Creating book soundtracks on Booktrack: JASON HOVEY and PAUL CAMERON

In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss whether an author can safely use a real band's name in a novel title, including how to check for trademarks, why disclaimers won't shield you from lawsuits, and when it's worth consulting an intellectual property attorney.

For those of you waiting to receive some kind of compensation in the Anthropic lawsuit (and indeed those who are waiting on other potential lawsuits and wondering if anything other than hot air is ever likely to come of them), the wait is one step closer to being over. A judge has issued the final approval for the $1.5 billion settlement in the class action case of Bartz v. Anthropic. This will see each of the 91.3 percent of titles in the eligible class whose owners came forward receive payment.

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway covers three stories pointing in the same direction: books are everywhere. He reports on AI search engine Perplexity launching an ebook store, adding yet another major platform to the growing list selling books directly to readers. He examines the Library of Congress's initiative to acquire indie and self-published titles — and explains why copyright registration and deposit matter more than ever in the age of AI lawsuits. And he closes with Spotify's announcement that it has passed 100 million audiobook listeners, now dwarfing Audible in audience size.