BY KATHI KAMEN GOLDMARK AND SAM BARRY

The Author Enablers are here to answer your questions about writing and publishing. Together, Kathi and Sam have more than 25 years of experience in book publishing. Kathi is an author, radio producer and former publicist; Sam is a marketing manager at a major publishing company and a freelance editor. They are also proud members of the Rock Bottom Remainders, the all-author rock band founded by Kathi in 1992.

How to get on the FBI watchlist

Dear Author Enablers,

I have been having difficulty trying to obtain information from the FBI regarding law enforcement procedures. The bureau is reluctant to give out any information concerning counterterrorism. Do you have any suggestions?

Ronald O. Reis
Sebring, Florida

So, the FBI is playing hard-to-get? We're shocked that the bureau isn't eager to turn over sensitive national security information to any writer who asks. Perhaps they're just not used to being pursued. We think your best bet is to seek other sources for background details that would lend your writing an air of authenticity. For general guidance, many books are available for authors who need to get their facts straight when writing about crime. Three titles that come to mind are Howdunit: How Crimes Are Committed and Solved by John Boertlein, The Crime Writers Reference Guide by Martin Roth, and Scene of the Crime: A Writer's Guide to Crime-Scene Investigations by Anne Wingate.

Another option is to go to the source and find out what law enforcement people are reading. One possibility is The Counterterrorism Handbook: Tactics, Procedures, and Techniques by Frank Bolz Jr., Kenneth J. Dudonis and David P. Schulz. Or approach the FBI another way—we found the website of the FBI's Office of Forensic Science Communications to be chock-full of information. You'll have to wade through many details to find what you want, but then, it sounds like you're a detail-oriented writer.

Dear Author Enablers,

I'm putting together a book consisting of a stew of various ingredients ranging from famous quotes to top-ten lists to satirical advertisements to anecdotes. I have a question about anecdotes and little stories I have received via e-mail: If they are in cyberspace are they free for the taking, or would I be infringing on copyright? The anecdotes have no author. My friends send them to me. Can I simply list the Internet as the source?

Anthony Sirianni
Fairfield, Connecticut

There are a couple of different issues involved here and while we are not legal experts, we do have some commonsense knowledge of the subject. First of all, every piece of writing has an author(s). The most ethical approach is to get permission from the author and give credit for any words you use that are not your own. If you've done your best to find the author and it is impossible (as may be the case with jokes circulated on the Internet), then you should give credit to that incredibly prolific guy, "Anonymous."

If someone sends you an e-mail freely passing on an anecdote from personal experience, it seems only right to ask permission before putting it in your book. To breach copyright, forwarding of an e-mail must be a communication to the public. Most e-mails are sent to individuals, who do not meet the definition of "public."

Personal e-mails are not likely to have sufficient originality to be protected by copyright laws. However, e-mail recipients should pay attention to copyright notices and prohibitions contained in e-mail disclaimers.

There is another situation that comes to mind with jokes and stories going around the Internet. We have received e-mails with writing that was clearly taken whole-hog out of published works. On several occasions we've recognized the wit of Sam's brother, humorist Dave "Booger Joke" Barry, with no credit given. People deserve acknowledgment for their original, copyrighted work, and other writers should avoid violating this right.

Finally, we want to thank Anthony for enclosing a copy of the old joke about the urologist's office waiting room, the man struggling with impotence, the receptionist and the line about sex change operations. (If you don't know the joke, you're out of luck, because we're not going to print it here.)

Thanks for writing,
THE AUTHOR ENABLERS