Can Someone Sue Me for Publishing My Book?

Unfortunately, publishing your book can expose you to legal risk, especially if your book reprints or otherwise incorporates other parties’ protected intellectual property, or if your book discloses sensitive, confidential, or unflattering material about real people or real organizations. This article briefly discusses some of the major areas of risk associated with book publication, as well as some measures that authors can take before publication to eliminate or reduce potential liability.

Please note that this article is for informational purposes only, and that its contents should not be construed as legal advice. Greenleaf Book Group, LLC, does not provide legal services to anyone. Authors concerned about potential liability should always retain their own qualified legal specialists to determine whether their manuscripts pose any risks.

Copyright and Trademark Infringement

An author whose book uses protected intellectual property belonging to another party without permission may be liable to that other party for infringement. Generally, infringement actions arising from book publication relate to alleged violations either of copyright or of trademark rights.

A copyright in an original creative work gives its holder the exclusive legal right to print, publish, perform, film, or record the protected literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same. Types of protected works include (but are not limited to) books, films, television programs, fictional narratives or characters, music, lyrics, artworks, photographs, architectural plans, software, poems, and even jokes.

A trademark (or service mark) gives the brand owner of specific products and services the exclusive legal right to use the protected branding material to identify, market, or distribute its products or services, and to authorize others to do the same. Trademarks may be held in respect of words, phrases, and slogans; logos, designs, and patterns; and signs, artworks, and characters, among other items.

An author who publishes a book incorporating a copyright or trademark holder’s protected content without permission may be liable to that holder for infringement. Liability—and damages—are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and it may not matter how much or how little of the protected material is used. Copyright and trademark laws do allow for the publication of protected content without permission in some limited cases, but it can be difficult to determine in what circumstances such exceptions apply.

The most reliable way for an author to avoid liability for using another party’s intellectual property in a book is to secure signed permission for such use from that other party before publication. The permission’s form should clarify the precise scope of the license granted to the author, in order to prevent any later confusion as to what types of use the rights holder intended to authorize.

Defamation and Invasion of Privacy

Authors may be liable to other parties not only for use of protected intellectual property, but also for publishing content that involves or reflects upon those other parties in an allegedly harmful way. Generally, such actions fall under legal principles either of defamation or of invasion of privacy.

Defamation refers to the publication or communication of a false statement to one party that harms the reputation of another. (When spoken, defamation is called “slander”; when written or printed, it is called “libel.”) Because any type of legal entity may bring a claim for defamation, it may apply to statements about a wide variety of things including, among others, people, businesses, organizations, groups, brands, and products. To qualify, a statement need only be presented as fact, actually false, and demonstrably harmful to another party’s reputation. It does not matter whether the person making the statement even knows that it is false—liability may apply even in respect of false statements made negligently or carelessly.

“Invasion of privacy” is an umbrella term that covers legal actions based upon one party’s intrusion upon another’s private affairs; one party’s public disclosure of private or sensitive facts about another; one party’s portrayal of another in a false light; and one party’s appropriation of another’s name or likeness. In the context of book publishing, invasion of privacy usually applies to an author’s unauthorized disclosure of another party’s private and sensitive information. Unlike defamation, an invasion of privacy claim is available to an aggrieved party even in respect of published statements that are true, provided that a reasonable person would find their disclosure objectionable.

An author who disseminates false, misleading, negative, sensitive, or private material about other parties may be liable to those parties for defamation or invasion of privacy. Accordingly, authors should be mindful of any content that characterizes, attributes statements or actions to, or otherwise involves real people or real organizations: anecdotes, case studies, interviews, photographs, and any disclosures of other parties’ private, personal, or sensitive information. There are defenses to claims of defamation or invasion of privacy, and the legal standards for both differ from the norm in the context of celebrities and other public figures, but it may not always be clear when or how such defenses or different standards apply.

As with copyright and trademark infringement, the best way for an author to preclude claims of defamation or invasion of privacy is to secure signed releases from the real people or real organizations featured in the book before its publication. The release’s form should include the express waiver of all legal claims and should include as an attachment the content in question, in order to prevent any later confusion as to what statements, information, or other materials the signatory authorized for publication.

Conclusion

Legal concerns may be the last thing on your mind as you write your book and prepare to publish, but unfortunately there is real potential for liability in respect of infringing, false, sensitive, or otherwise risky content. The good news is that with a little extra legwork before publication, you can avoid a lot of unnecessary headaches afterwards.