Authors and Lawyers and “Book” Contracts

Owning the copyright is not enough. You have to protect it.

If you write books and publish them, in paper or online, through a publisher or by yourself, you need to learn how to protect your copyright interests. Let your imagination be your guide. Who would have envisioned these events? Don’t leave it to the science fiction and fantasy writers to imagine life, and publishing, in the future.

1) Google Book Settlement (See also the Guide for the Perplexed and posts at Library Law, here and here , click on googlebooksettlement in the Library Copyright cloud or at the ALA GBS site.)

2) Kindle 2 Text-Speech (see also NYT story, February 27, 2009, Amazon Backs Off Text-to-Speech Feature in Kindle, by Brad Stone)

If you write and publish, make sure you consult with a writers’ group that has people who could link you up with an attorney who knows the publishing business and contracts.

But don’t forget Open Source and Creative Commons options, too.