Objection! That Courtroom Scene Sucks!
Most of us have seen a courtroom trial, either as a juror in the box or a visitor in the gallery. So we have a good understanding that the majority of what happens during a trial is relatively boring. Why then, if written...
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,...
CockyGate Update: One Writer’s Adjective, Another Writer’s Short-Lived Trademark
Last spring (2018), romance writers lit up social media over a trademark for the adjective cocky. As you can expect, the descriptive word can be found in countless numbers of romance novels, whether on the page, in the title, or...
Legal Protection For Fictional Characters – What can writers protect and what can others use?
The Short Answer Copyright laws protect fictional characters provided the characters are sufficiently unique and distinctive. Legal protection for fictional characters is separate from the legal protection extended to the...
Trademarks For Book Titles – Can You Get One?
We often are told not to judge a book by its cover. But we do. And that includes the title. Both title and cover are a reader’s first impression of our story. Both set the tone, suggest the genre, create subtext, and make...
Seven Steps To Your Own Self-Publishing Imprint
What do Broad Reach Publishing and Waterhouse Press have in common? Both are self-publishing imprints owned by authors Hugh Howey and Meredith Wild respectively. While these authors could have used their names as publishers of...