Erin Napier is often asked about one design choice on her HGTV show “Home Town.” While she’s answered the pressing question in the past, she’s addressing it again, pulling back the curtain on a show “secret.”
Erin Napier Reveals Why Books Are Turned Around on HGTV Shows
On September 16, Napier and her husband, Ben, took to her Instagram Stories to share some insight about why books are turned around on their show “Home Town.”
She gets asked about it a lot and it’s not a design choice she chooses, but rather it’s a necessity because of copyright laws.
“The books!” the text on her video noted, as she and Ben stood in front of shelves loaded with books, all with their spines facing the wall.
“You guys, I have a little secret to share with you,” she said. “It shouldn’t be a secret at this point because I’ve said it so many times.”
The HGTV star continued, “But we’re going to say it one more time.”
Ben joked, “This looks so neat. Is this a design preference to turn the books around?”
“No, Ben,” Napier responded. “It sure isn’t.”
“It protects us from copyright laws, where we would have to get the permission of every author whose book is shown in order to show the title of their book on a reality TV program,” she explained.
Napier added, “This rule does not apply to such programs as television news, but it applies for this type of programming.”
“Anyway,” she said, before singing “The more you know!”
HGTV Star Explained Book Orientation Before: ‘I Hate It’
On June 2, Napier took to Instagram to share highlights of their season 9 finale renovation. Along with the images of their work, she wrote in the caption: “That’s a wrap, and the vinyl wrapped appliances are my favorite idea I’ve ever had. I love the way Rose is unafraid of color and living out loud, and I wish it for us all.”
One person commented about the way the books were placed on the shelves. “Erin, Erin, Erin … I have always loved everything you do, but shelving books spine-in is a crime against humanity … or at least against bookanity,” they wrote.
Another fan shared, “It’s just for staging on television. I think it has something to do with showing the titles and possibly licensing?”
Napier explained the reason behind it, writing, “No, it’s copyright issues. Legal team won’t let us show spines.”
Another fan asked, “Could we normalize placing books with their bindings forward? I don’t know when it became cool to put them in ‘backwards’ but it bugs me.”
The HGTV star made it clear that it’s not her choice at all. “It’s not cool, it’s a legal requirement for TV,” Napier explained. “I hate it, but we have to do it this way.”
