Who owns the electronic rights?

slayda · 03-06-2007, 12:03 PM

Since there has been talk here of scanning pbooks that 1) have already been published, but 2) are not available as ebooks, I have been wondering who owns what rights. Is it the author or publisher? For instance, if I were to scan in a book published in paper format by publisher XYZ that was written by author ABC, could I legally scan the pbook, send the scanned version of the book to the author, and that author then legally sell the ebook?

Enquiring (sic) minds want to know!

NatCh · 03-06-2007, 12:16 PM

It should be the copyright holder (which can be difficult to determine), and it will depend on what agreements or contracts have been applied to the whole mess: i.e. whether those contracts might be exclusive, specifically mention e-books, etc. I think the boilerplate copyright notice would cover e-versions too, you know "may not be reproduced, in part or in whole, without ...."

nekokami · 03-06-2007, 12:37 PM

A contract I just signed for a (non-fiction) book states that I retain copyright, which is fairly typical, but then I license my work to the publisher. As it happens, I have a non-exclusive contract. This isn't always the case. So even if the author holds copyright, they may have licensed all production exclusively to a particular publisher (or multiple publishers in different countries).

RWood · 03-06-2007, 01:42 PM

As both NatCh and nekokami have said, it is all in the agreement between the author (or their agent) and the publisher. Sometimes it is restricted to only a pbook in a single country, sometimes it is all rights. Film rights are sometimes given, sometimes not. Many of the older contracts did not envision ebooks and their status is the domain of lawyers. ("If you have a problem, get a lawyer. You still have the problem; but, at leat now you've got a lawyer." -- Groucho Marx)

NatCh · 03-06-2007, 01:53 PM

And a bill, don't forget the bill.

03-06-2007, 12:03 PM	#1
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,764 Karma: 1884247 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: Kindle 1, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S+, Kobo Aura One	Who owns the electronic rights? Since there has been talk here of scanning pbooks that 1) have already been published, but 2) are not available as ebooks, I have been wondering who owns what rights. Is it the author or publisher? For instance, if I were to scan in a book published in paper format by publisher XYZ that was written by author ABC, could I legally scan the pbook, send the scanned version of the book to the author, and that author then legally sell the ebook? Enquiring (sic) minds want to know!

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03-06-2007, 12:16 PM	#2
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	It should be the copyright holder (which can be difficult to determine), and it will depend on what agreements or contracts have been applied to the whole mess: i.e. whether those contracts might be exclusive, specifically mention e-books, etc. I think the boilerplate copyright notice would cover e-versions too, you know "may not be reproduced, in part or in whole, without ...."

03-06-2007, 12:37 PM	#3
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	A contract I just signed for a (non-fiction) book states that I retain copyright, which is fairly typical, but then I license my work to the publisher. As it happens, I have a non-exclusive contract. This isn't always the case. So even if the author holds copyright, they may have licensed all production exclusively to a particular publisher (or multiple publishers in different countries).

03-06-2007, 01:42 PM	#4
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	As both NatCh and nekokami have said, it is all in the agreement between the author (or their agent) and the publisher. Sometimes it is restricted to only a pbook in a single country, sometimes it is all rights. Film rights are sometimes given, sometimes not. Many of the older contracts did not envision ebooks and their status is the domain of lawyers. ("If you have a problem, get a lawyer. You still have the problem; but, at leat now you've got a lawyer." -- Groucho Marx)

03-06-2007, 01:53 PM	#5
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	And a bill, don't forget the bill.

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