I've been browsing a number of different Art topics recently, and one of the things that struck me was that a number of artists put legal disclaimers on their work. I thought about going into individual stories and trying to post this, but this seemed to be a bit more rational and efficient.
Obviously, all the material I present here is free. I do not charge anything for my time writing and I wouldn't think of asking anyone for any form of compensation. That said, I post pretty specifically on Amaz0ns. I have submitted a few things to Paul Smith over at eXtreme Strength, but I haven't posted or submitted work anywhere else.
I hereby give permission to anyone and everyone to copy, paste, fold, bend, spindle, and otherwise post my works anywhere they please with one exception. My works may NOT be posted anywhere for compensation, nor may the characters depicted therein be used in any profit-making venture.
If you DO choose to post my work somewhere other than the afore-mentioned web-locations, I ask that you give me credit. I also ask that you include my email,
stmercy2020@yahoo.com, so that I can receive any feedback people want to give me.
If you want to use my characters, go ahead. I ask (not demand- I'm arrogant, but not THAT arrogant) that you keep the characters' various personalities and traits in mind. I also ask that you try to bear in mind the tone of the stories (although I'm a huge fan of parody and satire, so if you want to play around with one of my characters in that context, go ahead- I won't hold it against you, I promise).
One final note. If I do a story for someone as the result of a request, I do not hold any sort of rights over the characters involved. They are the sole property of their creators, and I am grateful to have been allowed to borrow them.
EDIT: I invite other artists and writers to share their views on the disposition of their work and characters.
