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Q&A

Do I really need disclaimers?

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I write non fiction books about computer science and security (Zzz) but with the security bits in particular, do I really need to put a disclaimer saying "hey don't go hack the government" on my ebooks?

Could some reader potentially turn around and say "you didn't warn me stealing credit card information is illegal" and try some frivolous lawsuit? - I constantly find myself reading and writing these little "don't use this in the real world" messages and its becoming cumbersome.

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This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/14395. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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If you really think someone is going to use your book as a how-to, then write a preface which is a single large, comprehensive disclaimer. Put all the "don't do this at home" copy there, and if it's an e-book, throw in the occasional link back to it.

(Also, don't publish genuine secrets, and you may want to have the number of a good lawyer on hand as a backup. Because people are sometimes insane.)

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