Copyright Question Re. Book With Contributors

[davidgaughran]

Hi,

I have a somewhat unusual situation that I need some advice on.

I'm in the final stages of putting together an e-book called "Let's Get Digital" which is part manifesto for the digital revolution and part hands-on guide to digital self-publishing.

I will be charging for it on Amazon, but making the PDF a free download on my blog.

I want to encourage as much sharing of the PDF as possible, while restricting commercial use, and I am considering using a Creative Commons licence.

There is a twist, however. I have 32 guest contributors in this book. Now, the majority of the text is written by me - around 45k words, and they - collectively - have contributed 15k.

The question is, do I include their names in the simple copyright notice (Copyright 2011 David Gaughran), or is their some form of other language I have to use to indicate I have their permission to use their words?

[ajabbiati]

Hey David,

I'd probably spend a little $$ for an hour of consultation with a good IP lawyer. I'd bet the answer's pretty simple, but an ounce of prevention is worth a lot more than a future law suit. That's basically what I've decided to do, as well.

--Jim

[davidgaughran]

There's no question of a law suit, I have written permission from all of the contributors. In fact, many of them have pledged to help promote the book.

What I was looking for was the standard form of words that are used where contributors make up a minority of the overall text.

It's very different to your situation where you are, as I understand it, quoting from copyrighted work and critiquing it. It's not "fair use", they have actually submitted pieces for inclusion.

I have written over 75% of the total word count. There is a section at the back (less than 25%) where I emailed a variety of writers, explained the project, and invited them to submit 500 words each on their experiences. They are aware that I will be charging for the book on Amazon and making the PDF download free on my blog.

My understanding is that the copyright notice should just contain my name. In fact, I was hoping that was the case because I did not want it to seem I was trading off their names (for example, their names will not be on the cover).

I just wanted to check what standard practice is in cases like this, i.e. is there an addendum where I say "their work is used with their permission". I'm pretty sure I don't have to have such an addendum because their work is clearly delineated as such in the text, i.e. the section containing their contributions is called "Tales from the Trenches", and each chapter title is their name. The section is also prefaced with a note by me saying something like "Thirty-two bestselling indie writers have kindly agreed to share their experiences in their own words".

So it's all clear who has written what. But I just wanted to check that there wasn't any further form of words that I am supposed to use in the copyright notice.

[ajabbiati]

Hmmm...well, again, were it me, I wouldn't take any chances. I'd ask an IP lawyer. Many publishing firms, as I've learned to my chagrin, charge for use, even when giving permission. Did your contributors explicitly give you permission to use their work free of charge? In perpetuity? If so, you're probably OK with just proper citations. If not, what if someone changes their mind after your book takes off and sells 100,000 copies? Plus, my guess is that "permission" is not even applicable here. Permission deals with using something from a previously published/copyrighted work. These are contributions to a greater, original work. I'd assume permission is already implied, but what do I know? I'm not a lawyer.

Again, were it me, I'd ask.

[davidgaughran]

I wasn't very clear, sorry.

It's not original "creative" work in that sense. They aren't contributing a short story or an article on how to use Twitter to build an audience.

Rather, it's a few short paragraphs on their self publishing journey, as in "My name is X and I released Y 4 months ago and it sold Z thousand copies since then". It's more like a Bio written in their own words.

[Carradee]

Still, it's best to consult with an IP lawyer to be safe.

[ajabbiati]

That sounds very "interview-ish." Maybe there's a reference for news article publication or something similar you could check out. I mean, if you interviewed these people in person and recorded their answers, how would you legally publish the results? That sounds like standard journalism law...probably something you could find information on. Something like this, perhaps...

www.scribd.com/doc/14238679/AllPurpose-Interview-Release