By Rebecca Ward, Placement Student atArts Law in 2004
Published in ARTS+law December 2004
Authors, like many other groups engaged in the arts sector, experience significant financial and legal disadvantages when faced with the task of trying to earn a living from their art. Between the Lines, written by Lynne Spender and published by Keesing Press, offers a practical, plain English guide to the law for professional writers and illustrators and provides useful information and ideas to help authors improve their incomes and bargaining power.
The impetus for the book’s approach comes from a recent survey of over 3000 members of the Australian Society of Authors. The responses from this survey informed many of the issues addressed in Between the Lines, as well as supplying numerous case studies. For example, clarification of common issues, such as “How much should I accept as an advance?”, “Do I pay tax on my literary award?”, and “What is a legally binding contract?”. Answers to these common dilemmas are provided in a lively and accessible style, accompanied by checklists, FAQs and entertaining illustrations by Andy Joyner that make this a valuable resource for writers and illustrators.
While there are many legal print resources available for professionals in the arts sector, Between the Lines offers a uniquely practical approach to legal issues affecting writers and illustrators. The book aims to answer commonly asked questions encountered by authors during the day-to-day course of their employment, using real examples and factual scenarios to put legal issues in an user-friendly context.
A good example of the book’s approach is the “Choosing an Agent” section of the chapter dealing with contracts. There is a concise summary of the basic elements that should be present in an author/agent agreement. Also included is a fictional scenario concerning an author trying to change agents, which is followed by detailed advice about steps that she might take to accomplish this. Finally, there is a checklist for dealing with agents that outlines steps that should be taken before entering into such a relationship.
In Between the Lines Lynne Spender has tackleda broad array of subjects pertinent to authors and has succeeded in providing an accessible and practical overview of relevant areas of Australian law. Every writer should keep a copy on the bookshelf between the thesaurus and the dictionary!
Between the Lines is available from the Australian Society of Authors or good book shops.
