Your Friend The Disclaimer
Most of us are familiar with disclaimers. As consumers, we have used umpteen products and services accompanied by a disclaimer. But when it comes to books and other publications, I often hear from writers that they are unsure if...
Creative Theft – Plagiarism vs. Copyright Infringement
“Good artists copy; great artists steal.” The quote is widely attributed to Picasso. Most likely, the idea existed before Picasso made it famous. The literature is littered with much older discussions of how artistic theft...
Adding Criminal Law And Procedure To Your Fiction
The Case for Getting it Right For my novels about a female prosecutor, much of the “legal research” is in my head from a career in criminal justice and the court system. Police work and courtroom drama are great for building...
The Legal Hurdles Of Writing True Crime Books
The highly popular publishing genre, True Crime, brings to mind a slew of great books like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter, Cathy Scott’s The Killing of Tupac Shakur, or Ann Rule’s The Stranger...
Morality Clauses, #MeToo, and Publishing Contracts
Summer is over (sigh). Editing is done (woohoo). Back to blogging business. Morality clauses–you might have heard of these power-packed contract provisions. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, morality clauses have surged...