Now in its ninth edition, Selling Rights has firmly established itself as the leading guide to all aspects of rights sales and co-publications throughout the world.
Covering the full range of potential rights, from English-language territorial rights through to serial rights, permissions, rights for the reading-impaired, translation rights, dramatization and documentary rights, electronic and multimedia rights, this book constitutes a comprehensive introduction and companion to the topic. Besides individual types of rights, topics covered also include book fairs, Open Access, the ongoing impact of new electronic hardware, and the rights implications of acquisitions, mergers and, disposals.
This fully updated edition includes:
• New IP legislation and proposed legislation in the UK and the USA, including changes regarding TDM and the post-Brexit implications of EU directives and exhaustion of rights.
The implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for author contracts and licensing contracts.
• The impact of the pandemic and its aftermath on the promotion and sale of rights.
• Coverage of censorship in countries around the world, especially in relation to LGBTQI+ content, as well as political situations which have impacted on rights trading.
• The impact of streaming services on opportunities for licensing television and film rights.
• Major revisions to the chapters on audio and video recording rights, the internet and publishing, and electronic publishing and digital licensing.
Selling Rights is an essential reference tool and an accessible and illuminating guide to current and future issues for rights professionals and students of publishing.
Acknowledgements and further reading
Preface
Chapter 1: Rights: The historical and legal background
Chapter 2: The publishing contract: who should control the rights?
Chapter 3: An expanding range of possibilities
Chapter 4: The rationale behind rights sales
Chapter 5: Selling rights: who and how?
Chapter 6: Tackling the task: essentials
Chapter 7: Rights selling: a range of methods
Chapter 8: Book fairs and sales trips: preparation, survival and follow-up
Chapter 9: English-language territorial rights: co-editions and licences
Chapter 10: Book club rights
Chapter 11: Paperback rights
Chapter 12: Low-price reprint rights
Chapter 13: Other reprint rights
Chapter 14: Serial rights and one-shot periodical rights
Chapter 15: Digest and condensation rights
Chapter 16: Translation rights: co-editions and licences
Chapter 17: Anthology and quotation rights
Chapter 18: Rights for the reading-impaired
Chapter 19 Non-dramatized reading rights
Chapter 20: Audio-recording and video-recording rights
Chapter 21: Dramatization and documentary rights: stage, radio, television and film rights
Chapter 22: Merchandising rights
Chapter 23: Collective licensing
Chapter 24: The internet and publishing
Chapter 25: Electronic publishing and digital licensing
Chapter 26: Supply of duplicate production material to licensees
Appendix 1: Glossary of common terms used in rights
Appendix 2: Member states of the international copyright conventions
Appendix 3: Countries currently outside membership of any international copyright convention
Appendix 4: Territories often sought as exclusive by British publishers
Appendix 5: Useful names and addresses
Biography
Lynette Owen OBE is a freelance specialist in copyright, rights and licensing issues and a consultant on the promotion and sale of rights in print and digital environments. She is the general editor of, and a contributor to, Clark’s Publishing Agreements: A Book of Precedents (11th edition, 2022). She was previously Copyright Director of Pearson Education and has also worked for Cambridge University Press, Pitman Publishing and Marshall Cavendish. She has chaired the Publishers Association Rights Group and is also a member of a number of industry committees.
Praise for the eighth edition:
‘Selling Rights really is the go-to resource for everything you need to know about rights licensing.’
- Ruth Tellis, BookBrunch
‘Owen's meticulous book has served as a steady guide to rights licensing professionals inside publishing companies and literary agencies-especially in the UK where the book is written and published. As an American reader, and longtime user of various editions of this guide, I can say I have also found much that is completely relevant and useful for rights licensors and licensees on this side of the pond.’
- Kristin Klimann, Publishing Research Quarterly
‘Selling Rights… remains as important for rights professionals today as it was when the first edition was published back in 1991. In those 28 years, it is a work that has provided great service to the publishing industry, offering highly practical advice to those engaged in negotiating sub-licences… Armed with a copy of the 8th edition of Selling Rights and its eminently clear and practical advice on all aspects of rights trading, we can be sure that rights professionals will be well set to tackle the uncertainties that lie ahead.
- Clare Hodder, Learned Publishing
‘Selling Rights by Lynette Owen… is the ultimate guide to licensing subsidiary rights in the publishing sector and has been relied upon by industry professionals for over 30 years now… To describe the book as invaluable would understate the role that its practical information and advice played.’
- Amy Joyner, Logos
‘Selling Rights is a convenient and accessible handbook that answers just about every conceivable question about the subject. This bible of information is now in its eighth edition from Routledge, and whether you work in trade, academic or specialist publishing, it is the next best thing to having Lynette on hand to help you. The book includes all the practical advice needed to sell rights, whether you are just starting out in the field or are a seasoned professional with many book fairs under your belt.’
- Caroline de la Bedoyere, Independent Publishers Guild
