Preface<br > "The glorious uncertainty" is how one writer defined the law， and if<br > there is one certainty， it is that the law will change. The Writer s<br > Friendly Legal Guide reflects those changes， For example， a<br > sustained effort by writers and artists to get an amendment to the<br > 1986 Tax Reform Act passed by Congress paid off In October 1988<br > and is detailed in Chapter Thirteen in this book. The original act<br > brought cries of outrage from writers and artists who had to with-<br > hold deducting their expenses until they could apportion each ream<br > of paper and tube of paint to a specific published or paid for bit of<br > creative work. The Act has now been revised to allow deductions to<br > be taken as they are Incurred. The caveat remains， however， that you<br > must make a profit In three out of five years for your writing to be<br > considered a business， not a hobby. There are other changes worth<br > noting， too:<br > In March 1989， the United States joined the worldwide Berne<br > Copyright Convention so those changes affecting writers are included<br > in our chapter on Copyright (Chapter Seven).<br > The Writers Guild strike of 1988 brought changes in the rates pro-<br > ducers pay screenwrlters for film and teleplay scripts， and you ll find<br > those In the charts In Chapter Eleven.<br > Changing author relationships with book publishers reflected in<br > the advances now being paid and the percentages offered for subsid-<br > Iary rights are detailed In Chapters Nine and Ten.<br > ~ew Format. As the title of this book Implies， we have made the up-<br > dated Information from previous editions of this book (formerly Law<br > and the Writer) more accessible to the reader in several ways: (I1 A<br > page and type design that permits you to quickly see the salient<br > points of each chapter; (2) A brief introduction to each chapter that<br > highlights the contents and a.summary review at the end; (3) A pre-<br > view of the more detailed General Index--a Quick Information Finder<br > --which zeroes In on the points you ll most likely want to refer to.<br > The Writer s Friendly Legal Guide is designed to present an intro-<br > duction to major areas of concern--freedom of speech， libel， privacy，<br > eol~yright--and to alert the writer to laws and regulations afleetlng his<br > "~tmlne.ss" of writing. The Bibliography shows where to look further<br > ~Ftrtdtr!g a Lawyer. There is no substitute for a lawyer when a wrller<br > has ~egal problems. The writer， though， can avoid most legal dlfficub<br > ~los Oyb.elng aware of troublesome areas and having a general under<br > ~tll!ldlrlg of the laws relating to them. That Is the purpose of this book<br > I! <br > ;<br >