Happy New Year 2010

Editing, Proofreading & Resume Services
January 2010 – Newsletter
from the desk of
Shelly Rosenberg
www.shellyrosenberg.com

Happy New Year

Is it two thousand ten or is it twenty ten? In any case, it is amazing that it is the beginning of the second decade in the new century. I hope the year is starting off well for each of you.

In this issue of my newsletter I will be sharing the following information that should be of interest to you.

• Preventive or Preventative
• Copyright Questions and Answers
• Skype
• Topics for Upcoming Newsletters



Preventive or Preventative

These two words tend to be used interchangeably. But, they are not synonymous.

Preventive is an adjective (a word that modifies a noun).
Preventative is a noun (a thing).

A flu shot is a preventive measure to guard against getting the flu.
Note that in this above sentence, measure is the noun or the thing. Preventive is the adjective describing what kind of measure the flu shot is.
A flu shot is a preventative; it guards against getting the flu.
Note that in this second example the word preventative is a noun.


Copyright Questions and Answers

Many of you have asked my advice about copyrighting and registering your written works with the copyright office. Until recently I could not provide an adequate answer to your questions. About a month ago, a friend of mine from many years ago found me – or actually found my daughter (on Facebook). In our first discussion in years, she told me about what she has been doing and where she has been working. She is now the VP of Operations at the Copyright Clearance Center of the United States. She has introduced me to information that answers all the copyright questions that I have had. Here I have copied two important statements that should answer your first questions.

The following comes from the “Beyond the Book” section on the Copyright Clearance Center website at www.copyright.com.

• From the moment any expression is fixed in form (written word and painted canvas are two traditional examples, but an electronic word processing file is considered “fixed” too), that work is immediately and automatically protected by copyright under U.S. and foreign law.

• To be able to bring a suit against an infringer, however, does require having registered the copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov), for which a $45 fee is currently charged.

I asked my friend if the second statement above meant that you had to have registered your work before an infringement took place in order to bring suit. The answer is no. You can register after the infringement took place; but there are some differences regarding the damages that can be awarded if the registration took place before or after the infringement took place. T

There is a section for Authors on the website www.copyright.com . I would recommend reviewing this section as well as the Beyond the Book section. Some more information is available at www.copyright.gov. I believe that these websites will answer any question that you might have regarding copyright. Please contact me if I can be of assistance.



Skype

Skype is a service providing free calling from computer to computer as long as both parties have Skype installed on those computers. I have just installed Skype on my computer. My Skype username is shellyrosenberg.


Topics for upcoming newsletters:

• Use vs. Utilize – Do these two words mean the same thing? When should you use each of these words?
• Simple vs. Complex writing – Some research studies, some suggestions and some examples
• Dissertation and thesis writing – A method to help you become more productive and overcome frustrations and writer’s block

And finally…

Let 2010 be a year of new beginnings, continued successes, productivity, improvement, health, happiness and caring for one another. Happy New Year!



Shelly Rosenberg

“My goal is to enhance your text in a way that makes it clear and error free so that it is ready to be read by your professor, your readership, your clients, your future employer, your current employer, your agent or your publisher.”