Supreme Court rules in favor of plaintiff in copyright infringement case

On May 19, the US Supreme Court decided in favor of Paula Petrella in the copyright infringement case Petrella v Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., stating that laches “cannot be invoked as a bar to Petrella’s pursuit of a claim for damages brought within…the three-year window.”

(Laches means that a legal right or claim will not be enforced if a long delay in asserting the right or claim has hurt the opposing party as a sort of “legal ambush.”)

4 Steps to promoting your textbook

Recently a member posted a question in the Textbook Writing & Publishing Circle in TAA’s online member community requesting input on how other authors promote their work. In response to this question, veteran textbook author Robert Christopherson, author of Geosystems, the leading physical geography texts in the US and Canada, offered a four-step approach that encourages authors to define their market niche and take a proactive role with the publisher’s marketing team.