Publishing Laws in Ireland

Brendan Flowers

I'm in the early stages of developing a handbook which will be distributed for free to my customers on a yearly basis. I want to be sure all of the content is legally ok to publish. It'll be a combination of data gathered from my website, surveys and also some statistics of certain health organisations in the country.

Who would I be best to speak to? A solicitor or a publishing firm? At this early stage Im thinking a publishing firm might be the best option. If so, are there any in Ireland I could contact for this type of advice?

Grolschevik

If you're already wondering whether the content is 'legally OK to publish', then your best bet would be to get it checked out by a solicitor, preferably one with media/publishing/data protection law experience.

Edit: if you're going to be paying a publisher to edit, design and print for you, the firm may have a legal advisor on call to consult.

Robbo

Be aware that the statistics you propose using may have conditions attached to their re-use. You may wish to investigate what kind of licencing regime is in place, if any.

Brendan Flowers

I've actually spoken to 1 solicitor already. It wasn't an area they were very familiar with and so were unable to help. But it was them who advised first contacting a publisher.

I won't be using a publishing firm to design/edit the handbook. Therefore what I'd be looking for is a publishing company that also provides consultation services.

As for the stats, the majority with be complied based off data I've collected. For the other stats I have already been given permission to publish those.

Steve

When you collected the data, was it voluntarily given?
Were the subjects informed as to what the purpose of collection was and did that include publishing?

Brendan Flowers

The data was gathered both from information submitted to my website and through a survey which was sent out to all subscribed. Both the terms of use for the website and the information provided in the survey email made it clear the purpose of the data gathering and its intended use, both online and in printed additions.

Brendan Flowers

Does anyone know if there are any Publishing companies in Ireland that provide legal consulation services?

Grolschevik

Brendan Flowers wrote:

Does anyone know if there are any Publishing companies in Ireland that provide legal consulation services?

I'm not aware of any, and any such advice would be unlikely to be provided by a professional legal expert.

If they have such services on tap, they either have a dedicated in-house counsel or outsource to a solicitors' firm.

Besides, trying to get such advice through a publishing firm is actually unlikely to be significantly cheaper than using a solicitor yourself.

You need to find a solicitor that knows the relevant issues in the area. Again, if you already have questions in your mind about the material you hope to publish, you really need to get proper advice.

Grolschevik

To add: non-solicitors can't hold themselves out as providing 'legal services'.

Brendan Flowers

I already spoke to a legal firm. It was a solicitor with this firm that actually advised me to speak to a publishing firm first. They believed a publisher would be in a better position to provide advice relating to my planned handbook. However I would happily speak to another legal firm if they were specialists in this area.

Unfortunately so far I have been unable to find either a solicitor or publisher that can provide the services I need. Would anyone here be able to recommend someone? Even send me a PM if you dont want giving out information on the forum.

Steve

My amateur understanding of DPA in this regard is that as long as the information (privately gathered) was volunteered / given freely / with the knowledge that it would be collated and eventually published then you should have no problem.

It's a bit like making a post on boards, part of the site TOU grants boards a perpetual right to publish the contents your post. You post here in full expectation and permission that boards will publish it (i.e. display it on their site).

Brendan Flowers

Yes, the gathering of the data made clear the intended use of the result. Anyone who participated agreed to this. This bit isn't a concern for me. What is would be the naming certain health organisations in my handbook. All I would be publishing regarding these organisations is stats that I have already been given permission to use from another party. But it wont contain opinions, just useful facts.

Steve

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

What is would be the naming certain health organisations in my handbook. All I would be publishing regarding these organisations is stats that I have already been given permission to use from another party. But it wont contain opinions, just useful facts.

OK, do those parties have authority to grant you publishing rights?

Is the data from the health organisations already in the public domain? in that case you need only cite the public source.

What you also need to me mindful of is not to republish opinions - i.e copy and paste what others have written. If you surmise it in your own words or draw your own conclusions based on publicly available data or collated data with permission then I believe you are good.

Brendan Flowers

Yes, the data is in the public domain and the correct parties have given me permission to publish the data.

So let's say one page in the handbook was dedicated to, for example, 'Dublin Health Organisation'. Figures, stats and graphs on this page might show things like the number of visits they had for people within certain age ranges, male or female, etc. And the page wont contain any opinions. So would it be ok for me to create this without getting permission from 'Dublin Health Organisation'? Or would they still need to sign off on the publishing of their name in a handbook?

Steve

If there's any doubt, you should seek permission.

I would have thought any data set like that would include terms of use somewhere.

Brendan Flowers

There is no issue with the data Im planning to use. Permission has been granted to publish it from the required parties.

The only concern is publishing an organisations name. Even though I have an agreement to use stats related to their facility, are they legally entitled to say I dont have permission to associate their name with it?

Steve

I would guess probably yes but I honestly don't know.

Brendan Flowers

Thanks, I appreciate all the advice!

What I need is preferably to speak to a legal firm who deal with publishing laws. I'm just finding it so difficult to find any in Ireland with the relevant knowledge in this area.

GM228

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Thanks, I appreciate all the advice!

What I need is preferably to speak to a legal firm who deal with publishing laws. I'm just finding it so difficult to find any in Ireland with the relevant knowledge in this area.

Media Lawyer Solicitors and Hayes Solicitors are two firms which I believe specialise in publishing laws.

Might be worth seeking their advice.

http://www.medialawyer.ie

http://hayes-solicitors.ie/Home[/quote]