Copyright Policy – Painted Lady Press Africa

📋 1. What This Policy Covers

Painted Lady Press Africa is a physical books and digital publisher publishing original creative and critical work. This policy explains who owns what is published here, what contributors and readers may do with it, and what is not permitted.

It is grounded in the Copyright Act (Cap. 130, Laws of Kenya), under which copyright arises automatically upon the creation of an original work — no registration is required. Kenya is also a signatory to the Berne Convention, reinforcing automatic, international protection for all contributors.

This policy applies to three parties:

The Publisher — Painted Lady Press
Contributors — writers, poets, essayists, translators, and visual artists
Readers — anyone who accesses content on our platforms

🏛️ 2. What the publisher owns

The publisher owns copyright in the following:

Painted Lady Press name, masthead, logo, and visual identity
All editorial content — introductions, editor’s notes, and commentary — produced by our in-house editorial team in the course of their employment (Copyright Act, s.32)
The selection, curation, and arrangement of each issue as a collective literary work
The website design and layout.

💡 Note: The curation of each issue — the selection of works and their arrangement — is itself a protected creative work under Kenyan copyright law, separate from the individual pieces within it.

✏️ 3. Contributors Keep Their Rights

Writers, poets, essayists, translators, and visual artists retain full ownership of their submitted work, unless a separate written assignment agreement is signed.

By submitting to us, you grant Painted Lady Press a licence to publish your work. We commit to:

Credit you clearly and accurately on all published versions of your work
Not alter your work in ways that damage your reputation without your written consent — including edits that distort the meaning, tone, or integrity of a poem, story, or essay
Archive your work as part of the journal’s permanent digital record
Promote your work across our platforms, always with your name attached

These commitments reflect your moral rights as an author — the right of attribution and the right of integrity — protected under Section 31 of the Copyright Act (Cap. 130).

We publish the following types of work:

Poetry	Short Fiction	Flash Fiction	Essays
Creative Nonfiction	Literary Criticism	Translation	Visual Art & Photography

📝 First Publication Rights: Unless otherwise agreed in writing, submitting to Painted Lady Press grants us first publication rights — the right to publish your work for the first time. After publication, you are free to republish your work elsewhere, provided you credit Painted Lady Press Africa as the original publisher.

By submitting, you confirm that the work is original, you have the right to share it, and it does not infringe any third party’s rights.

📖 4. What Readers May Do

Under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (Cap. 130, s.26), readers may:

Read, save, or print pieces for personal enjoyment or private study
Quote briefly from published work for the purposes of criticism, review, or literary discussion — with full credit to the author and the publisher
Share links to individual pieces or issues on social media and other platforms
Assign poems or essays for reading in educational and classroom settings, with attribution
Cite pieces in academic work following standard citation practice

⛔ 5. What Is Not Allowed

The following acts are expressly prohibited without prior written authorisation from the journal:

Reproducing a full poem, story, essay, or any substantial extract on another website, blog, or publication
Including works from this journal in anthologies, compilations, or other publications without written consent from the author and the journal
Selling, licensing, or otherwise commercialising any published work
Translating or adapting published work without the author’s permission
Removing or altering author credits, copyright notices, or publication information
Scraping or automated extraction of content from the journal
Using published work to train AI or machine learning systems
Passing off published work as your own

🤝 Anthologies & Reprints: For anthology inclusions, reprints, or translation rights, please contact us or reach out directly to the contributor. We are glad to facilitate these conversations.

⏳ 6. How Long Copyright Lasts

Under Section 23 of the Copyright Act (Cap. 130):

Who	Duration
Individual authors	Life of the author + 50 years from the end of the year of death
Painted Lady Press Africa as publisher	50 years from the end of the year of first publication

After these periods, works enter the public domain.

⚠️ 7. Reporting an Infringement

If you believe your work — or a work published here — has been used without authorisation, please send a written notice to our Copyright Officer (see Section 8) containing:

Your name and contact details
A description of the work you believe was infringed
The URL or location of the infringing content on our site
A statement that you are the rights holder or are authorised to act on their behalf

We will investigate and respond. Unresolved disputes may be referred to the Kenya Copyright Tribunal or courts of competent jurisdiction.

🛡️ Enforcement: Unauthorised use of content constitutes copyright infringement under Section 35 of the Copyright Act (Cap. 130) and may attract civil remedies and criminal liability under Section 38.

✉️ 8. Contact Us

For permissions, reprint requests, licensing enquiries, infringement reports, or any questions about this policy contact the editor.

⚖️ 9. Governing Law

This policy is governed by the laws of the Republic of Kenya. Any disputes arising from or relating to this policy shall first be subject to good-faith negotiation. Where negotiation fails, disputes may be referred to the Kenya Copyright Tribunal or a court of competent jurisdiction in Kenya.

The journal reserves the right to amend this policy at any time. Amendments take effect upon posting the updated policy on our platform. Continued use of the platform constitutes acceptance of any revised policy.