Q: If I was writing a story with a friend and they abandoned/gave up their rights, does it make me the owner now?
A friend of mine and I were both writing a story together with the intent to publish it once we were fully done. I'm aware that this makes us both co-authors to it. However, they decided to give up on the story, transferred ownership of the documents since we were using Google Docs to write this in, removed themselves completely, and said that the story is now mine and they do not want to be a part of it. I'm aware that unlike transfer of copyright ownership, where you have to sign it, abandoning copyright ownership does not need to be signed. Since we were both working on it and she gave up her rights, does this mean that I have the full copyright?
A: To be safer have everything in writing. Consult with an attorney.
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