Book Summaries -- Are They Legal?

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.

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 What they came back with was that as long as you do not quote directly from the book, or copy any of the content, then writing a completely unique summary is not illegal.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.

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.

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
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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.

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.