If you have recently written a book and are wanting more information on book publishing law before seeking publication from a publishing house, this post will help you to consider the elements of your work requiring legal support and protection.
Here are 5 things to consider when it comes to book publishing law and the legal aspects of book publishing you may want to consider:
1) Registering Within The U.S?
If you are wanting to publish your book in the U.S, you will need to register your copyright with the Library of Congress, but you don’t need to worry about this in the UK, as copyrigh
2) What are Non Disclosure Agreements And Should I Consider Drafting One?
A Non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, is a legal contract which can be given, in this instance to any employee or anyone involved across the publishing process whereby they sign to agree that they will not disclose any information nor pass it off as their own. A solicitor can assist with the drafting of non-disclosure agreements to be sent to employees involved across all points of the publishing process. The legal protection of a creator’s work can extend to others involved, for example, a printer could be found responsible for a libellous misprint.
3) What Is A Distribution Agreement?
A distribution agreement is a legal agreement between two parties to decide the handling of a distribution item, in this case, a book.
Very few publishing houses have their own distribution systems, most companies will have to negotiate a distribution agreement directly with a distributor. This needs to be very carefully arranged and it is important that this is achieved right from the start. This agreement is when discounts and royalties are decided, and what the split of the money between the two parties will look like.
4) Operating A Secure Permissions System
It is really important to identify where third parties originate from that the author or publisher want. Secondly, who is going to be clearing permissions? Should a budget or fees be proposed and who is going to be paying? What policy needs to be put in place for a situation where rights owners don’t respond to permission requests or for fees that exceed a budget? A secure permissions system identifies the correct owner(s), tracks the granted permission (together with any associated fee) and details the license granted.
5) Advising On The Management Of Subsidiary Rights
Smaller publishers often don’t consider this aspect of their business, most often because they are unaware of subsidiary rights. Proper management of the subsidiary rights can be problematic to a publisher who isn’t as experienced. Subsidiary rights are inclusive of the rights of the book that means it becomes another creation. For example, a film adaptation, excerpts to be published elsewhere, audio books, for the book to be translated into other languages- these kinds of situations where the book is the basis for the making of something else.
As the recent case of Penguin Random House showed, subsidiaries are integral to a publisher’s success. The management and exploitation rights can be difficult tasks for inexperienced publishers, but when done right they’re incredibly profitable ventures.