Traditional And Self-Publishing Contracts – When To Say, NO!
When I was at ThrillerFest two years ago (a writing conference in NYC for, you guessed it, thriller writers), I moderated a panel on negotiating publishing contracts. The panel consisted of two agents, two publishing lawyers, and...
Plots, Prose And Plagiarism In Fiction – Four Things Every Writer Should Know About Literary Theft
In my writing circles over the years, I often heard advice encouraging writers to steal a plot, use a phrase, or mimic someone’s prose. And every time, that taboo I learned in high school and stored in the rafters of my brain...
Do-It-Yourself Copyright Protection
Sooner or later, every blogger and writer suffers that dreadful moment of finding his work stolen. Either websites are offering free downloads of his books or blog scrapers are reposting material without permission. Content theft...
Juries, Then and Now
“The jury is always right.” It’s an expression I often find myself saying to my associates as we prepare for trial. Many of my trials involve intellectual property rights; in turn, these often depend on complex factual issues,...