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Topic: First contract - rights??? Confused.
| Author | Message |
| amygamet | Posted – 1/20/2008 9:34:09 PM | show profile | email poster I'm reading my first contract, expecting to find something about North American Serial Rights, and all I'm finding is something that sounds like they own my soul, followed by something that says I just have to give them credit if I sell reprints. I really need to understand this before I sign it. Can I sell reprints if I sign this contract as-is? I'm going to copy the whole thing verbatim. There's a Publisher's Rights section and an Author's Rights section. Thank you to anyone willing to help me!! CONTRACT... Publisher's Rights a. Publisher shall be the owner of the article (including the copyright) and shall have the right to publish or authorize others to publish all or one or more parts of the Article for use in one or more magazines, newspapers, or other periodical publications, on Web sites and on-line services, and in all forms and media, including those now existing or those later devised. b. Publisher shall have the worldwide right to publish or authorize others to publish all or parts of the Article to promote Publisher's other publications and manufacturers' products without further compensation. c. Publisher shall have the right to, and may authorize others to, identify and credit Author as the author of the Article and may use or authorize the use of Author's name and pertinent biographical data in connection with the advertising or promotion of Publisher's business. Author's Rights Publisher grants to Author all rights not specified above in this Agreement. Author may exercise those rights if the exercise does not impair the rights of Publisher or its licensees under this Agreement and if Publisher is given credit as follows: "First appeared in Magazine Name, (month and year of issue)." |
| recorder | Posted – 1/21/2008 3:19:05 PM | show profile As this is written, they are buying the copyright, which means you're pretty much left with nothing. Under this contract you can't sell reprints. That clause about "author's rights" is pretty much a bunch of meaningless crap that's supposed to make you feel good. But, the essence is, they get everything; you get nothing. I would approach the editor nicely and say something like, "I've never worked with a client who's asked for such extensive rights to the article. Is there anyway we could arrange for first North American rights (or first world rights or whatever you're looking for) instead?" Who knows if they'll budge, but once you've asked you can decide if you feel comfortable working with them or not. |
| InsomniacNOT | Posted – 1/21/2008 3:43:58 PM | show profile Well, they do let you keep your firstborn. But seriously, if you don't care about the subject matter and they pay well, it's probably no big deal. Of course, I would wonder how potentially lucrative what you are writing would be to them. It could be the answer is not that lucrative and they're just ass covering with that crazy contract. On the other hand, they may see a very rich market for the subject matter and plan on collecting a lot more than they're paying you. In principal "work for hire" should pay significantly more than just publishing rights since they're getting a lot more. |
| westsidestory | Posted – 1/23/2008 2:39:03 PM | show profile This is known as an "all rights contract." It basically turns the ownership of the article to them, and the "Author's Rights" section is an empy shell - it only gives you rights they haven't taken, and they're taking everything, including web, audio, video, international and countless reprints, slicing and dicing of the original whenever they please. All this is OK if it's something you don't care about and don't expect to use in the rest of your writing life. If you do care, see if there is room for negotiation. If the starting price was cheap, tell them that was for First Serial Print only, and if they want more rights, the price must go up. (50% more or double the original, depending on how extensive their current media empire is). Don't buy the argument that "everybody does it this way" "all our writers do this" or "we can't run the article if you don't sign it." All this is false, established writers make their own deals right and left, because they need to: many need to hold reprint rights for books, or websites. But I would stress to hold off only if the subject matter is something you're sure you might want again. If you're not sure, then, just ask for more money in exchange for handing over copyright to this publisher. Good luck, let us know what happens. |
