Receiving Income from Books

[Laura Mosby]

is it illegal for a prisoner in the state of Michigan to receive money from a book written while incarcerated in prison?

 

[lawrat]

http://michiganlegislature.org/law/IterativeSearch.asp

Go to the search window in the mainframe and look up prisoners.


____________________________________________________________
I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

 

[Laura Mosby]

Thank you for your help, I'll check out that site.

 

[racer72]

Federal law prohibits prisoners from profitting from from books and news stories while they are incarcerated if the book or new story is about what got them in jail. Washington state has the same law on the books but it is being challenged by a prisoner in a high profile case. It concerns a school teacher in her 30's that had a relationship with a 14 year old boy that has resulted in 2 children. She has had offers in the 7 figure range for her story but in unable to sell her story due to state law. She is claiming that it is her right to sell her story to support her children and the children's father (now 17). She was denied in the state supreme court and it is now on the docket for the 9th District court in the near future. A correct reply to your question would be what is the book about?

 

[Laura Mosby]

The Book is not about any crimes that resulted in the incarceration of the individual. It is about his experiences in prison for the past 25 years. He has asked me to send it to a publisher for him, but before doing so, I wanted to make sure I was not involving myself in anything illegal. Do you have the Federal Statute Cite?

And thank you for responding.