OJ Simpson book makes waves in publishing world
When I first heard about the release of the OJ Simpson book If I Did It, I shrugged it off and made no plans to write about the controversial book here. I want to avoid, as much as possible, giving in to celebrity sensationalism and prevent Brad’s Reader from becoming just another online tabloid.
But then last night, as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep, I began to think about the larger issue with the Simpson book and how it ties in with the ethics of publishing. Certainly Simpson and his ghost writer had every right to pen the book, I don’t think many would disagree with that premise.
More complicated, however, is whether or not the book should have been published and released to the public. On the one hand, the book appears to recount the tragic and grisly murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, which makes many worry about the possibility of profiteering from the killings.
But on the other hand, Simpson no longer owns the rights to the book and won’t receive a dime from it. Instead, Fred Goldman (father of Ron) will be the one to receive the proceeds to help pay off the $38 million wrongful death judgment to which he is entitled.
That’s where it gets complicated because there is more than one family who has been victimized. Nicole’s family has come out publicly denouncing the book and trying to persuade the Goldman’s from going through with its release. As victims, both family has rights in this case, and those rights are directly at odds with each other. Who actually wins out in this case is something the courts might have to decide (although since the book has been released, the Browns might be out of luck).
In the end, the laws in the United States don’t place a lot of limits on what can and can’t be published. Therefore, the burden falls onto the shoulders of the publishing companies and their editors to decide if a book is truly worthy of publication. However, like any business, they are also motivated by money, which can and does blind them to to the possible ethical problems of publishing such filth.
I guess a lot of this will boil down to the reading public. If enough are outraged, then the book won’t sell and eventually will be pulled from the shelves. Just as writers and publishers have every right to publish a book like this (and I fully support that right), we the public have the right not to buy it.
Read the latest from Yahoo! News about this case:
Goldman family appears on ‘Oprah’ Show
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