What do I need to know about copyright on a collective work? One of my stories is being reprinted in an anthology?
Unless you have signed an assignment, you do not lose your copyright. I assume that this grant is non-exclusive and you are not prevented from having the story reproduced by yourself or others.
The statutory authority is section 201(c) of the Copyright Act. It reads, “Copyright in each separate contribution to a collective work is distinct from copyright in the collective work as a whole, and vests initially in the author of the contribution. The Act continues, “In the absence of an express transfer of the copyright … the owner of the copyright in the collective work is presumed to have acquired only the privilege of reproducing and distributing the contribution as part of that particular collective work.”
