Copyright termination deadline approaches, possible benefits to backlist republishers on the horizon | TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home: "A post in E-Reads’s blog from Sunday warns about a “copyright asteroid hurtling toward earth”—the 35-year copyright termination clause embedded in 1978’s copyright law. Untouched by the Sonny Bono copyright term extension, this clause gives authors and their heirs the right to terminate their contracts starting 35 years after they were originally published."
As authors get their backlist of publications back under their own control we will see many authors striking out on their own or going with inexpensive services like Amazon to market and sell these books. We should see both lower prices and innovative marketing schemes when the big publishers and their own self-serving pricing plans are taken out of the equation.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
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The right to terminate book contracts ALSO applies to vintage backlist titles that are still "in print" -- books published 56 and 75 years ago. So, it's not just in-print books published 35 years ago. It's a powerful right, but not well publicized. So, dust off your pre-television contracts as well. The recapture right applies even if the contract says it's in perpetuity. We represent the estates of several authors and composers. It's increasingly common for heirs to use this right to get back rights or negotiate improved terms. I blog about this at http://tiny.cc/sy8pl.
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