PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2002 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — Several issues are more significant for publishers of children’s books than for publishers of other kinds of titles, because children’s books have greater potential for merchandising, cartoons, multimedia products, and trademarking. These issues (like other issues) must be addressed in a thorough, written agreement since no …

PUBLISHED APRIL 2002 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — Publishers, authors, Web site owners and designers, cover artists, illustrators, recording artists, songwriters, record and music publishing companies, and any other parties that deal in and with copyrights of any sort should pay careful attention to a case coming out of the United States Court of …

PUBLISHED MARCH 2002 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — Book contract provisions that have to do with marketing and promotion can appear in various places within an agreement, but no matter where they appear, they should cover at least the following issues. The Package The book itself is central to issues about marketing and promotion …

PUBLISHED AUGUST 2001 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — What constitutes “out of print” in the world of print books and now-with the advent of print on demand-in the electronic world can be a significant legal and business issue for both publishers and authors. This clause in a book contract is often glossed over, but …

PUBLISHED MAY 2001 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — If you’re contemplating incorporating or setting up a limited liability company (LLC) to operate your business, there are some significant legal issues you must resolve. Please note that these decisions are integrally tied in with accounting and tax issues as well, and thus it is important …

PUBLISHED APRIL 2001 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — Much has been written (and will continue to be) about the recent decision in the Napster case (the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision). A particular area that holds interest for me (and that may have significant implications for those even beyond …

PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2001 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — As the Net continues to evolve, policies dealing with domain name disputes continue to evolve as well. Given the likely adoption of up to seven new top level domains such as “biz,” “info,” and the like sometime in early to mid 2001, the potential effect on …

PUBLISHED JANUARY 2001 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — With the already happening revolution in printing, what sorts of contract provisions are to be included in an on-demand printing agreement? If you’re a publisher (licensor) controlling on-demand rights in your author agreement, or you’re an author who has reserved such rights in your agreement with …

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2000 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — On my Web site under “Internet and Electronic Rights Issues,” I have an earlier article about the issues created by the Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). It’s titled “Domain Name Disputes: An Update.” This new article, “Julia, Jimi …

PUBLISHED APRIL 2000 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — If you’re a writer, publisher, Web site designer, or site owner and if you own, claim to own, use or want to use intellectual property on the Internet, then you must have at least a short but functional knowledge of how the United States trademark, copyright, …