Publishing Ethics (Section B - Issue 10)

Copyright infringement is a very big issue in the publishing industry. According to the US Copyright Office, copyright infringement occurs when copyrighted work such as a book, song, poem or photograph is distributed without the permission of the owner (Pascale, 2009). This is what happened to J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, in 2008 when a fan violated her copyright by intending to publish a Potter encyclopedia.

(Image source: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/hpl-logo-black2-790.JPG)

Vander Ark is the owner of the popular Harry Potter Lexicon web site and was contacted by a publishing company, RDR Books, after the release of the final Harry Potter book to publish his lexicon. According to Ark, it was decided that lexicon would include descriptions and commentaries on individual names, places, spells and creatures from the Harry Potter series. Rowling replied by saying that it is "atrocious, sloppy and consists of very little research." In addition to that, Rowling said that to publish the lexicon would equal to the wholesale theft of her 17 years of hard work.

In the defense of RDR Books, lawyer Anthony Falzone said that the lexicon was only meant to serve as a reference guide to the complicated and elaborated world of Harry Potter. But in the end, the court was in favour with Rowling and RDR Books lost the claim.

Putnis & Petelin (1996) wrote that a good writer is original, sincere and have an authentic voice. So to be fair, I would say that J.K. Rowling is not wrong to fight for the rights over her intellectual property. What Ark had in mind was to merely rearrange Rowling's work and call it as a reference book to the Harry Potter stories. In my opinion, reference books are supposed to be non-fiction books featuring actual facts that no one has copyright over. The Harry Potter series is completely fictional and Ark's plan to publish a Potter encyclopedia would mean that he is openly taking Rowling's ideas and at the same time violating her copyright.

References:

Pascale, C 2009, Copyright Infringement, viewed 17 November 2009, <http://intellectualpropertylaw.suite101.com/article.cfm/copyright_infringement>

Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

*Additional information: However, in January 2009 a modified and shorter version of the lexicon was published as The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction. Source: Wikipedia and Amazon Books.

What is a good document?

(Image source: http://www.sxc.hu, uploaded by spekulator.)

To begin with, what is a document?

The International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation in collaboration with Union Français des Organismes de Documentation agreed that a document would mean:

"Any source of information, in material form, capable of being used for reference or study or as an authority. Examples : manuscripts, printed matter, illustrations, diagrams, museum specimens, etc.." (Anon. 1937).

Suzanne Briet (1951) also published her view on documents as "A document is evidence in support of a fact."

In terms relating to publication and design, a document can mean any piece of physical or electronical body of information that has the capacity to communicate and relate to its readers. But what determines a good document?

According to Reep (2006), readers do not only read printed words on a page; they also "read" the visual presentation of the text. Similarly, MacKenzie (1994) emphasises the need to coherently and appropriately integrate words and their graphic form to ensure its information is accessible and usable for the readers. Hence, in a good and effective document, the words and visuals must support each other. How the words and visuals are arranged can be referred to as the document's design. Almost all good documents have good design. Design features help guide readers through the text, increase reader interest and provides the document its "image."

Let us look at an example:

(Image source: Kress & Van Leeuwen "Meaning of composition" presentation slides by Group 3, UniSA CMM February 2009 intake.)

Anderson (1987) says that a document design would:

• Help readers read efficiently.
• Emphasises the most important content.
• Encourage readers to feel good about a communication.

In the example above, it fits in neither of Anderson's criterias. First of all, the document is too congested with words and readers will have to spend time going through it. Secondly, although it is already written in bullet points it still does not illustrate its main points effectively and lastly, there is little encouragement for the readers because there is just too much text.

However, there are several positive points that can be brought up. For instance, the headings and points are arranged in an orderly fashion (Putnis & Petelin, 1996) and the colors used are easy on the eyes.

To sum it up, a document is largely used to communicate a message to readers and in order for it to be a good document not only should the content be taken into consideration but also the design of the document.

References:

Anderson, P 1987, Technical writing: A reader-centered approach, 2nd edn, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Orlando, FL.

Briet, S 1951, Qu'est-ce que la documentation. Paris: EDIT.

'La terminologie de la documentation' 1937, Coopération Intellectuelle, vol. 77, pp. 228-240.

MacKenzie, M 1994, Beyond plain English, Communication Research Institute of Australia, Canberra.

Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

Reep, DC 2006, Technical Writing, 6th edn, Pearson/Longman, New York.

Purpose

(Image source: http://www.sxc.hu, uploaded by lusi.)

The reasons behind the creation of this blog is to discuss issues that arise in the world of publication and design. It will not be about design. But rather about how design can affect the message conveyed in a text. The target audience of this blog will comprise of communication students and also perhaps journalists.