Legal Question in Technology Law in California

Re: I edited a book and was not given credit

The first question that you must ask yourself, or your attorney must answer through interviews and examination of your contractual relationship (written and understood) with the publisher, is "What was the nature and extent of the publisher's obligation to give you credit?"

The next question would then be, "What is the extent of my damages?"

There are a few other questions as well, but this provides the basic framework.

One must assume you were paid for your work as editor. The employment relationship (whether as employee per se or as independent contractor) must have been contractual, although of course the contract may have been written or oral, express or implied, and if implied, it could be "implied in law" of "implied in fact." Not to pettifog the matter, but your contract, of whatever type, probably expressly or impliedly specifies your rights and expectations as to credits as editor. What would a reasonable person, a jury member, or judge say you were entitled to as a matter of contract?

The second issue is damages. Lawsuits are expensive, and those brought against well-heeled adversaries tend to be more so. You would need to quantify and prove financial harm to yourself as part of a successful suit. With 5,000 books printed and sold, if the harm to you could be proven to be $5 a book, which is kind of a stretch in my estimation, your maximum damages would be $25,000, which might be a decent payoff for the risks, expenses and time commitment of a suit, but really looks marginal to me, and this assumes your contract unequivocally called for you to get jacket, flyleaf or cover publicity.

So, while there might be actions you COULD take, the bigger question is what action you SHOULD take. In addition to the law issues and the economics of suit issues, there is a relationship issue. Maybe you are better off cultivating a long-term friendly relationship with the publisher. The recognition issue may be just an ego trip.

Re: I edited a book and was not given credit

What is important in publishing is recognition of the author as that is where the property rights under Copyright Law are derived. Recognition of editors, muses, friends and family members are in reality at the whim of the author and publisher.

One exception to this would be a specific contractual agreement between the editor and the author or publisher in which compensation for the editorial services included recognition of the editor rather than money. Review, with an attorney, your contract to provide editorial services (hopefully the contract is in writing) and consider whom the contract is with and whether you are entitled to attribution as part of your compensation. Certainly, any rights that you may have are tied to the value of compensation derived from your contract for services rendered and the percentage of books that the first 5,000 copies represents. It sounds, however, that the value of attribution involved is probably worth much less than the cost for you to get your day in court.

Remember:

"In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the stakes at issue -- that is why academic politics are so bitter."

Wallace S. Sayre, quoted in Charles Issawi, "Issawi's Laws of Social Motion" (1973) � often misattributed to H. Kissinger.

Good luck,

Don Cox