Copyright issues in creating an ebook?

March 28, 2008 2:27 PM

I'm thinking of creating an ebook that is a workbook companion for an existing popular investment book. What copyright issues do I have to consider? For example, can I title it "The [Investment Book Title] Workbook?" Can I do it at all without getting permission first?
posted by SampleSize to Law & Government (7 answers total)

I think that a workbook based upon an existing book would be considered a derivative work of the original book, and thus would be copyright infringement if you published it. I would think that you would need to track down the copyright holder and negotiate with them for permission to publish your workbook, or risk being sued afterwards.
posted by that possible maker of pork sausages at 2:53 PM on March 28, 2008

IANAL, etc.... BUT, It all depends on the degree to which the specific content of the companion workbook draws on the content of the original book. A solid opinion on this can only come from a lawyer familliar with IP law in your jurisdiction who can review both works (or at least a robust outline of the proposed workbook, plus the original). Yes, there is a substantial risk of being sued -- but that risk won't necessarily scale accurately with the likely success of such a suit. That is, even a well-crafted work that stays within the bounds of what recent case law indicates is acceptable will probably attract legal threats regardless.

...The [Investment Book Title] Workbook...

My understanding is that although mere titles, in and of themselves, are not generally afforded copyright protection -- just think how many textbooks there are called Psychology, for example -- the contents of the work, however, are. Still, I would imagine the more the title might confuse your work with the original, the harder it will be to establish your work as non-derivative.
posted by onshi at 3:05 PM on March 28, 2008

IANAL. But I like to pretend IAAL.

You're on pretty thin ice with this idea. Say somebody writes a difficult book, like Finnegan's Wake. You write a guide to that book and call it A Skeleton Key to Finnegan's Wake. (This has been done.) You don't need permission from the author of Finnegan's Wake. You are explaining the book. It's literary criticism and falls into the fair use provision of the Copyright Act. But. Now you want to create a workbook to allow buyers of your ebook to apply techniques promulgated in Investment Book Title. That's not "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research," which are delineated in the Act as acceptable purposes for fair use. What you're really doing is extending the Investment Book Title product line. You're not interpreting it, commenting on it, etc. You're using the original concepts and providing templates to apply them, which are rights reserved to the original author.

So, agreeing with pork sausages above, you should propose partnering with the original author, who will want a cut of your profits. If you proceed on your own, whether or not the original author has a leg to stand on, you will probably be sued, which is not a Good Thing.
posted by beagle at 3:31 PM on March 28, 2008

Generally, and IANAL either, this is a trademark issue, not a copyright issue: you can come up with problems that address the same topics as the original book in the same order without it being a derivative work, but you may still be open to litigation if it appears that this book will compete with the original or be reasonably confused as coming from the same folks who put out the primary source.
posted by klangklangston at 4:11 PM on March 28, 2008

Response by poster: OK, sounds like not a great idea.

Thanks everyone.
posted by SampleSize at 5:00 PM on March 28, 2008

I've seen books meant to accompany other books that have been titled "The Unauthorized Companion to [X]", often with a disclaimer on the front in smaller print.

IANAL, but the obvious "unauthorized" nature of it might free you.
posted by cmgonzalez at 9:09 PM on March 28, 2008

According to the doctrine of Nominative Use, then I think you can indeed use the other book's name in the title:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_use
posted by DarlingBri at 10:31 PM on March 29, 2008