A colossal rights grab by a major publisher; another consumer fraud case against an author; a big-name Hollywood director defending a plagiarism claim; a creative fundraising drive by a cartoonist gone bad; and another publisher sued for using copyrighted photos. Presented by leading lawyer Donna Ballman with literary agent Peter ...read more →
Author Archive
Lance The Boil
A bestselling author sues her financial management firm for millions; a multimillion dollar suit over photo copyright; why you probably shouldn’t sue for libel if the allegations are true; whether veggie bias is defamation; why a publisher cancelled a Scientology book; who is left standing in the DOJ antitrust suit ...read more →
50 Shades Of Whatever
This week, we talk about a major publisher cracking down on porn; an employer makes a grab for a former officer’s book; why you may be able to reclaim your book rights from your publisher in 2013; a proposed UK law that would let government regulate newspapers; a legal claim ...read more →
Lawyers Are From Mordor
Imagine: you’ve just spent months compiling an exhaustive day-by-day chronology of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Suddenly, lawyers for the vastly wealthy Tolkien estate makes it clear that they believe your book violates their copyright – and they’re going to sue. That was the situation author and Middle Earth fan ...read more →
Tart Carts, Godivas and TCPs
For our special Thanksgiving present to all our listeners, we’re dropping the usual mixture of lawsuits and literature, and instead chatting to Charlie Croker, author of the hugely entertaining new book Terms of Employment. Has your doctor ever prescribed you bug-juice? Or sent you to the rheumaholiday department? Have you ...read more →
Machete? Machete!
This week we talk about two publishers that merge to create a giant, politics and plagiarism, huge copyright issues in the courts, identity theft at a huge bookstore chain, how much trouble can you get into for quoting someone, with attribution, the criminalization of speech and Donna’s favorite writer is ...read more →
Born To Mock
This week we talk about big news in the Google book scanning case, a publisher who sues scads of authors to recover advances paid years ago, why you should be careful what you say in the Philippines, whether liking someone can be libel, why you might get sued if you’re ...read more →
Pitching An Agent
This week we talk about censorship by riot, an eBook settlement offer for Apple in Europe, sex and managers in the city, and an author who doesn’t deal well with rejection. Plus we talk about some censorship that occurred just in time for Banned Books Week, and update you on ...read more →
All Your iTunes Belong To Bruce Willis
This week we talk about how the US government is thinking about censoring and suing a national hero; a battle over ownership of your Tweets, why you really don’t want to tick off someone who buys ink by the barrel; the truth about the Bruce Willis iTunes kerfuffle; and we’ll ...read more →
Dirty (Prince) Harry
This week we talk about naked censorship in the British royal family, how an Oklahoma school punished its valedictorian for using a word it didn’t like, why low ratings may trump a copyright violation, how hyperlinks might have saved some alleged plagiarists, why a publisher has pulled the plug on ...read more →
Spermatofolie
This week we talk about a bizarre censorship protest, whether liking someone is free speech, why it’s not all flowers and heaving bosoms at a major romance publisher, how joking on Twitter is a little safer. . . for now, why you should be careful before you write a book ...read more →
Dan Rather Speaks Out
“I wanted to know what went on -what really went on – inside Viacom/CBS… about the collaboration between very big business and very big government.” So says television legend Dan Rather in this special edition of The Debriefer. ”I knew that a lot had gone on behind the scenes [in ...read more →
Mexican Pork Cloud
This week we have breaking news on the Google book scanning case. We also talk about why blogging about your story plot might get the attention of the CIA; the latest on the antitrust suit against Apple and publishers; how Verizon is protecting your right to piracy; censorship gone wild ...read more →
Vigilante Justice, YouTube Style
This week we talk about states jumping on the bandwagon to sue for eBook price fixing; a book that’s been banned in multiple states; a blogger who demands what’s due him; piracy running rampant as eBook sales increase; how Facebook may be censoring your comments; and how the UK plans ...read more →
A Defining Moment
In this show: why the publishing industry is angry that the Pulitzers snubbed fiction. And quite possibly the biggest story we have ever covered – the U.S. Justice Department lawsuit against publishers for “conspiring to end e-book retailers’ freedom to compete on price”. Truly momentous times for the publishing business. ...read more →
