Every Writer's Guide to Copyright and Publishing Law, Second Edition

It would be wrong for a writer to assume that the mere hiring of an agent or a lawyer absolves him or her of all responsibility to understand copyright and other publishing laws. For one thing, most lawyers are not schooled in the intricacies of these laws; for another, a writer could save a bundle of money by preparing well before going to a lawyer. But most importantly, it behooves a writer to have a working understanding of the laws that govern his or her work, because some of them are complicated, and pleading ignorance isn't usually a strong defense. Ellen M. Kozak provides a trim primer on such legal issues as the ever-evolving U.S. copyright laws (including the burgeoning field of electronic copyright), contracts, libel, fair use, work for hire, collaboration agreements, and dealing with copyright infringement. This is a modest, straightforward guide that explains the many complex laws behind the deceptively simple copyright dictum that "all works of sufficient length," according to Kozak, "... are covered by federal law once they have been fixed in a medium of expression from which they can be read back." --Jane Steinberg