Know the Rights You’ve Got Left

Once you’ve written a story, there are many ways it can be delivered to the world. In this article, we’ll look at some of the rights an author can sell to the publisher for his or her work.

The original author of a work owns the copyright to the work. However, the owner of a copyright really owns a “bundle” of rights, each of which can be sold separately to one or more third parties.

When an author receives an offer for a manuscript from a publisher, the offer should, among other things, specify what rights that the publisher wants, or what rights the author has said are available. For articles, short stories or novels, the offer to publish might request one or more of the following rights and subsidiary rights:

All Rights: The author gives up all rights of ownership in the work. The publisher can publish the work in any format - print, film, or electronic - without paying the author anything extra. The author retains the right to state that he or she authored the work, but loses all other rights to the work, including the right to publish, market or distribute the work, create derivative works, or perform the work.

First Rights: This term does not specify where or how material may be published, only that the publication has an exclusive “first use.”

One-Time Rights: This right gives a publisher the non-exclusive (i.e. can be given to more than one publication at a time) right to publish the work once. Often used after the First Serial Rights (see below) have been sold.

Paperback Reprint Rights: This is the right to produce the work in paperback after it has been published in hardcover or original trade paperback.

Second Rights/Reprint Rights: After the first rights have been sold, the next sale of the work will be covered under these rights. This states clearly that the material has been published before and is a reprint. The original publisher will usually be credited at the time of reprint.

First Serial Rights: This is the right for a newspaper or magazine to print part of the book before publication. The story or novel excerpt must not yet have been published in any other newspaper or magazine. This can be qualified by geographical area, e.g. First North American Serial Rights.

Second Serial Rights: This non-exclusive right allows several periodicals to reproduce the same or different material, after initial publication.

Foreign Serial Rights: This right applies when a story or novel excerpt is re-sold to a foreign market.

Foreign Publication Rights/English language: This gives an English-language publisher outside the original country the right to publish the book in its own market and, sometimes, other English-language markets.

Foreign Publication Rights/Foreign language: This gives a foreign-language publisher domestically or internationally the right to translate and publish the work. The foreign-language publisher usually manages the translation process.

Simultaneous Rights: These rights are used when work is submitted to more than one publication (the publications’ circulations must not overlap!)

Book Club Rights: Sometimes a book club buys the right to publish its own edition of the work. The book club must mention the original publisher of the book.

Condensation/Abridgement Rights: This right allows a publisher to publish an abbreviated or condensed version of the work. Reader’s Digest is an example of an organization that might buy these rights.

Large Print Rights: This refers to the right to license an edition of the work for reproduction in a large type size.

Movie and Television Rights: This refers to the right to license an adaptation of the work for a movie or TV. For film, an option is usually offered (worth about 10% of the total price), valid for one year (sometimes extended). If the option isn’t used, then the rights revert back to the author and can be sold to someone else. If the option is exercised, the film will go into production and the author will receive the remainder of the price offered.

Sound Reproduction Rights: This right allows a publisher to make an audio recording of the work for books on tape or CD.

Electronic Publishing and Multimedia Rights: This is a fast-developing area, encompassing the right to sell and distribute the work on CD ROM, store the work in a database, or publish or archive the work on the Internet, via email or on a bulletin board.

Merchandising Rights: The right to license characters, or other discernible aspects of a work, for use on or with other products. Especially common in the world of children’s books.

Premium and Commercial Usage Rights: The right to license an edition or adaptation of the work to promote or enhance another product.

Permissions: On behalf of the author, publishers may grant requests from other authors or publishers for the right to reprint parts of a book.

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