The Curious Copyright Infringement Case of Sherlock Holmes in Enola Holmes
The Netflix movie Enola Holmes is based on a series of young adult novels by Nancy Springer, The Enola Holmes Mysteries, published between 2006-2010 by Penguin Random House. The series centers on Sherlock’s teenage sister Enola,...
Author Pen Names – Are Noms De Plume Obsolete?
P. L. Travers, Mark Twain, Robert Galbraith – these are all fictitious names used by writers. In this case, Helen Goff, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and Joanne Rowling. But you knew that, right? Most writers have read at least one...
Free Speech and Social Media — “There’s one way to love ya, but a thousand ways to kill ya.”
Is that dialogue from a thriller I am writing? Nope. Those words were part of Anthony Elonis’ Facebook tirade about murdering his estranged wife. His social media statements, along with other digital vitriol about murdering FBI...
Negotiating Anthology Contracts
Today I had the awesome experience of hanging out with humpback whales while surfing, which made me incredibly happy (wait…what blog post am I writing here). So why not write about something else that makes me happy–writers...
Estate Planning For Writers — Transferring Intellectual Property to a Corporate Entity
The Estate Planning for Writers article last week raised a few questions about creating a corporation or limited liability company for purposes of governing your literary work. As a quick reminder, there are four ways to transfer...
The Legal Conundrum Of Publishing Text Messages
Text messaging—the mode of communication has become so entrenched in our daily routine, it is no wonder I am often asked about the legalities of publishing text messages. Whether using real life text messages in a book, blog,...