg #374367

According to current US Copyright Law, you own the copyright as soon as you produce the work. Proving ownership is another matter. The only way to really do that is, as PAW pointed out, to register your work with the Copyright office, which costs a couple of bucks.... Other than that, you have to be able to show that your work came first.

Maybe you could just point out to your friend that notarizing his signature on a document doesn't "legalize" the document or prove anything - as a notary, all you're doing is attesting to the fact that he signed it. That doesn't mean that the contents of the document are true or accurate, only that he claims them to be. If he truly is concerned with protecting his copyright, I think he would probably be better off registering it.