Have a client who is going to publish a cookbook. If someone were to make a recipe and then get sick from it would a CGL policy cover this as bodily injury?

Wisconsin Subscriber

This is a tough one because it gets to the heart of authors and publishers' liabilities, all of which fall under media liability. There are four main legal causes of action that writers may be exposed to: copyright infringement, defamation, public disclosure of private facts, and misappropriation of name or likeness. Most publishing contracts make the author indemnify (i.e., reimburse) the publisher for any damages and costs, including legal fees, resulting from claims brought on any of these grounds, regardless of whether the claim is ultimately successful. None of these would be covered by the standard CGL.