I may have asked this before, but have forgotten the answer.

Is it okay to mention a real authors name and title of a book in my novel?

For instance, can I have a character asking another one if they have read the latest Maeve Binchy novel? Or what do they think of 'Past Secrets by Cathy Kelly?

I don't need to quote actual paragraphs or anything, just names and book titles.

Katerina

If it's realistic in terms of the characters then I don't say why not - same as mentioning products by name. So long as its not libellous, I wouldn't see a problem.

I wonder if we think this way because we've been brought up with BBC television, eg. you'd never have a character going out to buy sticky-back-plastic when you really mean Sellotape, would you?

Why not go one better and contact the author's publisher and ask for a product-placement payment?

Colin M

There's no copyright in a title, so you're not breaching copyright by quoting it.

In fact, there's no copyright in an idea, only in its expression. That says to me that you can use a character's name and even their characteristics, as long as you don't actually borrow the words that the author used to describe them. That's why authors can't stop the fanfic websites who use them in completely different stories.

Emma

Thanks Emma,

I did think it was okay, but thought I'd better check.

I guess if it is wrong, and I get as far as an agent accepting me, they'll soon say what is and isn't allowed - right?

Or would they thing I was extremely amateurish for not knowing in the first place?

Oh hell, it's only someone's name, and there is no copyright on names is there, so I'm going to use it.

katerina

No, no copyright in names, though if you, say, make a wicked solicitor called Jonah Bodkin, and there is in real life an un-wicked Jonah Bodkin, Solicitor, then you could be sued for libel. In theory. It's always worth checking in that kind of case.

No, a publisher won't think you're being amateurish to ask, but might not pick up on every tiny risk. It's in your contract that you indemnify the publisher against them being sued for these things, because legally they're liable for what they publish - which is why it was Random House who got sued, as well as Dan Brown. So the best thing to do is to be completely honest, first thing, about anything you've any doubts about. Real copyright clearance can be an absolute bugger and take ages, so you need to start early if there is anything you want to use.

The Society of Authors can advise about this stuff too.

Emma

Other than getting them to look at contracts, what are the benefits of being a member of the Society of Authors? I know they have events, but as most are London/South, I'll probably never bother going - so what else do you get for your £85 per year?

Just curious.

Colin M

Colin,

Most years, you probably won't get that much for your money, other than four issues of The Author. I pay partly to support it as an institution, and partly because you never know when you might need contractual help. I've used the SOA twice now in contract disputes, and they gave very good advice which, in both cases, got me the result I needed. Of course, if you have an agent, he or she will deal with your contracts with publishers, but one of my disputes was with my agent. In one case, I first thought of getting specialised legal advice, but it would have been incredibly expensive--in the several hundreds, and that for just the initial stuff.

Terry


<Added>

P.S. You're a children's writer, so you could join the SOA's children's writer's group. If nothing else, this allows you to go to the get-together every three years. The last one was open to anyone, but normally it's just members, and you wouldn't want to miss out on the chance to meet up with your old pal, Phil, would you?

Yes, Terry's right, the contract help is excellent value: I got them to look over my agency contract, though not my publishers' ones. Plus if you end up doing freelance journalism, say, or teaching, that your agent isn't interested in handling, you can use them for those contracts. And if you're in a dispute, that help becomes very good value indeed. And as Terry says, you can be in a dispute with your agent, when you'd really want back up.

Their tax advice is very good too. Tax for writers is a very odd corner of the Revenue laws, and they and the specialist accountants who advise them are experienced in it as plenty of excellent non-specialist practices really, really aren't. This isn't just for the rich and famous; 80% of the Society earn less than £10,000 pa from writing, so it's more about making every penny count. And of course the £85 (£60ish for under-35s?) is itself tax-deductible.

Other than that? The advice leaflets are plentiful and very good, and free to members, and the mag always interesting. They'll give advice on the phone too, about copyright and so on, and plumb you straight into the PLR and ACLS systems.

I'm not sure it's altogether the case that socially speaking it's all London/SE: I know there are northern and meetings that the likes of Dee and Nik try to get to, and others elsewhere. And there are specialist groups for children's writers, and broadcasting writers, and so on.

Personally, my other reason for joining is what you might call the Trade Union principle: a lot of what we take for granted about how publishers behave is actually the result of the Society of Authors and Writers' Guild fighting for it, and like Terry I want to support that. There are also looming questions of free speech which the Society needs to be armed to monitor and if necessary fight.

I should declare a slight interest at this point: Mark LeFanu's my cousin. But I'd still have joined as soon as I could even if he weren't.

Emma

My agent contract has already been through the Society of Authors and is fairly straightforward in its agreement, but on this advice, I think I will join (if representation leads to a publishing deal that is). When I was in the games industry I used to moan that there wasn't a decent union to stand up for us. I think I thought of the Society of Authors as more of a private club than a working union. Cheers for the inside information.

Terry, when you said "Phil" I didn't get it a first - I thought you meant that mad tall guy who was pissed when we met him that first night.

I'd hate to miss the next CWIG conference if it was confined to members only.

cheers.

Colin M

Colin, you can join on an agency contract, if you want to; you don't have to wait for a publishing deal. It sounds like everything's going fine, but if later on you wanted advice on how your agent's trying to sell your work, they'd give it.

I get a feeling that the regional things are quite sociable - its us Londoners who feel we don't need to try to keep up with each other, and then look round and wonder why we're lonely!

Emma