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Everything a writer needs to know about the law.
This accessible, reader-friendly handbook will be an invaluable resource for authors, agents, and editors in navigating the legal landscape of the contemporary publishing industry. Drawing on a wealth of experience in legal scholarship and publishing, Jacqueline D. Lipton provides a useful legal guide for writers whatever their levels of expertise or categories of work (fiction, nonfiction, or academic). Through case studies and hypothetical examples, Law and Authors addresses issues of copyright law, including explanations of fair use and the public domain; trademark and branding concerns for those embarking on a publishing career; laws that impact the ways that authors might use social media and marketing promotions; and privacy and defamation questions that writers may face. Although the book focuses on American law, it highlights key areas where laws in other countries differ from those in the United States. Law and Authors will prepare every writer for the inevitable and the unexpected.
Introduction
Setting the Stage: A Primer on the Law for Writers
1. Copyright Basics
Ownership, Registration, the Public Domain, and Creative Commons
2. Know Your (Copy)Rights
Understanding Your Rights and Protecting Your Work
3. Writing for Someone Else
Ghostwriting, Freelancing, “IP,” and Works for Hire
4. Fair Use Basics
5. Specific Fair Uses
Parody, Fanfiction, and Educational Use
6. Contracts with Agents and Publishing Houses
7. Self-Publishing Contracts
8. Protecting Your Author Brand
Trademark Basics
9. Writing about Real People
Privacy Law
10. Damaging Someone’s Reputation
Defamation Law
11. Marketing and Social Media
Websites, Blogs, Book Trailers, Social Networking, and More
12. Photographs, Illustrations, and Other Artwork
13. Finding Additional Help
Notes
Index