Learned Publishing, 25: 235–239
Book Reviews
Book Reviews
LEARNED PUBLISHING VOL. 25 NO. 3 JULY 2012
Copyright Law for Writers, Editors
and Publishers
Gillian Davies in association with
Ian Bloom
London, A. & C. Black Publishers,
2011, 128pp.
ISBN: 978-1408128145, £14.99 (pbk)
This book follows on from Gillian
Davies’s Copyright Law for Artists, Photographers
and Designers, and is very different
from normal academic textbooks
on copyright or publishing and media
law, being somewhat personal and anecdotal.
It is an engaging case study in
itself, right down to Davies being the
joint copyright owner for the cover illustration,
presumably because she is also
an artist as well as a writer with a law
degree and a law editor.
As an example of book-as-case-study,
in the chapter ‘Quoting/ Extracts’
Davies takes us through her tribulations
in getting permission to use lyrics from a
song by the band Pink. The lyrics are
quoted in the book just so that Davies
can take us through the ins and outs of
obtaining permission. I really enjoyed
that: it brings the whole point and process
of getting permission to life in a way
that a theoretical dissection of the law
could not. Davies’s blunt comment ‘the
point about copyright law is that you are
supposed to ask for permission to use
something that someone else created
first’ is a really important back-to-basics
point and is very pertinent to our
Internet culture where free to view is
wrongly assumed to be free to use. I am
quite tempted to ask permission to use
that quote in the signature line of my
work emails!
Davies is rightly at pains to point out
that she is not a lawyer (and not the
Gillian Davies who is a barrister and
academic writer on copyright), and this
perhaps explains the pragmatic approach
alluded to above. A nuanced academic
immersed in the philosophy of intellectual
property might not want to put
things so boldly and might not be in a
position to know how the quirks of copyright
play out on the ground in everyday
life (as opposed to the seminal court
cases). The audience for this book is in
its title – and what to do in practice
(never mind the legal subtleties) is what
writers, editors and publishers need to
know. This book delivers this outcome
in a way that I have not found before.
The chapter by her co-author, Ian
Bloom (a solicitor), ‘Going to Law’
(which should in his words be called
‘Not Going to Law’) is essential reading
for anyone who feels they have a principle
to prove. The advice and commercial
reality is that principles are
dangerous things to get attached to, and
that is it is far better to mediate and
compromise.
As its title suggests, the book provides
a practical overview of the most pertinent
aspects of literary copyright covering
the ideas/expression dichotomy,
substantiality and fair dealing. It also
covers moral rights and the law of privacy
and defamation. Very practical
aspects are covered: looking at additional
ways authors might make money
from their copyright (e.g. signing up to
the Authors Licensing and Collecting
Society) as well as advice about royalties,
income tax and VAT, none of which
sound thrilling but are nevertheless
interesting if they affect you.
For all the practicality of the work it is
not without its interesting forays into
case law. It often surprises me that in
books intended for laypeople, writers
leave out the cases – the very things that
breathe life to the theory of the law.
What is there not to understand about a
case skilfully summarised and explained?
With literary/artistic works we have the
advantage that the players are often
colourful characters and we actually
know about some of subject matter.
Luckily Davies seems to agree and gives
us the Da Vinci Code, the Spear of Destiny,
the Alan Clark Diaries as well as
what seems to be a personal favourite of
hers, Confetti Records v Warner, a case
from the music industry about moral
rights which involved bewigged appeal
judges deciphering rap lyrics. For the law
fans the case citations are given too.
I do not have many criticisms of this
book.
The most disappointing part is the
chapter on plagiarism, although it was
instructive to learn that plagiarism is a
distinct common law cause of action.
Bloom admits some cynicism in his comment:
‘the difference between plagiarism
and research is this: plagiarism involves
copying someone else’s work; research
involves reading several different
sources and copying bits out of each of
them’. This definition seems to predominate
in trade publishing. However, there
are less cynical definitions that this
chapter could have gone into. In my
experience of academic publishing, academic
editors and publishers take a more
principled view. Academia bases its existence
on the integrity of the academic
record which brings knowledge forward.
Within this context other people’s
research must be acknowledged. Of
course, it is always a difficult area – at
what point does a theory become so
developed as to move away from its original
creator?
The book’s authors might
have be advised to consult the Committee
on Publication Ethics (COPE) about
plagiarism in the academic world for a
more thoughtful chapter on this topic.
Bloom talks of plagiarism again in the
chapter ‘The Death of Copyright?’ and I
am not sure that I entirely hold with the
bleak view of this chapter in an academic
context. There is deliberate plagiarism
which falls under the heading of
both plagiarism (of any definition) and
copyright infringement; however, more
forgivably, some academic authors get
confused where the academic definition
of plagiarism does not correspond to
copyright law. For example so long as
academics credit sources they are not
always so concerned about obtaining
permission and the moral respect for
other people’s intellectual creations and
ideas remains. And this is, I suppose,
where Copyright Law for Writers Editors
and Publishers is useful: I would recommend
it to writers and publishing professionals,
and particularly to publishing
students, graduate and undergraduate
alike.
Anji CLARKE
Sage
Anjali.Clarke@sagepub.co.uk
© Anji Clarke 2012
doi:10.1087/20120312
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