Last time I gave examples of long and short copyright pages that you can use in your book. Today I have two types of information you might want to add to your copyright page: disclaimers and credits. Let’s look at disclaimers first.
Examples of Disclaimers
The copyright page is the place publisher put disclaimers. Here’s my disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and by presenting to you these sample disclaimers—all taken from published books—I am not suggesting you cut and paste them into your book. Only with the advice of a competent attorney can you decide which disclaimers your book may or may not need. Here are some disclaimers other publishers found useful, and the kinds of books they might logically be used in.
- Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
- This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
- I have tried to recreate events, locales and conversations from my memories of them. In order to maintain their anonymity in some instances I have changed the names of individuals and places, I may have changed some identifying characteristics and details such as physical properties, occupations and places of residence.
- Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.
- This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.
- The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper (name your sport) training. Like any sport involving speed, equipment, balance and environmental factors, (this sport) poses some inherent risk. The authors and publisher advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the skills described in this book, be sure that your equipment is well maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and comfort level.
(memoir or recent history)
(novels, short stories)
(memoir, autobiography)
(advice, how-to)
(health, alternative healing)
(sports, training)
Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
The last use of the copyright page is to give credit to the people who contributed to the making of the book. Most books today do not use a colophon, so if the publisher is going to credit the editor, designer, or others, this is the place to do it. Here are some examples:
Cover Illustration Copyright © 2010 by Road Runner
Cover design by Augustus Smith, BookFondlers, Inc.
Book design and production by John Do, www.dobookdesigns.com
Editing by EditGnome
Chapter opening illustrations © 2010 Joanne Sargeant
Author photograph by Eliza Emulsion
Poetry of Dev Nadev used by permission of the Dev Nadev Foundation.
This rounds up the elements of the copyright page that most self-publishers will need in their books. If you have specific questions about how to set up your copyright page, please put them in the comments.
Want to know more about copyright? Need some sample copyright pages to drop into your book? Confused about the things you read online about copyright? Check out this 30-page easy-to-read guide. Click The Self-Publisher’s Quick & Easy Guide to Copyright for more info, or Buy Now as PDF or Kindle.
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Great sample disclaimers, Joel.
Have you considered putting all these great blog posts together as a book? It would be such a handy reference.
I noticed that Joshua Tallent released a book on CreateSpace about Kindle Formatting and it’s already a huge hit. He released it about 2 months after he formatted my book about publishing with CreateSpace. I hope my book helped him set it up and publish it :).
Christy, thanks. Interesting about Joshua. I’m actually collecting a lot of these posts to publish in an ebook, and plan to have it out in February. And I bet your book did help him get his together!
That’s an excellent collection. I’ve seen a few books that have disclaimers followed by something like: “If you won’t accept these conditions, please return the book to the publisher for a prompt refund.”
I don’t want to be expected to give refunds, so in my how-to books I say: “If you won’t accept these conditions, please stop reading now.”
Michael N. Marcus
– president of the Independent Self-Publishers Alliance, http://www.independentselfpublishers.org
– author of “Become a Real Self-Publisher: Don’t be a Victim of a Vanity Press,” http://www.amazon.com/dp/0981661742
– author of “Stories I’d Tell My Children (but maybe not until they’re adults),” coming 4/1/10. http://www.silversandsbooks.com/storiesbookinfo.html
– http://BookMakingBlog.blogspot.com
– http://www.SilverSandsBooks.com
Hey Michael, I love your solution, thanks for that. Some of these disclaimers really make me laugh, but you know those legal departments are hard at work coming up with new ways to avoid liability. (Sorry for the delay posting your comment, I think all the links send it to my spam filter! I’ll watch out for those more closely.)
Fiction Copyright Disclaimers
- I made it all up! C’mon, get with the program!
- If you need more help in discerning fiction from reality, I can recommend a good therapist.
- This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. (Except for you, Martha. You know what you did. Live with your shame)
- Names and identifying details have been changed just enough to protect me from technically violating the privacy of certain individuals. (No court summons for you, suckas!)
Dear Joel, are we able to use these verbatim with your permission?
Yes, absolutely. Just copy and paste them into your file, no credit needed.
Good information for which I thank you. What do you do in the case where you are asked to edit writings from a person who is dead? This person asked me in writing to do this for her before she died. Thanks.
You cannot publish works for which you don’t own reproduction rights. You might try getting in touch with the author’s heirs or estate to arrange a license to allow you to edit and publish the work.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have written a book based on a true story for self publishing, like all books it is based on what life experience we have. I have changed the names etc and I have stated it was to be fiction. Of course in the entire world it will not make a difference but I live in a rural part of the county and I wonder even changing names etc can I be sued. Can I use a disclaimer and should I change me author name. Does any of this matter as the main character in the book is dead, in fact two of them and I have written proof of events.
thanks Noreen Murphy
Noreen, I don’t mean to be unkind, but someone has to tell you this:
A libel suit is the least of your problems. Based on your query, your English needs a lot of improvement before you are ready to write a book. I don’t know if English is not your native lasnguage or if your education was cut short, but I urge you to get some basic writing help before you try to write and publish a book.
Michael N. Marcus
http://www.bookmakingblog.blogspot.com
http://www.SilverSandsBooks.com
http://www.BookFur.com
http://www.Facebook.com/SilverSandsBooks
Noreen, if you are publishing the book as fiction I don’t anticipate you will have any problems, but if you are concerned for some reason not apparent in your comment here, consult with an intellectual property lawyer for a definitive answer.
Thanks Michael for your reply. I am sorry you did not understand my question or text. Anyhow I hope that I will get a reply.
Regards
Dear Joel,
What a wonderful site and thank you for the work you do. I used to publish a niche newsletter/magazine for motorcycle riders from 1993-2007 – it was “closed’ in 2007 because of family medical issues. As with monthly publications, there are stiff space, time and money constraints that prevent many a written article and photos from making the cut for the month. I’ve decided to write a photojournal book of published and non-published articles/photography and attempt to use most of my work. I had writers, which I paid. Should I contact then to see if I can re-print their articles? Should I offer to pay them again?
Also, there are a couple of companies I wanted to discuss in the book, but don’t know whether it will be copyright infringement to print their “patch” (which was also their logo) that was once for sale to the public. They had a website affiliated with it, which is defunct. So the company is out of business, however, the person is still around. Should I get permission?
Also, there are a couple of companies that I want to give a space for their support through the years (they are still sending me useful stuff). Should I get their permission to put in a space for their company as well?
Thanks again and I apologize for the long post. I’m a newbie to your site, just signed up today!
Norene Childs
For OP, thank you very much, I am looking for disclaimer examples for my blog.
Hi, I had a friend edit a bit on a manuscript I had for about 15 years, her help and encouragement helped me cross the “fifty yard line” and finish! Great – except that I said I might put written by A with ……B. Does a book credit weaken my copyright? She had about 2 percent input, did almost no work, no storyline change, we had no contract. I want to be fair but not undermine myself either. As a favor I also remarked I would add a dedication to a nephew of hers, out of kindness – because her encouragement was so crucial to me at the time. Thanks!
It sounds like your friend’s contribution was largely editorial. Editors don’t usually get a “written by” credit, and have no part in the copyright ownership of the work. Acknowledging the contribution would be a graceful way to deal with this.
What if I designed the cover (in Word) but someone (not a designer) who has more expertise reassembled it for me in photoshop–would I list his part somehow on the copyright page, or perhaps just in the acknowledgements?
Merry, it would be gracious of you to acknowledge the help you received, and you can do that either in the Acknowledgments or on the copyright page in a note.
Thanks. By the way, I’ve been searching to see if you have a post on Acknowledgments, do you? I’m trying hard not to include everyone and their dog in my list, but I’m also having trouble paring it down!
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