Q. The bankruptcy of Triskelion Enterprises, LLC, to which I had sold a romance, has brought to light an outrageous abuse of authors’ rights by federal bankruptcy judges. Many publishing contracts—I’ve sold eighty novels, so I’m very familiar with these– include a clause stating that, in the event of the publisher’s bankruptcy, all rights in…
Tag Archives | reversion
What should I watch out for in the “competitive books” clause?
By Mark Levine on August 20, 2012 in Competitive Books, Out-of-Print, Reversion of Rights, Royalties, Uncategorized
Q. Is there anything I have to be particularly careful about in the “competitive books” clause? A. Yes. Lots. The most important is to make sure that the prohibition on competitive works applies only to competitive books. Otherwise, your publisher might be able to prohibit you from publishing certain magazine articles and very likely could…
Is there a standard definition of “electronic rights”?
By Mark Levine on August 20, 2012 in Agented Rights, Definitions, E-Books, Electronic Rights, Grant of Rights, Reversion of Rights, Subsidiary Rights
Q. Is there a standard definition of “electronic rights”? A. No, not for “electronic rights” nor for the many different rights encompassed in that term. (Some contracts use “multimedia rights” instead of “electronic rights,” but there is no agreement on what that term means either.) Most electronic rights definitions used in publishers’ contracts are too…
