Your Creative Work Is a Business Asset
Authors often think about copyright only when registering a book or confronting plagiarism.
Copyright is also the foundation of publishing income, licensing, adaptation, collaboration, and literary legacy.
Create an Intellectual-Property Inventory
For every work, record:
- Title
- Publication status
- Copyright owner
- Registration status
- Co-authors
- Publisher
- Contract date
- Rights granted
- Rights retained
- Territory
- Language
- Format
- Expiration or reversion terms
- Audiobook rights
- Translation rights
- Film and television rights
- Stage rights
- Merchandise rights
- Existing licenses
- Royalty arrangements
- Location of contracts and source files
Licensing Versus Assignment
A license generally permits another party to use defined rights under stated conditions.
An assignment transfers ownership of a right.
The difference is substantial.
Authors should understand:
- What is being granted
- Whether the grant is exclusive
- How long it lasts
- Where it applies
- Which formats are covered
- Whether sublicensing is allowed
- How rights return
- What happens if the other party stops using the work
Watch for Conflicting Rights
An author can create serious legal problems by granting the same exclusive right to more than one party.
This can happen with:
- Audiobooks
- Translations
- Film options
- Anthology rights
- Educational editions
- Distribution
- Artificial-intelligence uses
- Merchandise
An organized rights inventory helps prevent accidental conflicts.
Before Transferring Work to a Company
Ask:
- Will the company own the copyright?
- Will it receive only a license?
- Can that license be terminated?
- Who controls adaptations?
- Can the company pledge the work as collateral?
- Can creditors reach it?
- What happens if the author leaves?
- What happens if the company dissolves?
- What happens after the author dies?
Never assume that forming a company automatically protects the work from every claim.