Thread: Can someone elaborate on this phrase please

I read a lot of anthologies and under the publishers copyright, such as "Copyright Acme Publishing 2012" I see this notice:

"Each author retains their individual copyrights to their stories."

Now, I am more a reader then a writer, and certainly no lawyer, so my guess would be that it means that the publisher owns the right to use the individual story in the anthology, but that ALL other rights, such as magazine rights, audio rights, or turning the short story into a screenplay, etc. remain with the author. Is this correct?

Sorry if this is an obvious question. Thanks in advance!

T.R.

I won't try to answer your question but will ask one of my own. If the authors retain their copyrights, what copyright does the publisher hold?

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

I won't try to answer your question but will ask one of my own. If the authors retain their copyrights, what copyright does the publisher hold?

Get outta' here with your logic and insistence on pointing out fallacies. This is the publishing world, damnit.

In a publishing contract, the publisher(s) specify the length of time which they will have copyright of your novel. This is usually eighteen months to two years. At the end of that time, and if the author hasn't been signed to produce more books, all publishing rights return to him/her.

From my understanding:

Copyright always stays with the writer. There are no exceptions, unless you decide to sell ALL RIGHTS.

Usually, though, what's sold are First Publication Rights. This means someone is buying the right to be the first (in a region) to publish your work in a given medium.

The copyright is still retained by you. You're not giving them your work. You're giving them the permission to print your work. They are buying the right to do so. But the work is still yours, and you can still sell rights to others to be published, though, once you've sold your First Publication rights, you can no longer sell that right. You can sell republication or Anthology rights, or other rights..

rights rights rights.. Can be very confusing!

Just know the Copyright always stays with you.

In general the author "Licences" a publisher to put his work out to the world; and these rights come in varying shades: First Rights, Serial Rights, First UK, First US etc. The author an/or his agent negotiate these rights. If an author agrees first publishing rights in the UK, and only first publishing with Bloggsworth Publishers, then Bloggsworth Publishers does not neccessarily, unless agreed, have rights to a second edition, paperback, television or film. It certainly wouldn't include foreign rights. I would suggest that most authors are so pleased to get their first books published that they sign away rights they would, and indeed should, have retained on the offchance that they did a JK Rowling and became a publishing superstar - That's where a good agent earns their money. If your first book has a couple of publishers vying to publish, then you are in a position to start witholding rights, but that is a game of bluff and counter bluff, or negotiaton as it is called in business; you want the best you can get, the publisher will want to milk the author for every penny, and if they could, would charge the author printing and distribution costs; but most authors are more savvy than wannabe pop stars, and most literary agents more honest than some managers of pop groups - I recall the world-wide success that was S Club 7 who after several years of hit records and a worldwide television programme shown worldwide left the business with only about £100,000 each in the bank....

Writers have to be able to read the small print. For instance, Birkbeck College's publishing "organ", Writers' Hub has, in its membership agreement, a clause claiming the right "in perpituity" to publish in their magazine all and any work submitted by the writer to the magazine (note: not published, but any and all work submitted). When I wrote and questioned these draconian conditions I was told that they had acquired an off-the-shelf package of terms and conditions and that it would be sorted; when I checked a year later it hadn't.

Originally Posted by Bloggsworth

Writers have to be able to read the small print. For instance, Birkbeck College's publishing "organ", Writers' Hub has, in its membership agreement, a clause claiming the right "in perpituity" to publish in their magazine all and any work submitted by the writer to the magazine (note: not published, but any and all work submitted). When I wrote and questioned these draconian conditions I was told that they had acquired an off-the-shelf package of terms and conditions and that it would be sorted; when I checked a year later it hadn't.

It would be nice if it were followed with:

"all authors will be financially rewarded in perpetuity for any and all work published"

Infinite paychecks! The story that keeps on giving..

Originally Posted by KyleColorado

It would be nice if it were followed with:

"all authors will be financially rewarded in perpetuity for any and all work published"

Infinite paychecks! The story that keeps on giving..

Why did I read your post in a sing-song Beach Boys fashion?

I agree with Kyle. The copyright is always with the author, unless they have sold it to another legal entity.
Legal speak is quite tiresome, no?