Book Summaries -- Are They Legal?

[James Liberty]

Does anyone happen to know if it is legal to write your own unique summary of a book... and then sell it or include it as a bonus product?

I know that "Cliffs Notes" does this, but I'm not sure if they need to get special permission in order to do it.

Anyone happen to know the rules on this?

[Ben Brentlinger]

I think you might need permission from the author to do that and even if they did give you permission to distribute a summary of their book, they would probably only let you give it away as an ebook on a squeeze page if you agree to use the summary to promote their book to the list that you build from it.

[Mac Wheeler]

Hi James,

About three months back I was contacted by a potential client who wanted me to produce both a review and summary of two IM focused info products each week (which is kind of how I found my way to this forum, I was doing research).

I expressed my concern over the sumarising of the eBooks, and the client went away to consult with his lawyers. What they came back with was that as long as you do not quote directly from the book, or copy any of the content, then writing a completely unique summary is not illegal.

For example, the book might say:

"Fried eggs taste better if you cook them in beer."

You might say:

"The author tell us that cooking fried eggs in beer will make them taste better".

Hope this helps.

[James Liberty]

Originally Posted by DecurroLtd

Hi James,

About three months back I was contacted by a potential client who wanted me to produce both a review and summary of two IM focused info products each week (which is kind of how I found my way to this forum, I was doing research).

I expressed my concern over the sumarising of the eBooks, and the client went away to consult with his lawyers. What they came back with was that as long as you do not quote directly from the book, or copy any of the content, then writing a completely unique summary is not illegal.

For example, the book might say:

"Fried eggs taste better if you cook them in beer."

You might say:

"The author tell us that cooking fried eggs in beer will make them taste better".

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot, Decurro. Am I allowed to directly mention the exact title of the book in my own book's title... and am I allowed to mention their title throughout my writing?

[Mac Wheeler]

Yep, you can mention the title, you can even quote sentances from the book as long as they are cited, you just cant reproduce chunks of the content.

[Kay King]

Was the lawyer in Thailand???

I'd suggest checking with a copyright attorney in your country. Laws on trademark and copyright may vary.

kay

[Mac Wheeler]

No, this lawyer was in the UK, as my client is a UK registered business and the site is hosted in the UK.

[David Hooper]

First of all, I'm not an attorney.

But yes, this is legal. Still, I'd have somebody review it before release.

[Thomas]

There is a common factor in copyright law in ALL countries, with the exception of half-a-dozen or so (such as Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and others) who aren't party to various international agreements and it is this:

Copyright law does not protect ideas, concepts, systems, or methods of doing anything. Copyright only protects how you describe these "things" but does not protect the "thing" itself.

Therefore book summaries ARE legal (in almost every country on the planet) insofar as you describe, in your own words, the same "thing" being described by the book author in their own words. You do NOT need any persmission from the author or publisher because it has nothing to do with them.

Tommy.

[chrisgarrett]

Originally Posted by DecurroLtd

No, this lawyer was in the UK, as my client is a UK registered business and the site is hosted in the UK.

There are quite a few member sites aimed at CEOs and execs who do exactly this for business books. You get new PDFs that summarize the latest books and can search the archives for old ones.

For anyone with a book addiction it is a nice way to fund your habit

You would be surprised how many people will read the summary then click through to buy the original too!

[sparrow]

None of us here are lawyers I think in this field

But think about this for a moment

Look at all the review sites online, syndicated newspapers etc...

there is so many examples of this going on in every industry, even on Amazon

In my opinion I see no problem with this long as you don't violate the copyright by stealing chuncks of text directly, I think this is where you cross the line.

Ed

[dbarnum]

You could check with companies that already do this like:


Christian Book Summaries

Executive Book Summaries

(no affil with either one)

[Eric Lorence]

There are probably 100+ ebooks out there about lets say... Article Marketing, and most of those contain much of the same information, though worded differently.

It is not allowed to plagiarize the content of another book in anyway.

Unless the specific system is copyright, then you can use the same reworded information in your own book.

Best!

[dbarnum]

Originally Posted by eslorence

Unless the specific system is copyright, then you can use the same reworded information in your own book.

Best!

That's not true. I'd check with copyright laws on this before you start rewording people's content:

U.S. Copyright Office - Frequently Asked Questions


..too many jump on the web thinking they can reword everyone's content, and it's just not true. There are laws, online and off.

[Jon Alexander]

Originally Posted by eslorence

It is not allowed to plagiarize the content of another book in anyway.
)

plagiarism isn't illegal.

Apart from 'pure' works of fiction, or revolutionary factual works, everything published comes from... stuff that's already been published.

In other words, 97% of the content out there is 'unoriginal', even if it is 'unique'.

[Eric Lorence]

Originally Posted by dbarnum

That's not true. I'd check with copyright laws on this before you start rewording people's content:

U.S. Copyright Office - Frequently Asked Questions


..too many jump on the web thinking they can reword everyone's content, and it's just not true. There are laws, online and off.

Yes that was stated incorrectly, not "Reword". but if you happen to use the same general techniques in your own book, which is quite common in ebooks, and those techniques are not copyright.

[John Rowe]

The OP is asking about book summaries. He is not asking about reworking material into his own book.

[DeenaEsq]

The answer to the question is yes. You can write summaries of other people's work. It's a fair use under copyright law. You have to follow the nominative fair use rules codified at 17 USC 107. For convenience, I'll post them here:

"[T]he fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. "

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have other questions.

Deena
_______________________________________________
Any opinions are offered without knowledge of the specific law of your jurisdiction and with only the limited information provided in your post. No advice given here should be reasonably relied upon by you or any third party without consulting an attorney who is aware of all of the facts and law surrounding your situation. Any advice given here is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship in any way.

[myob]

You can make money by selling or giving away the summary of the book, with a link inside to your Amazon affiliate order page and related books. This is a very common marketing practice.

[Ricter]

Originally Posted by DeenaEsq

The answer to the question is yes. You can write summaries of other people's work. It's a fair use under copyright law. You have to follow the nominative fair use rules codified at 17 USC 107. For convenience, I'll post them here:

"[T]he fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. "

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have other questions.

Deena...

The purpose and character of the use around here is certainly of a commercial nature. How much weight does the "commercial nature" factor (amongst the others) have in determining copyright infringement?

The effect of the use upon the potential (or actual) market will very likely be a dilution of profitability for the originator--it's not probable that someone else in the "circus ring" with you is strengthening your act. Possible, even desireable, but not probable.

Will infringement activated by either or both of those forces ever be prosecuted on the typical small operation we see in, say, 80% of IM cases?

[DeenaEsq]

The most important factor is that the use of the work itself is nominative. Although commercial nature is important in determining whether a work is infringing, it's certainly not the only factor that is weighed.

It is my understanding from what the OP is asking that he is intending to use the summaries as a bonus of his package, but that the summaries would point the purchasers at the original works. Alternatively, it could be read that he was intending to create commentary about the books while summarizing the principles therein. Either way, they could qualify as nominative fair use.

Really the best suggestion, I suppose, is to make sure that a copyright attorney looks at the work before it's offered to customers...

Deena
__________________________________________________ ______________

Any opinions are offered without knowledge of the specific law of your jurisdiction and with only the limited information provided in your post. No advice given here should be reasonably relied upon by you or any third party without consulting an attorney who is aware of all of the facts and law surrounding your situation. Any advice given here is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship in any way.