artist entrepreneur / Author Career / Author Entrepreneur
by Beth Barany · Published October 12, 2012
You know you’ve hit it big when someone approaches you, asking for a license to use your work. And you also know (or at least you should, if you’ve been reading my articles) that if you’re borrowing heavily from someone else’s work, you should really get a license from them if you don’t want a cease and desist letter from their lawyer. Those are not pretty. Even if they’re polite, they still use scary words like “lawsuit” and “infringement.”
In Parts 1 and 2, we covered defamation and privacy rights, and how they applied to literary law. Today we turn to the right of publicity, which is a favorite among celebrities.
artist entrepreneur / Writing Tips
by Beth Barany · Published June 29, 2012 · Last modified July 1, 2012
In my last article, we talked about defamation and how to avoid a defamation suit. While it’s important to know, it’s not likely to come up unless you actually lied and used the person’s name. In most cases, the average citizen will sue on the basis of violation of the right of priacy.
One of the more frequent questions I am asked is whether an author can use a person’s name, life story, or attributes in his or her novel. It’s a thorny issue, which is not surprising when a person’s reputation, privacy, and/or identity is involved. To make matters worse, there are few, if any, federal laws on this subject, so what claims an angry plaintiff can pursue, and the nature of those claims, will vary from state to state.
I’ve been asked several times to help someone register his or her copyright. At the risk of inciting the wrath of my fellow copyright attorneys, I’ll put in print what I’ve told these people: while I’m happy to do so, you don’t need an attorney to file a copyright.
Welcome to the monthly series on legal issues for authors to empower you, the artist entrepreneur. Today we focus on trademark protection for fictional characters from our monthly guest columnist, Kelley Way, a lawyer specializing in literary law and other aspects of law.
Welcome to the monthly series on legal issues for authors to empower you, the artist entrepreneur. Today we focus on trademark protection for fictional characters from our monthly guest columnist, Kelley Way, a lawyer specializing in literary law and other aspects of law. She’s also a writer! If you have general questions for Kelley on contracts or other aspects of literary law, be sure to comment below. And you can also email her, too.
artist entrepreneur / Writing Tips
by Beth Barany · Published October 28, 2011 · Last modified November 2, 2011
Welcome to the monthly series on artist entrepreneurship. Today we focus on copyright protection for fictional characters from our monthly guest columnist, Kelley Way, a lawyer specializing in literary law and other aspects of...
artist entrepreneur / Author Career
by Beth Barany · Published September 30, 2011 · Last modified September 21, 2011
Welcome to the monthly series on artist entrepreneurship. Today we focus on 5 mistakes writers and story tellers make using criminal law in their stories — from our monthly guest columnist, Kelley Way, a lawyer specializing in literary law...
Welcome to the monthly series on artist entrepreneurship. Today we focus on writers and literary law specifically and on an important issue to be aware of in today’s world — what does copyright mean and...
Welcome to the monthly series on artist entrepreneurship. Today we focus on writers and literary law specifically and on an important issue to be aware of in today’s world — what is trademark and...
Welcome to the semi-regular series on artist entrepreneurship. Today we focus on writers specifically and on an important issue to be aware of in today’s electronic world — what you can or cannot post...
The day has finally dawned! After all your hard work and endless rounds of submissions, you have a publisher that wants to publish your book. But when the publisher hands you the contract, should you just sign on the dotted line, or should you look it over first? If you did look it over, what would you be looking for?
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