Helpline
Your writing problems solved with advice from Diana Cambridge
Email your queries to Diana (please include home-town details) at: diana@dianacambridge.co.uk or send them to: Helpline, Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD. She will answer as many letters as she can on the page, but regrets that she cannot enter into individual correspondence. Publication of answers may take several months. Helpline cannot personally answer queries such as where to offer work, or comment on manuscripts, which you are asked not to send.
Q I have recently thought about sending pitches to editors for features on prominent people; I was going to write these features based on information from books. I was wondering if I would be breaking any copyright laws by doing this.
Sarah Wood, Wootton Bridge, Isle of Wight
A Most writers will do a lot of their research from books. In addition they may have access to letters, interviews with family and friends – even to the personality they are writing about. It’s fine to use material that’s in the public domain – ie that anyone can access, like a book or words on the internet. What you can’t do is copy word for word. Then you would be breaking copyright – so precis the material, change the wording and the adjectives. It’s wise to add some new angles and new material. Think about your theme for the features – what’s so special about these people? It’s good if they have some kind of link: for example, they are all women artists, or young scientists, or some other unifying bond.