Last week, we discussed
copyright and how a self-published author goes about securing this for their intellectual property, but there are a host of other rights that automatically belong to the author, and in most cases during the traditional publishing process, these rights will be transferred or granted to the publisher exclusively to be exploited in perpetuity or until the contract is terminated. Most self-published authors will only deal with a few of these rights, and most savvy self published authors will grant only non-exclusive licenses to their pod printer and distributor of choice, but I wanted to list all of the rights an author holds:
Primary Rights1 “Hardcover Rights,” including the exclusive right to print, publish, distribute, sell, and generally exploit the Work, in the form of hardcover editions of the Work, distributed primarily through book trade channels such as bookstores and libraries.
2 “Trade Paperback Rights,” including the exclusive right to print, publish, distribute, sell and generally exploit the Work, in the form of “trade paperback” or “quality paperback” editions of the Work distributed through book trade channels such as bookstores and libraries.
3 “Mass-Market Paperback Rights,” including the exclusive right to print, publish, distribute, sell, and generally exploit the Work, whether as original editions or reprints, distributed primarily through the book trade, independent magazine wholesalers, direct accounts, and other customary channels of distribution.
4 “Translation Rights,” including the exclusive right to translate the Work, in whole or in part, into foreign languages, and to use, adapt, or otherwise exploit any and all of the rights in and to such translation(s) anywhere in the world.
5 “Periodical Publication Rights,” including the exclusive right to use and generally exploit all or any portion of the Work, in the form of excerpts, condensations, abridgments, or selections of the Work, in newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals, both in print and other media of publication, whether directly or through syndicates, either before (“First Serial Rights”) or after (“Second Serial Rights”) first publication of the Work in book form.
6 “Book Club Rights,” including the exclusive right to sell copies of the Work to book clubs, or to authorize book clubs to print and sell copies of the Work.
7 “Photocopying and Facsimile Rights,” including the exclusive right to grant or withhold permission for the duplication and transmission of all or part of the Work by photocopying, facsimile, or other like means.
8 “Microfilm Rights,” including the exclusive right to use, adapt, or otherwise exploit the Work, or any portion thereof, in the form of microfilm, microfiche, slide, transparencies, filmstrips, and like processes attaining similar results.
9 “General Print Publication Rights,” including the exclusive right to use and exploit all or any portion of the Work, in the form of condensed or abridged editions, bulk sale and other special sales, including but not limited to premium, promotional, corporate, and institutional sales; excerpts or selections of the Work in anthologies, compilations, digests, textbooks, and other similar works; Braille, large type, and other editions for the handicapped; book fairs; school editions and cheap editions; and unbound sheets.
10 “Direct-Response Marketing Rights,” including the exclusive right to sell copies of the Work in any edition or medium authorized under this Agreement, through any form of direct-response marketing, including but not limited to any form of television, electronic media, direct mail, and catalogs.
11 “Audio Rights,” including the exclusive right to adapt, use, or otherwise generally exploit the Work or any portion thereof in any form of sound recording and reproduction, including but not limited to audiocassettes, compact discs, digital media files, or other similar audio products of any kind or configuration whatsoever now known or hereafter devised, including but not limited to the following.
11.1 Unabridged Sound Recordings. The exclusive right to prepare and generally exploit unabridged non-dramatic sound recordings of the verbatim contents of the Work in its entirety without the addition of any material whatsoever.
11.2 Abridged Sound Recordings. The exclusive right to prepare and generally exploit abridged non-dramatic sound records of the contents of the Work, or any portion thereof, without the use of any other or additional material whatsoever except incidental musical interludes and spoken introductory and explanatory segments.
11.3 Dramatized Sound Recordings. The exclusive right to adapt and use the Work, or any portion thereof, in preparing and generally exploiting dramatized sound recordings of the Work, including scenes, dialogue, and additional material, whether based upon the Work or otherwise.
12 Electronic Rights,” including the exclusive right to use adapt, or otherwise exploit the Work or any portion thereof, alone or in conjunction with other matter, in computer-based and similar electronic and technologies for data entry, storage, retrieval, transmission, display, and output of any and all kinds, and/or like media and technologies attaining similar results, whether now known or hereafter devised. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, “Electronic Rights” include but are not limited to electronic, digital, and computer-based media and technologies of all kinds, and the storage, retrieval, transmission, display, output, and reproduction of data through any such media and technologies, by way of example only, interactive media and multimedia in which the Work may be adapted and used in conjunction with other matter, whether such data is stored on hard drives or other fixed storage media, disks or diskettes, and other portable storage media, and/or remote on-line databases. “Electronic Rights,” as the term is used in this Agreement, include the following specific applications and uses of the Work in computer-based and similar electronic media and technologies for data entry, storage, retrieval, transmission, display, and output of any and all kinds, and/or like media and technologies, attaining similar results, whether now known or hereafter devised.
12.1 Electronic Books, including the exclusive right to use and generally exploit any and all content of the Work, but without the addition of any material whatsoever, in electronic versions of the Work that are reproduced in the form of portable storage media and offered for sale or license to the consumer.
12.2 Publishing-on-Demand, including the exclusive right to store, reproduce, transmit, and generally use and exploit any and all portions of the Work, but without the addition of any material whatsoever, in the form of “Publishing-on-Demand” products and services. By way of illustration only, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, “Publishing-on-Demand” refers to the manufacture and sale of copies of the Work by means of storage, transmission, and output of the Work in which the end product is a single printed copy of the Work for sale to a consumer.
12.3 Databases, Networks, and On-line Services, including the exclusive right to store, reproduce, transmit, and generally use and exploit any and all potions of the Work, but without the addition of any matter whatsoever, in a remote electronic database, network, or other on-line computer service, or similar system attaining like results, for use by consumers who are licensed to access the database, network, or service, and display and\or download for their own personal use only.
12.4 Interactive and Multimedia, including the exclusive right to adapt and generally use and exploit any and all portions of the Work, whether alone or in conjunction other material, in an interactive or multimedia product or service in any of the media or technologies described above, whether now known or hereafter devised.
Secondary Rights1 “Dramatic Rights,” including the exclusive right to use, adapt, or otherwise exploit the work or any element thereof (including but not limited to characters, plot, title, scenes, settings, attire, and physical characteristics) in one or more live theatrical or stage presentations.
2 “Reading Rights,” including the exclusive right to authorize the public reading of any and all portions of the verbatim text of the Work before a live audience, but without dramatization of any kind or the making of any audio, audiovisual, or other recording of the reading.
3 “Motion Picture and Television Rights,” including the exclusive right to use, adapt, or otherwise exploit the Work, or any element thereof (including but not limited to characters, plot, title, scenes, settings, attire, and physical characteristics) in the form of one or more motion pictures and/or television programs of any kind, including but not limited to the right to disseminate such motion pictures and/or television programs by means of distribution and exhibition in theaters or otherwise, broadcasting, cable, satellite, telephone or other land lines, pay-per-view, closed circuit, videocassettes, laser discs, digital video discs, and\or any other form of video transmission, exhibition, reproduction and sale, including but not limited to both analog and digital technologies and all other similar audiovisual media, whether now in existence or hereafter devised.
4 “Radio Rights,” including the exclusive right to use, adapt, or otherwise exploit the Work and any element thereof (including but not limited to characters, plot, title, scenes, settings, attire, and physical characteristics) for any form of radio programming, including but not limited to dissemination by broadcasting, cable, satellite, telephone or other land line, pay-per-view, digital, closed-circuit or other forms of radio transmission, whether now in existence or hereafter devised.
5 “Commercial Rights,” including the exclusive right to manufacture, sell and otherwise distribute products, by-products, services, facilities, merchandise, and other commodities of every nature or description, whether now in existence or hereafter devised, including but not limited to photographs, illustrations, drawings, posters, and other artwork, toys, games, wearing apparel, foods, beverages, cosmetics, toiletries and similar items, which may refer to and embody the Work, or any derivative works based on the Work, including but not limited to characters, plot, title, scenes, settings, attire, and physical characteristics.
6 “Future Media and Technologies,” including the right to disseminate, use, adapt, or otherwise exploit the Work, or to authorize others to do so, by any means or medium of communication now in existence or hereafter devised.
As you can see, an author owns a lot of rights with respect to the work. For authors going the traditional route with their work, their agent will negotiate the rights the author is willing to sell to the publisher, and in most cases, they will be exclusive rights in perpetuity. Self-publishers will normally only
lease or license a few of these rights to their printer and distributor of choice: Lulu, Createspace, and Smashwords for example. So all self-published authors should navigate their contracts carefully to be sure they are granting non-exclusive license for the term of the Agreement: an agreement that can be terminated at will by the Author. You want to also be sure that the contract stipulates that you, the author, own all right, title and interest in and to the Content, including all patent, copyright, trademark, service mark, mask work, moral right, trade secret or other intellectual property or proprietary right (collectively, "Intellectual Property Rights") therein. In simple terms, you are only granting them non-exclusive license. You are not transferring rights as one would in traditional publishing. There are a lot of shady vanity/subsidy publishers out there who use standard traditional publishing boilerplate to exact exclusive rights from the self-published author, often tying up the author’s rights for years. So be very careful and read every word of every agreement you sign. The devil is in the details.
Cheryl Anne Gardner
