Q. I am completing my first novel. I have heard that I should have an attorney review it for legal liability. Is this really necessary A. Unless you are self-publishing, a legal review is not necessary until you have obtained a publisher. Typically, your editor will evaluate the need for a legal review of the … Continue reading Legal Review of Manuscript
Q. What’s the status of the e-book price fixing lawsuit against Apple and other publishers? A. Last April, the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five major publishers: Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, Penguin Group and Macmillan – collectively, five of the “big six” U.S. publishers. The government alleged that the publishers … Continue reading E-Book Price Fixing
The Author’s Guild has become quite litigious in recent years. The Guild’s lawsuit against Google for its Google Books project continues, and will go to trial sometime next year. Meanwhile, the Guild, along with Australian and Canadian authors’ organizations and eight individual authors, has filed another high-profile lawsuit, this time against the HathiTrust, a partnership … Continue reading Author’s Guild Lawsuit
Q. I have decided to self-publish one of my out-of-print novels. Do I need liability insurance? A. Maybe. Some background: when your book originally was published, your publisher (unless a VERY small press) carried “media perils” insurance protecting against claims of infringement of copyright, trademark, title, slogan or other misappropriation, libel, invasion of privacy or … Continue reading Q&A: Liability Insurance For Self-Published Novel
I have decided to self-publish one of my out-of-print novels. Do I need liability insurance? A. Maybe. Some background: when your book originally was published, your publisher (unless a VERY small press) carried “media perils” insurance protecting against claims of infringement of copyright, trademark, title, slogan or other misappropriation, libel, invasion of privacy or … Continue reading Do You Need Liability Insurance?
Q. I’ve have a web site for my mystery novels, and I link to many other author and publisher sites. I’ve heard there can be liability for trademark or copyright infringement for such links. Can this be true? A. There have been numerous attempts to hold linking sites responsible for copyright and trademark infringement, and … Continue reading Q&A: Web Linking Liability