Electronic rights may not be as openly controversial as DRM nor may they have a large blog following, but they’re essential nonetheless. Publishers and authors should continue taking great care when writing and negotiating a publishing contract. Publishers can’t risk becoming RandomHouse when a new technology breaks onto the scene, and authors can only claim innocence about their contracts for so long before courts will start looking at cases like New York vs Tasini as old lessons authors should have learned years before. The world will continue to expect the publishing world to be on-point with publishing contracts, and the terms will have lasting effects for the life of the book’s copyright–which, as was previously determined, could be a hundred-and-twenty years or more under current law. At some point, even litigation can’t erase the fact that you missed something in negotiations. Take the time to get it right now.
Recommendations for Publishers Acquiring Electronic Rights
- Retain electronic rights in as broad a sense of the term as possible, including but not limited to rights for…
- electronic books
- video games
- DVD/CD-ROM versions
- republication on online databases
- Carefully decide whether previous publication as an e-book still warrants purchase of first serial rights
- Devise clear limitations for an out-of-print definition, especially if a coinciding print run will be print-on-demand
- Clearly define author royalties for electronic books
- Consider the electronic edition a fully contractible edition: define the publication standards, your current and your future rights as clearly as you would when contracting a hardback edition. You can miss out on great opportunities by dissmissing the importance of electronic rights.
- Plan to use whatever electronic rights you acquire
Recommendations for Authors Retaining and.or Relinquishing Electronic Rights
- Retain electronic rights that you have the means to utilize, whether through sale or personal action
- If the publisher is equipped to properly support some, if not all, of the electronic rights you are willing to sell to them, carefully determine terms. Ensure clauses regarding electronic editions are as detailed and favorable as print clauses
- If the publisher isn’t equipped to support electronic editions, consider retaining rights and adding a clause specifying that the publisher can approach you with a new contract, specifically for electronic rights, in the future
- Stay involved in decisions about out-of-print definitions, non-compete clauses, and second book options, not just royalties.
- You may want to control whether or not you can buy back electronic book rights when sales or royalty rates drop below a certain point–separately from the print out-of-print limitations
- You may want to publish your e-book elsewhere–in full or in part–for free if you decide to retain rights. Make sure your contract specifies that this practice is not considered publication of a competing work.
- You may want to publish an e-book, and not a print book, after your first book has been published. Make sure you define whether your publisher has the option to offer you a contract for this e-book before you shop it to other publishers or decide to self-publish it.
