The IPKat was reviewing a book publishing contract yesterday for a friend who, unable to afford a real lawyer, gets all his legal advice from a fictional cat. He was very excited about being offered the contract for this, his first novel, but he was also worried. Was he going to sign away the fruits of several years' toil and find he had little or nothing to show for it in return?
Perusing the terms of the contract, the IPKat got the unmistakeable impression that it had not been drafted by a team of legal beagles. Indeed, it resembled a patchwork quilt of boilerplate legal clauses cemented together with a few samples of homegrown draftsmanship. There was no formal assignment of copyright to the publisher; nor was there even an exclusive licence. But the author was required to extend to the publisher nothing more than "the right to publish" the novel in Europe and publish and the right "to exploit the manuscript in any other form and locale".
This sort of drafting gives the publisher nothing more than a non-exclusive right to publish. It also appears to confer a right to publish the original manuscript rather than the literary work it contains. The term "Europe" is dreadfully imprecise: is it a geographical, economic, political or cultural concept? And what entitlement does the right to publish in a "locale" actually confer upon the publisher?
If the book fails to sell, no-one will suffer. But if it becomes a raging success, the IPKat is certain that from this clause there will sprout a veritable cornucopia of litigation. Sometimes going to a lawyer, or at least reading a law book, isn't such a very terrible option.
Problems with publishing contracts here and here
How to understand, explain and negotiate your own publishing contracts
Publish your own book here, here or here
Perusing the terms of the contract, the IPKat got the unmistakeable impression that it had not been drafted by a team of legal beagles. Indeed, it resembled a patchwork quilt of boilerplate legal clauses cemented together with a few samples of homegrown draftsmanship. There was no formal assignment of copyright to the publisher; nor was there even an exclusive licence. But the author was required to extend to the publisher nothing more than "the right to publish" the novel in Europe and publish and the right "to exploit the manuscript in any other form and locale".
This sort of drafting gives the publisher nothing more than a non-exclusive right to publish. It also appears to confer a right to publish the original manuscript rather than the literary work it contains. The term "Europe" is dreadfully imprecise: is it a geographical, economic, political or cultural concept? And what entitlement does the right to publish in a "locale" actually confer upon the publisher?
If the book fails to sell, no-one will suffer. But if it becomes a raging success, the IPKat is certain that from this clause there will sprout a veritable cornucopia of litigation. Sometimes going to a lawyer, or at least reading a law book, isn't such a very terrible option.
Problems with publishing contracts here and here
How to understand, explain and negotiate your own publishing contracts
Publish your own book here, here or here
DRAFT YOUR OWN EPITAPH
![<strong>DRAFT YOUR OWN EPITAPH</strong>]()
Reviewed by Jeremy
on
Friday, October 03, 2003
Rating:
Follow the IPKat on LinkedIn 
![[Guest post] EUIPO Second Board of Appeal refers case to Grand Board of Appeal following earlier refusal to register a photograph of a man’s head/face as an EU trade mark](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUj9v-k3DYaSVMR4lsmKDLHVB5nIoINuvZNbH2TQCelrfaAE9qmGSAQs-plzQ7HnZ7Svk_gRdrIODp0Nat5vpWajduit3xkArNhK76AHhX770RIJ62thfCVI5fnvcXU-5zH4NkUSfPY9FjRMFiK7OKJ7m7YSo2FzhyPSoA8ZWCsxaOXb0bBCoPQA/s72-c/Picture%201.png)
![[Guest post] Benelux Office rules on opposition proceedings prepared by ChatGPT](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29VY0rNNP1Hqyz8RgB47r4q7fhqQfYHxsEbX_RKmT4KU5Y_vg7vB6dsAW91CidjMfJ38klTvD4mMtZb3QmwFPAHaGF88BPttWSbfYvo7UUg7MpFRTNtEjThmG0QaX2qZFFHSnN71i3YQZSBFC0SL7PgkAlme-XH8cSNWRFbOAOuLr_LMOGcImLQ/s72-c/Screenshot%202024-12-04%20at%2020.45.58.png)
Posts
No comments:
All comments must be moderated by a member of the IPKat team before they appear on the blog. Comments will not be allowed if the contravene the IPKat policy that readers' comments should not be obscene or defamatory; they should not consist of ad hominem attacks on members of the blog team or other comment-posters and they should make a constructive contribution to the discussion of the post on which they purport to comment.
It is also the IPKat policy that comments should not be made completely anonymously, and users should use a consistent name or pseudonym (which should not itself be defamatory or obscene, or that of another real person), either in the "identity" field, or at the beginning of the comment. Current practice is to, however, allow a limited number of comments that contravene this policy, provided that the comment has a high degree of relevance and the comment chain does not become too difficult to follow.
Learn more here: http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/p/want-to-complain.html