18.511 author's rights

               Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 18, No. 511.
       Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
                   www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
                        www.princeton.edu/humanist/
                     Submit to: humanist_at_princeton.edu

   [1] From: "Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett" <bkg_at_nyu.edu> (68)
         Subject: RE: 18.504 author's rights?

   [2] From: Norman Hinton <hinton_at_springnet1.com> (11)
         Subject: Re: 18.504 author's rights?

   [3] From: Robert Kraft <kraft_at_ccat.sas.upenn.edu> (27)
         Subject: Re: 18.504 author's rights?

   [4] From: Stewart Arneil <sarneil_at_uvic.ca> (41)
         Subject: Re: 18.504 author's rights?

--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 08:54:54 +0000
         From: "Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett" <bkg_at_nyu.edu>
         Subject: RE: 18.504 author's rights?

I would highly recommend joining the Authors Guild:
http://www.authorsguild.org/. You will receive, as part of your
membership, a "model book contract," which you use to negotiate better
terms. You will also support an organization that advocates for authors.

Never sign away all your rights.

Excerpts can be found here:
For books: http://www.authorsguild.org/?p=101
For articles: http://www.authorsguild.org/?p=102
For electronic rights: http://www.authorsguild.org/?p=103

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

-----Original Message-----
From: Humanist Discussion Group [mailto:humanist_at_Princeton.EDU] On
Behalf Of Humanist Discussion Group (by way of Willard McCarty
<willard.mccarty_at_kcl.ac.uk>)
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 3:08 AM
To: humanist_at_Princeton.EDU

                 Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 18, No. 504.
         Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
                     www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
                          www.princeton.edu/humanist/
                       Submit to: humanist_at_princeton.edu

           Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 07:43:11 +0000
           From: Adrian Miles <adrian.miles_at_rmit.edu.au>
           Subject: publishing

Dear List

This is probably a delicate matter, and I imagine I might even be
indiscreet. But here goes anyway.

I am writing an essay that is to be included in an academic anthology.
It
is to be published by a North American academic press. I am receiving no
financial recompense for my contribution. However, the contract for
publication arrived this morning and contains:

"Author does hereby grant and assign to [publisher] the entire literary
property and all rights of whatsoever kind in the Contribution, and
every
part thereof, in the entire world, and agrees that the copyright may be
taken and held in the name of [publisher]."

It also explicitly says I can never receive anything for my
contribution,
but I am allowed to republish it in an anthology that is wholly and only
my
own work.

My question come problem:

1. I don't agree nor intend to sign over my copyright for the entire
universe, for all media, forever. Frankly the gall of such a request
leaves
me rather speechless.

but being somewhat a junior in these realms:

2. is this par for the course?

3. I would expect a scientist to disagree strongly with such a contract,
and as an online scholar with an awareness of the value of archives I
have
no intention of letting some publisher assume that they could happily
repackage my work for whatever other contexts may be appropriate one day
(or next week).

4. this issue isn't money, though frankly if they want copyright in
perpetuity then I would expect a financial incentive. It is simply the
principle that this is my work and I'm happy to grant copyright for this
anthology, possibly including new editions and possible translations,
but
that's it.

Any words of wisdom? Tales of woe? Or am I merely naive?

--
cheers
Adrian Miles
____________
hypertext.RMIT
http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/vog/vlog
--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 08:55:41 +0000
         From: Norman Hinton <hinton_at_springnet1.com>
         Subject: Re: 18.504 author's rights?
Mr. Miles, all I can tell you from personal experience is that I have
written articles that were published in 'scholarly journals' which were
later reprinted by commercial publishing firms (which presumably got money
for the anthologies in which they appeared) and if any money changed hands,
it all went ot the scholarly journal, none of it to me.
Once when I asked an editor of such a journal he said that of course I
would want the enterprise of scholarship to continue, so I should be glad
to see such payments made to help scholarly journals.
Most of us get 'paid' for such publication by promotions, pay raises,
tenure, etc. in our professions. Faculty (humanities faculty, at least) who
want to make money from their writings generally have to write text books.
--[3]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 08:56:29 +0000
         From: Robert Kraft <kraft_at_ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
         Subject: Re: 18.504 author's rights?
I've found most publishers to be flexible, and willing to adapt to reasonable
revisions requested by author or editor. My advice, in descending order of
importance (sort of), is:
1. Never give away your right to hold the copyright.
2. Never give away your right to your electronic version and subsequent
revisions (many publishers still don't think of this sort of "publication").
3. If for some reason, you must give over print copyright, specify conditions
under which you automatically recover it -- e.g. if the book goes out of
print for
three years or more, or if the publisher acts contrary to the contract.
4. If for some reason you must give over electronic rights, specify for how
long
(e.g. 3 years), and what sort of uses are permissible (e.g. CD-ROM, internet).
5. Specify that if the publisher creates or authorizes a situation in which
additional profit is realized by the republication, translation, reuse,
etc., of
your work, you receive an appropriate percentage of that profit.
Basically, don't give up your rights to your work except possibly for a
limited
time and under strict controls. And be very aware of the actual and potential
value of controlling electronic publication as well as print publication.
Bob Kraft
--
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
kraft_at_ccat.sas.upenn.edu
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html
--[4]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 09:00:58 +0000
         From: Stewart Arneil <sarneil_at_uvic.ca>
         Subject: Re: 18.504 author's rights?
Hi
As for "galling request": The publisher can ask for whatever terms they
want, just as you can. It's a negotiation to arrive at mutually acceptable
terms, or agree to go separate ways.
As for "par for the course": The new technologies of distribution have
caused publishers to reconsider terms for intellectual property rights, and
my impression is that the nobody is sure what's reasonable. I'm not
surprised to see a publisher claiming everything they can, but by the same
token different publishers will offer different terms. You're position is
clearly in conflict with the publisher's position, so you'll either need to
find another publisher or both you and your publisher will have to compromise.
As for the "am I naive": I'm assuming from your email address that you are
an employee. The vast majority of salaried people producing material
(including scientists) have virtually no rights over, let alone own, what
they produce -- their employers or contractees do. Academics in academic
institutions are the exception. The new technologies of distribution have
also caused academic institutions to reconsider terms for intellectual
property rights. I think it is to some degree naive to assume that you can
accept pay from somebody for work and then you have complete control over
that work and they have none. Your contract with your employer presumably
spells out terms. Those terms may constrain what you are able to agree to
with a publisher.
 >"Author does hereby grant and assign to [publisher] the entire literary
 >property and all rights of whatsoever kind in the Contribution, and every
 >part thereof, in the entire world, and agrees that the copyright may be
 >taken and held in the name of [publisher]."
 >1. I don't agree nor intend to sign over my copyright for the entire
 >universe, for all media, forever. Frankly the gall of such a request leaves
 >me rather speechless.
 >2. is this par for the course?
 >3. I would expect a scientist to disagree strongly with such a contract,
 >4. this issue isn't money, though frankly if they want copyright in
 >perpetuity then I would expect a financial incentive. It is simply the
 >principle that this is my work and I'm happy to grant copyright for this
 >anthology, possibly including new editions and possible translations, but
 >that's it.
 >Any words of wisdom? Tales of woe? Or am I merely naive?
--
Stewart Arneil
Head of Research and Development, Humanities Computing and Media Centre,
University of Victoria, Canada