The Frankfurt Book Fair was a completely virtual event this year. Licensing and permissions expert MaryJo ("MJ") Courchesne of Gryphon Publishing Consulting reports on her experience, and also discusses the CASE Act, fair use, and piracy.

Topics Covered

• Frankfurt Book Fair roundup, physical vs. virtual
• When to start prepping for next year's Frankfurt
• Do you need a rights and permissions manager?
• How is the rights business these days?
• Update on the CASE Act, a small-claims court for settle rights-infringement disputes
• The scourge of book piracy
• The IBPA Advocacy Committee
• Some thoughts on fair use and permissions, and why you need to make informed decisions

Links
CASE Act (summary with IBPA links)
https://www.ibpa-online.org/news/518209/A-CASE-Act-Call-to-Action-for-IBPA-Members.htm

Fair Use
https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

DMCA notice and takedown
https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/DMCA_Good_Bad_and_Situational_Practices_Document-FINAL.pdf

Free 30 min consultation for IBPA members: https://calendly.com/gryphonpubcons/ibpa-30-minute-consult

Participants
Mary Jo (“MJ”) Courchesne is the owner and principal rights consultant of Gryphon Publishing Consulting, LLC (www.gryphonpublishingconsulting.net). A publishing veteran with experience in trade, academic and direct-response publishing, she has spent nearly 2 decades specializing in licensing, subsidiary rights, and permissions.

She is a frequent and polished presenter on licensing and copyright. She firmly believes that everyone from authors to publishers to corporations should “know their rights” when it comes to intellectual property. To that end, she instructed in The George Washington University’s Masters in Publishing program for 13 years, first for 11 years as Adjunct Professor for a course entitled Editorial Content, Rights and Permissions, and subsequently as Lecturer in a course on copyright.

She is a member of the Copyright Alliance, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She has also held memberships with other organizations such as the American Society of Picture Professionals and Washington Publishers.

She currently serves on the Advocacy Committee for IBPA, as the copyright expert within the board of experts of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE), and is Secretary and board member for The Big Easy in Buffalo.

Twitter: @GryphPub
Facebook: www.facebook.com/gryphonpublishingconsulting

Peter Goodman (host) is publisher of Stone Bridge Press (www.stonebridge.com) in Berkeley, California. He began his publishing career in Tokyo, Japan, in 1976. A longtime member of IBPA, he has served on the IBPA board and as IBPA board chair.

For more information, go to IBPA at https://www.ibpa-online.org/.