Product Description

Kirsch, a prominent intellectual property attorney and Los Angeles Times columnist, has created a clear, comprehensive, up-to-date guide to publishing law in this handbook, which follows the path of a publishing project. From protection of the original idea, coauthorship, agents, and packaging, through a clause-by-clause consideration of a typical book publishing contract, to legal aspects of manuscript preparation, copyright registration, electronic and subsidiary rights, remaindering, and reversion, this manual is as lively as it is useful. Sidebars provide anecdotes, tips, publishing 'war stories', and interesting illustrations of key points.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #568545 in Books
• Published on: 1994-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 276 pages

From Library Journal
Kirsch, a prominent intellectual property attorney and Los Angeles Times columnist, has created a clear, comprehensive, up-to-date guide to publishing law in this handbook, which follows the path of a publishing project. From protection of the original idea, coauthorship, agents, and packaging, through a clause-by-clause consideration of a typical book publishing contract, to legal aspects of manuscript preparation, copyright registration, electronic and subsidiary rights, remaindering, and reversion, this manual is as lively as it is useful. Sidebars provide anecdotes, tips, publishing "war stories," and interesting illustrations of key points. Reference librarians will find it answers many tough questions by demystifying complex legal concepts and presenting illustrative examples. Rounding out the volume is a sampling of legal forms the industry currently uses and a fine index. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.?Paul D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., Me.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A concise, highly accessible manual for authors, publishers, editors, and agents, covering the full range of legal issues in publishing, from idea protection through book development and publication to the final reversion ofrights. Includes a section of sample forms." -- Book News.

Customer Reviews

an invaluable resource for anyone in the publishing industry
Not only has this book saved me much time and money in research and legal fees, but the author makes the information accessible by offering myriad examples to back up his sage advice. I keep three books on my desk: the dictionary, the Chicago Manual of Style, and Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law. A classic.

Clear, concise and practical.
As an editor with a small book publisher, I have found this volume invaluable. Along with basic information (written in a lively, engaging style that even makes legal issues interesting), the book contains many sidebars with answers to common questions, interesting case studies, and practical hints. Couldn't do without it

Kirsch makes publishing law easy to understand.
Jonathan Kirsch is an interesting combination: he is both a novelist and an attorney. He puts both skills to use in this book by creating an interesting, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand dissertation on all aspects of publishing law. The book is highly recommended for both authors and publishers.

After a three-chapter introduction of some basic publishing law concepts, he spends almost 80 pages in chapter four going over the book publishing contract clause by clause. He examines the legal implications of each clause, the profit/loss implications for both the author and the publisher, as well as typical practices throughout the industry. Every author and every publisher should read this chapter twice!

Chapter five examines defamation and privacy issues that every author and publisher should know before they write or publish a book. Can you risk not knowing this?

After that he examines copyright, subsidiary rights, and trademark issues in detail-essential information for publishers.

A well-read copy of this book belongs on the shelf of every publisher and author.