Many independent authors believe they need to seek permission to quote sections of other works. However, the doctrine of ‘Fair Dealing” allows for quoting from other works within certain constraints. This Australian government article spells out some of the issues. The Arts Law Centre of Australia also gives some very useful information on the topic.
Arts Law Trademarks
Copyright applies automatically to any creative work, but sometimes creators seek the stronger protection afforded by trademarking. An interesting discussion of the issue on a fact sheet supplied by the invaluable Arts Law Centre: www.artslaw.com.au/info-sheets/info-sheet/trade-marks .
Can I Use the Same Book Title? A Commonsense Answer.
With millions of books in print, finding a completely original book title can be tricky. We are often asked about the legal / copyright situation regarding very similar or identical book titles. This post has a fairly commonsense take on the issue. For the Australian situation, the Arts Law Centre may be able to assist.
Getting a Title Removed from Amazon / Reassertion of Copyright
Recently, a local publisher (Jo Jo Publishing) went into bankruptcy owing authors, printers and suppliers a great deal of money. The liquidators indicated the authors were free of any contractual obligations to the now-defunct company. Many of the authors published by Jo Jo wished to remove their books from Jo Jo-badged online listings (with Amazon in particular) so they could re-upload their titles with new ISBNs. As Jo Jo was now unstaffed, they had to take matters into their own hands. Amazon has a facility for authors in this kind of situation:
“If you believe that your digital content is being sold by a publisher no longer authorized to sell your copyrighted content, please provide Amazon.com’s copyright agent the written information specified below. This procedure is exclusively for notifying Amazon.com and its affiliates that your copyrighted material has been infringed.”
Amazon's requirements / contact details continue as follows:
- An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
- A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed upon;
- A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the site;
- Your address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
- A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
- A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
Amazon.com 's Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on its site can be reached as follows:
Copyright Agent
Legal Department
P.O. Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226
Fax: (206) 266-7010
E-mail: copyright@amazon.com