Product Description

Created by professionals with extensive experience in both law and publishing, this valuable desktop guide answers virtually any question writers are likely to face concerning their rights and the law. Fully updated with the latest information on electronic rights and expanded coverage of fair use and permissions, this new Third Edition features the latest changes in copyright law, book contracts, agency contracts, collaboration agreements, limits of expression, the Freedom of Information Act, and tax laws. Plus, it includes numerous sample forms, such as a ready-to-use electronic rights clause, a model contract for licensing articles to magazines, a checklist for avoiding defamation and invasion of privacy, and much more. Copublished with the Authors Guild, this book is a must-have addition to any writer’s library.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #428116 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-15
• Released on: 2002-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
"An excellent survey of the business side of authorship today." -- Booklist

"An indispensable handbook for anyone who writes." -- Publisher's Weekly

From the Publisher
Authors Guild, Allworth Press Publish New Edition of Acclaimed Legal Guide; Resource Advises Authors on E-Books and Electronic Rights The Authors Guild, Inc., the nation’s largest trade association of professional authors, has teamed up with Allworth Press, publisher of business and legal books for artists and writers, to publish THE WRITER’S LEGAL GUIDE, AN AUTHORS GUILD DESK REFERENCE. The resulting collaboration is the third edition of the classic reference, originally written by Allworth Press publisher Tad Crawford, and now extensively revised and updated by Kay Murray, General Counsel to the Authors Guild. The authors, both attorneys, draw on their years of experience on the front lines of advocating creators’ rights and economic interests to give readers a comprehensive survey of the legal and business questions facing anyone who writes professionally. In clear, friendly language, THE WRITER’S LEGAL GUIDE explains recent changes in laws governing electronic rights, E-books, fair use, and publishing contracts, so that authors can best protect their interests. Other chapters cover:

- The law of copyright for creators - Step-by-step copyright registration - Accounting methods, record-keeping, taxes, and estate planning - Avoiding legal liability - Complying with fair use guidelines - Using royalty collecting societies - Obtaining permission to use quotes - Negotiating periodical, syndication, film, television, play, and audio agreements - Avoiding and resolving business disputes - Limits of free expression - Choosing self-publication

From the Inside Flap
"Sooner or later, any writer who publishes will encounter a legal question. The answer is probably this book. The Writer’s Legal Guide is sensible, concise, and clear. It belongs on every writer’s bookshelf."—Scott Turow, author of The Burden of Proof and Presumed Innocent.

"Indispensable. The complete Shakespeare comes in handy, and a good dictionary is important, but here in the real world, every writer's bookshelf needs the Legal Guide, too."—James Gleick, author of Chaos and What Just Happened.

"This invaluable legal Baedecker belongs on every writer’s shelf of essential reference works, right up there with the dictionary, Roget, and the thesaurus. Tad Crawford and Kay Murray answer all the common questions authors ask about contracts, copyright, and the possible perils of publishing —and hundreds more that most of us never knew enough to worry about but should." —Letty Cottin Pogrebin is the author of nine books, most recently a first novel, Three Daughters. She is immediate past president of the Authors Guild

Publisher’s Weekly.

Customer Reviews

A Writer's Best Friend
The Writer's Legal Guide is an invaluable reference for published and unpublished writers alike. Relevant and significant areas of the law are explained in helpful and easy to understand terms. This book is essential to dealing successfully with the business side of publishing, as all writers must at some point in their careers. Learn your rights and responsibilities as a writer, become knowledgeable about Copyright and First Amendment law, and be prepared to handle publishers and agents. The Writer's Legal Guide is well prepared to be your "guide".

Five Stars for a Top Writer's Reference!
This comprehensive quick reference guide is a must have for writers. *Especially first-time authors.* I recommend it to all writers that I mentor. Believe me - when you demonstrate at least some knowledge of contracts - you'll get a better one!

Necessary Info... But Rather Dry
Maybe it's all the legal jargon, but this book's a little tough to plow through... okay, fine, it's boring to read, for me anyway.

The info in it is important to know. I wish it was presented in a much more accessible way though.