Quote:
Originally Posted by tompe
The problem with cover as I understood it have been for old book were the publisher did not have the rights to electronically publish the cover.
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It's something I was thinking about yesterday.
Up till about the mid 60's, standard practice was that a publisher commissioned a cover from and artists, and bought
all rights for a single fee, including keeping the original.
In the mid-60's, an artist's rights movement emerged. Artists wanted to sell
reproduction rights, but
keep and possibly sell the original to a collector. They also wanted the same deal as writers: if a book gets another printing, the author gets additional royalties. If the artist's cover was reused, the artist wanted additional money, too.
I don't know offhand how ebooks affect the deal with the artist, but it's entirely possible the publisher may
not have the right to use the print cover on the ebook. (They could probably negotiate the rights to use it, but it would involve paying an additional fee, and they
won't want to spend the money.)
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Dennis