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Subject:Errors & omissions insurance From:Alyce Barry <Twab -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Sun, 18 Dec 1994 23:56:04 -0500
A year ago I sold a newsletter I had published for 3 years. It was a trade
journal
for a local industry, 16 pages monthly, about 1000 paid subscribers.
In my second year of publishing, I unintentionally published something
erroneous, and the person it concerned threatened to sue me. I was advised
to
incorporate immediately, and I did. (I priced incorporation from 3
attorneys,
the quotes were $450, $600, and $700.) I was further advised to treat the
corporation as a completely separate entity. My atty. felt that as long as I
always
respected the boundary, I could not be liable beyond the assets of the
corporation
because no one could "pierce the corporate veil," as he put it. Respecting
the
boundary included never paying for a personal item with a corporate check or
vice versa, and always saying the corporation was "the publisher."
The subject of errors & omissions insurance arose, and my attorney felt it
was
unnecessary and cost-prohibitive. He priced it at about $2000. He felt that
e&o
was needed only by someone who might be sued for libel or slander. My
newsletter
was a purveyor of information only, not opinion (no columnists, reviews,
etc.), so
the likelihood of my committing libel or slander was slim. My attorney felt
that that
in the event I published something in error and was sued, the person suing
would
see I didn't have "deep pockets" and desist.
I also contacted a man I knew who had been publishing a similar newsletter
in another state. He'd been at it longer and had much more business savvy
than I. He also felt e&o insurance was unnecessary. He said he had
never carried it, despite having been sued once. He described that instance
briefly, saying that once it was clear that he had made an unintentional
error,
the suit was dismissed.
I advise you to contact an attorney knowledgeable about the publishing world,
where e&o insurance is an issue, to confirm what I've said and get more
information in regard to technical writing. Leaving a detailed paper trail
concerning any controversial project is probably also a good idea. I hope
some
of this is helpful.
