Are your expressions property, the same as your car or your jewelry? Or is there some higher public interest your writings are meant to serve? Are these values mutually exclusive?

Copyright law is in a state of continuing development. Modern technology has made copyright violations of every stripe, whether in the form of e-mail, audio recording, music, fiction, non-fiction, film, news, magazines, graphic design, or any other form of expression easy… Continue reading

Posted on October 7th, 2009 under Business. Tags: Business, Law, marketing, promotion. Comments: None

Lawyers ask me all the time: What are the rules about copyright? What does it cover? When does it attach? Are there any exceptions? How long does it last? What are the consequences of violating another's copyright?

These questions seem simple, but they aren't. And the answers should be easy, but they're not. Nor is there one place where all such simple questions and easy answers are collected for authoritative… Continue reading

Posted on August 27th, 2009 under Answers, Business, Craft, Reviews. Tags: Craft, get published, Law, Uncommon Answers. Comments: None

We should think about copyright and whether we are operating within the bounds of the law every time we put pen to paper or keystroke to keyboard.

Legal writing is usually technical and nonfiction. We use forms from various sources, we quote from cases, and we paraphrase statutes. We don't often consider whether we are infringing on a valid copyright. And usually, we're not.

Except when we are.

Not all writing… Continue reading

Posted on August 19th, 2009 under Art, Business, Craft. Tags: Craft, craft fiction, craft nonfiction, legal writing. Comments: None

All lawyers are writers, but not all lawyers focus on writing as a career builder. Developing your law career through writing for publication doesn't have to be dull, boring, or a total time drain.

Online publishing in various venues is a good place to start using writing to build a wider legal reputation that can lead to clients. Most law firms have blogs now and writing for the firm's blog… Continue reading

Posted on August 14th, 2009 under Business, Craft. Tags: Business, craft nonfiction, Law Career Development. Comments: None

I love my Kindle. I resisted buying one until the second version was released and the price became more reasonable. Even then, the thing that pushed me into the purchase mode was using the Kindle app for a while on my iPhone. Before that, I'd wondered whether I would like reading on such a small screen. One of my stories, Surviving Toronto, had been available on… Continue reading

Posted on August 9th, 2009 under Business, Reviews. Tags: book publishing, Business, Product Review. Comments: None

Common Questions; Uncommon Answers: Can we protect our copyrighted content published online? This is a common question. The uncommon answer is: You may not want to protect the content. Negotiating public attribution and compensation might be a better solution. Often folks who ask this question really want to know how they can stop people from copying our original content and using it elsewhere. Realize we can't control who does and doesn't steal our… Continue reading

Posted on August 6th, 2009 under Answers, Business. Tags: Craft, Law, Uncommon Answers. Comments: None

As I mentioned, the business of publishing in all its forms is rapidly changing. The old model of write the book, find an agent, sell to a New York City publisher still works. But it's slower than a U.S. Supreme Court death penalty opinion. Unlike death penalty cases, though, where lawyers and defendants must simply slog through the process even if it takes 20 years, the internet now provides writers with… Continue reading

Posted on May 21st, 2009 under Business. Tags: Business, Craft, fiction, legal writing, nonfiction. Comments: None

Publishing opportunities for prose in all its forms have never been greater.  We'll talk about the ones I've used personally and the ones I'm aware of, and answer questions you might have about the various types of publishing, if you like.

Posted on May 10th, 2009 under Business. Tags: Art, Business, Craft, craft fiction, craft nonfiction. Comments: None