Pseudonyms ≠ libel shield. Memoirist Amy Griffin used fake names, but details still outed her alleged abuser. Even “fictional” characters can trigger liability if readers connect the dots—a perfect example of why pseudonyms don’t equal libel protection.

Publishers show warning signs before bankruptcy: • Late/missing royalty payments • No royalty statements Pro tip: Negotiate a “termination for failure to account or pay” clause in your contract. This can help you reclaim rights before your book gets tied up in bankruptcy.

“In an era of content overload, curation and credibility matter more than ever.” — Jared and Julia Drake, new owners of IndieReader booklife.com/news/authors...

“No Kings” rally in Morristown, NJ—the military capital of the American Revolution.

BBC and Agatha Christie estate respond to 'deepfake' controversy mashable.com/article/agat...

Blog Post: Rounding Up Some Recent Copyright Decisions blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/202...

🎉 With awe and excitement — my client Lauren Roberts’ Fearless launched with record-breaking global sales: 266K+ copies sold on day one! Congrats to Lauren and the stellar S&S US & UK teams. The first of many milestones in a truly remarkable career. #PowerlessTrilogy

A Delaware judge finds the right-wing network aired false and defamatory statements about Dominion Voting Systems' role in the 2020 presidential election. A jury trial is slated for late April.

🚨 A Dunkirk for endangered federal data: As federal websites face quiet erasure; volunteer librarians are racing to rescue endangered public data. www.libraryjournal.com/story/coordi...

Blank Book Proposal Title: An Unexamined Life By: ___________________ Concept: A provocatively titled blank journal that invites the reader to confront—or avoid—their inner life. Whether it’s meant to be ironic, motivational, or existentially humorous, the blank pages say it all.

I encourage writers to register their works with the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS). They distribute royalties to their members twice a year and—based on the statement I received today for my book—the amounts can be meaningful. You can learn more and register here: www.alcs.co.uk.

Curious how Cambridge University Press is handling AI licensing? CUP has asked 17,000+ authors to opt in for AI rights via contract addenda — offering royalties on net AI licensing revenue. In this interview, CUP explains their approach, transparency goals & author protections. shorturl.at/yp30u

I was pleased to contribute to this Wall Street Journal (3/13/25) article on Meta’s legal fight to stop the sale and promotion of a former employee’s memoir. Takeaway: Confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses aren’t just boilerplate — they can shape or silence a story. tinyurl.com/4skuk47h

Trump International Links… Elba? Now is the time to think of post-Trump reconstruction. Perhaps his true legacy is the cycle of vengeance — answering retribution with retribution. It feels inevitable, but grievance leaves little room for healing or wisdom. Where do we go from here?

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Thaler v. Perlmutter confirms what the U.S. Copyright Office has long maintained: copyright law only protects human creativity. If you’re using AI, think of it as a tool — not an author. t.co/JJnsRZ0KUM?s...

New AI Author Guidelines by Wiley www.wiley.com/en-us/publis...

Congratulations on the launch of Words & Money, Andrew! www.wordsandmoney.com/

Exciting news! My client, Lauren Roberts, has been shortlisted for the prestigious British Book Awards 2025 Book of the Year in the Children’s Fiction category for RECKLESS. Congratulations, Lauren!

Meta just learned the hard way that having the right to enforce a contract isn’t the same as it being a good idea. I’m quoted in WSJ about arbitration ruling barring former employee from promoting her book—while the publisher keeps pushing forward. #publishing #contracts www.wsj.com/business/med...

Cengage settles class action over digital royalty allocations—authors to receive a share of $20.99M fund. Lawsuit claimed unfair revenue apportionment slashed royalties by up to 50%. tinyurl.com/a29r7b38

The measles outbreak in Texas is reminding me of the public letter Roald Dahl wrote about losing his daughter to measles in 1962, just before the vaccine was publicly available.

A reminder of what happens when you offend the sovereign. In 1662, King Charles II had Parliament pass the Licensing of the Press Act, aiming to curb “seditious, treasonable, and unlicensed” books. #Censorship #History

If Trump takes control of the USPS, guts Section 230, and ‘opens up’ libel laws, it’s a dangerous trifecta: restricted voting access, silenced online speech, and weakened press freedom. The pillars of democracy can’t survive that kind of attack. fox8.com/news/trump-e...

Poet scores poetic (legal) victory — Copyright Claims Board ruled that a non-responsive infringer—after missing multiple deadlines—had reproduced Helen Walters’ poem on a blanket, awarding her $5K in statutory damages. www.plagiarismtoday.com/2025/02/18/3...

Bad Spaniels III: The Paradox of Parody in Trademark Cases Ex-Rogers

Overview of Key USPTO Trademark Filing Fee Increases Effective January 18, 2025

The Colorado Senate steps up to ban the book bans. A new bill protects school libraries from snap removals. Call your state reps to bring this win home - IT WORKS! www.denver7.com/news/politic...

I asked Deep Research to crunch the numbers on a Section 203 copyright termination for an option/purchase on a major ’80s film. Their answer? Close… but no cigar. Impressive, though—even seasoned pros can struggle with the notice and termination date spread.

Anticipating Musk’s Next Move—Musk Throws Tantrum as Trump Shows Love to Sam Altman, Then Chops $100 Million from the Secret Service’s Budget

UK court rules literary characters may be protected by copyright. But can entire fictional universes be protected too? The ruling leaves the door open for debate. ipkitten.blogspot.com/2025/02/gues...

Kremlin Overwhelmed by Ex-CIA Job Applications, Announces Mass Hiring of Recruiters

One of my favorite comics history things is when Ray Bradbury found out EC comics stole his work, he sent them a letter "reminding" them to pay him and suggesting future stories for them to adapt. Not b/c he had love for the company that stole from him, but he knew he couldn't afford a legal battle.

Amazon will remove the ability to download ebooks to a computer and send them to a Kindle over USB on February 26; it enabled easy backups and file conversions (Andrew Liszewski/The Verge) Main Link | Mediagazer Permalink

Trump: “free speech for me, not thee.” Recall his plan to “open up” libel laws? It isn’t about championing truth—it’s about silencing critics and gutting the First Amendment. A knife to the throat of democracy, wielded for revenge. #RIPUSA

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #404: Cats and monks. . . #cats #catsonkeyboards #history #medievalmonks #monks #pets #strangebuttrue #butwhytho #comics #webcomics #facts #funfacts #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

How do we mediate tradition & Generative AI? AI is a creative laboratory as well as an enabler of dehumanization, supplanting experts with amateurs while billionaires manipulate facts to fuel a digital economy that monetizes our attention and anger www.the-independent.com/business/hum...

It’s worth noting that in 1997, indie publisher, Barricade Books was forced into bankruptcy by a $3.1 million libel judgment (later reversed) stemming from a lawsuit filed by Steve Wynn over the critical biography Running Scared. #FreeSpeech

How to Choose a Book Title and Not Get Sued www.copylaw.org/2022/02/how-...

Proud Boys lose control of trademark to Black Church. If reporting is accurate, the “transfer” could face legal challenges on grounds of assignment in gross, naked licensing, and potential abandonment—opening the door for others to re-register it. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/u...

Conflicting messages.

What if brown workers—healthcare workers, mechanics, factory workers, hospitality workers—didn’t show up for one day? A Brown Out to remind America who keeps the lights on. When should it be? #GeneralStrike #BrownOut #TheDayAmericaWentDark

The logic of the coup that is going on now. And how to resist it. snyder.substack.com/p/the-logic-...

LISTEN to my latest podcast discussing my latest article: "DeepSeek: What It Means for Media & Entertainment." (generated by Google NotebookLM, faithfully discussing my article). www.buzzsprout.com/2378806/epis... #ai #artificialintelligence #media #entertainment #deepseek @deepseek.bsky.social

Talk about unfair competition...

🔍 A UK overview of intellectual property from Peter Groves, solicitor & author of "A Dictionary of Intellectual Property"

The FBI’s core values, including integrity, compassion, fairness, and allegiance to the Constitution - and oh, yeah, diversity, are being painted over at the FBI Academy. Source: NYT.