File this under "Truly Useful."

Charles Glasser, Jr., Media Counsel at Bloomberg News, has just published the "International Libel & Privacy Handbook," subtitled "A Global Reference for Journalists, Publishers, Webmasters, and Lawyers."  As the reach of print, broadcast, and of course online media becomes worldwide, ignorance about the libel and privacy laws of seemingly far-away jurisdictions is no longer a viable option.

Glasser has put together certainly the most up-to-date and comprehensive, if not the first and only, nation-by-nation summary of these laws, written by legal experts in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and concluding with a section on "Issues of Global Interest," including a cross-reference chart, discussion of special issues for book publishers, enforcing foreign judgments, and fair use (guess what?—it "stops at the border").

As Floyd Abrams says (and if you don't know who he is, you don't need to worry about media law),

"At long last, we can now compare on a nation-by-nation basis how countries in the Americas, Asia, and Europe deal with libel and privacy issues and how that treatment differs from that of the United States.  This book offers a sophisticated and reader-friendly response to the core questions that any practitioner frequently must consider."

Not available on Amazon, you can buy it through Bloomberg Books.