Jonathan Kirsch Jonathan Kirsch is a publishing and intellectual property attorney based in Los Angeles, an expert witness on publishing industry matters, an Adjunct Professor on the Faculty of New York University’s Professional Publishing Institute, a veteran book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times and other publications, a guest broadcaster for NPR affiliates KPCC-FM and KCRW-FM, and the author of two books on publishing law and seven books on the Bible as literature and the history of religion. Kirsch’s books include Kirsch’s Handbook of Publishing Law, Kirsch’s Guide to the Book Contract, The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible (Ballantine), God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism (Viking), and A History of the End of the World: How the Bible’s Most Controversial Book Changed the Course of Western Civilization (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006). His latest book is The Grand Inquisitor’s Manual: A History of Terror in the Name of God (HarperOne, 2008). Among his clients are enterprises and individuals outside the media whose business activities include intellectual property assets and issues, including health care professionals, educational and religious institutions, and manufacturers and distributors of food, apparel, and architectural and building products. Kirsch and his colleagues practice as the Law Offices of Jonathan Kirsch, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 515, Los Angeles, California 90067, Tel. (310) 785-1200, Fax (310) 286-9573. Email: jk@jonathankirsch.com. Website: www.jonathankirsch.com. The firm, which is a California professional corporation, accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Kirsch serves as an expert witness in various publishing-related matters, including cases involving claims of copyright infringement, breach of contract, libel, invasion of privacy, and idea misappropriation. Kirsch delivers annual lectures on recent developments in publishing law at Book Expo America, the annual trade show and convention of the American Booksellers Association, and he is an Adjunct Professor on the faculty of New York University’s Professional Publishing Institute. Kirsch writes and lectures on legal topics relating to the publishing industry for the Independent Book Publishers Association (formerly the Publishers Marketing Association); the Western Publishing Association; the Practising Law Institute; the Intellectual Property, Internet and New Media Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association; the Publishers Association of the West; the Publishers Association of Los Angeles; the National Museum Publishing Seminar of the University of Chicago’s Graham School; and the ABA Forum on Entertainment and Sports Law; the Authors Guild, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Mystery Writers Association, the Independent Writers of Southern California, California Lawyers for the Arts, Sisters in Crime, Southwest Manuscripters, and other publishing industry associations. Kirsch has also served as a guest lecturer at the Bowers Museum, the Skirball Cultural Center and Museum, the American Jewish University, the University of Southern California, the Center for Inquiry West, the Center for Religious Inquiry (New York and Los Angeles), and the Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz campuses of the University of California. His recent featured addresses include: Antioch University (Creative Writing Program – Commencement Speaker, 2007), the Association of Jewish Libraries (Keynote Speaker, 2007), the Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York (Keynote Speaker, 2008), and the University of California at Santa Cruz (Distinguished Alumnus Lecture, 2009). Kirsch serves as legal counsel for the Independent Book Publishers Association (formerly Publishers Marketing Association), which presented him with its Benjamin Franklin Award for Special Achievement in Publishing, as well as pro bono counsel for the Center for Media Literary, California Lawyers for the Arts, and The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Kirsch has contributed book reviews to the Los Angeles Times continuously since 1968. He also contributes book reviews to the Washington Post, the Toronto Globe & Mail, and other publications. Kirsch is a guest host for The Politics of Culture on KCRW-FM and a guest commentator on KPCC-FM, both of which are National Public Radio affiliates located in Southern California, and has appeared as a publishing industry expert on various NPR and Public Radio International programs. Kirsch is the author of three national bestsellers, THE HARLOT BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD: Forbidden Tales of the Bible (Ballantine Books, 1997), MOSES: A Life (Ballantine Books, 1998), and KING DAVID: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel (Ballantine Books, 2000). He is also the author of THE WOMAN WHO LAUGHED AT GOD: The Untold History of the Jewish People (Viking, 2001, the best-selling GOD AGAINST THE GODS: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism (Viking, 2004), and the best-selling A History of the End of the World: How the Bible’s Most Controversial Book Changed the Course of Western Civilization (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006). His latest book is THE GRAND INQUISITOR’S MANUAL: A History of Terror in the Name of God (HarperOne, 2008). He is a member of the Authors Guild, National Book Critics Circle, PEN Center USA West (for which he served three terms as president and currently serves as a member of the Board of Advisors), the Los Angeles Copyright Society (on whose Board of Trustees he formerly served), the Los Angeles Intellectual Property Association, and the Intellectual Property Sections of the California State Bar and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Kirsch was born in Los Angeles in 1949, attended high school in Culver City, and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the Santa Cruz campus of the University of California, where he was award honors in Russian and Jewish history and Adlai E. Stevenson College honors. A member of the California State Bar since 1976, he earned a Juris Doctor degree cum laude at Loyola University School of Law, where he served as Teaching Fellow in legal communications. Before embarking on the practice of law, Kirsch was senior editor of California Magazine (formerly New West Magazine), where he specialized in coverage of law, government and politics. Previously, he worked as West Coast correspondent for Newsweek, an editor for West and Home magazines at the Los Angeles Times, and a reporter for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. As a freelance writer, he has contributed to California Lawyer, Los Angeles Lawyer, New West, Los Angeles Magazine, New Republic, Publishers Weekly, Performing Arts, Human Behavior, L.A. Architect and other publications. He is also the author of two novels, Bad Moon Rising (New American Library, 1977) and Lovers in a Winter Circle (New American Library, 1978). Kirsch is married to Ann Benjamin Kirsch, Psy.D., a family therapist in private practice in Beverly Hills. |