cover image Writer's Lawyer

Writer's Lawyer

Ronald L. Goldfarb. Crown Publishers, $19.95 (274pp) ISBN 978-0-8129-1744-4

In this useful reference book, two Washington, D.C., attorneys, who specialize in media, art and entertainment law, introduce writers, editors and publishers to recurring questions they are likely to face, and offer general answers to guide them in their work. Starting with an explanation of why the First Amendment is the cornerstone for the rights of American writers, they provide, for both professionals and amateurs, basic, practical information. Discussed are copyright, libel, defamation, obscenity, malice, privacy, confidentiality, prior restraint, post-publication sanctions, ``Son of Sam'' and shield laws, book and magazine contracts, protecting ideas, titles and moral rights, using public sources of information, doing business and tax planning and, very briefly, self-publishing. (July)