Three years ago, I attended a music copyright panel discussion with my son, a music technology major. In a discussion about what constitutes “fair use,” a copyright lawyer sang 5 notes. All 40 people there knew that song immediately—the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Are 5 notes from a song with a few thousand notes fair use? No way, said the music attorney. Just before publishing my first book, Successful eBook Publishing, I had a nagging feeling I should get … [Read more...]
Re-Publishing an Out-of-Print Book After a Rights Reversion
If the publishing rights to your book recently reverted back to you, you might be considering the indie publishing route for your title rather than trying to find a new publisher, or simply allowing your book to be out-of-print. Without trying to interpret contract clauses or how to negotiate the “reversion rights” of your publishing agreement, I thought it would be helpful to talk about the key considerations should you choose to self-publish. Generally we can divide the issues into two … [Read more...]
Copyright Essentials: An FAQ for eBook Publishers
The important things to know about copyright are why it is necessary and how to secure it. Technically your work may be "protected" as soon as it is published but the rub is that you can't take legal action without the work being formally registered. Three Basics: 1. Your book must be registered before you can file an infringement suit in court. 2. If registration is made within three months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and … [Read more...]
Best Search Tool to Find Copyright Free Photo Images
We know a picture is worth 1,000 words which is why finding the right image to represent your blog post or marketing effort is often so time consuming. This is even truer if you want to be legal—and who of us involved in selling our own digital media doesn't want to be respectful of other rights holders? You have two choices: buy images from a stock photo marketplace like iStockphoto, or spend an inordinate amount of time poking around Creative Commons licenses on Flikr. Photo Pin is Fun, … [Read more...]
