ASPIRING AUTHORS: BE AWARE OF AMERICAN BOOK PUBLISHING!

Freedom of Speech is a right given to every American citizen, but there are limits. Defamation and slander are serious offenses and are punishable by law. According to non-profit group The Media Law Resource Center, “libel and slander are legal claims for false statements of fact about a person that are printed, broadcast, spoken or otherwise communicated to others. … A successful defamation plaintiff may be entitled to a jury award of money damages. In some instances, the plaintiff may also be awarded punitive damages for particularly reprehensible conduct.”

David L. Kuzminski, who maintains the website Preditors & Editors, where he lists and ranks publishers and agents, was sued for defamation on Feb. 13, 2008 by Victor E. Cretella III, who represents PublishAmerica LLP. The case originated when Cretella wrote a letter to Christine Norris to stop publishing defamatory comments about PublishAmerica, which she did, but then she mentioned being forced to stop on an online forum. Kuzminski responded with statements for which Cretella sued.

Some of the case details of the case can be found at the Citizen Media Law Project, a joint venture of Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Center for Citizen Media at Arizona State University. The Citizen Media Law Project provides information on legal issues related to online speech. The page also provides links to pertinent documents related to this court case.

Kuzminski isn’t the first one to offer his opinion online, nor will he be the last. The trouble lies when information provided can be found false and harmful to someone’s reputation. Says The Media Law Resource Center: “In order for the person about whom a statement is made to recover for libel, the false statement must be defamatory, meaning that it actually harms the reputation of the other person, as opposed to being merely insulting or offensive.”

On Feb. 4, 2009, the jury found in favor of Cretella, and Kuzminski was fined $236,000.

An editorial posted on Writer’s News Weekly professes that perhaps now others in the publishing industry who have been defamed will come forward. The Internet is riddled with information about publishers who supposedly scam authors—of course there are scammers out there, and those looking to publish their manuscript should always check with trusted sources before working with any company.

But readers should be cautious about who they trust. Websites, articles, or blogs that post harmful information about a company should document its statements. Otherwise the writer may have a hidden agenda. Anyone can post information online at the click of a button, and so readers should also check out the individual who has written potentially defaming statements. Is the writer someone who can be trusted? What are their qualifications? There is no magic wand online to help readers determine fact from fiction, and so they must have a keen eye and look for truth themselves.

On his website, http://pred-ed.com, Kuzminiski offers the information as a “guide for serious writers.” It is not clear if Kuzminiski is a successful writer or possesses other credentials that show him to be an authority of the publishing industry; he has had several ebooks and audio books for sale; his audiocassettes show to be out of stock on amazon.com. Now Kuzminski is asking for donations to help pay for his legal defenses in court on the main page of his website.