Recently, this article posted on Polygon outlining the many commercial uses of the iconic watchtower image from Firewatch. These uses were not authorized by Campo Santo, the developer, which leads to the question: what do you do if you find yourself in this situation? First, pat yourself on the back. You made something so good …
In order to make sure you have your bases covered for your business in the new year, here is a checklist for this month to ensure you’re starting the new year on a good foot: Ensure corporate formalities are being observed. This is really simple, but it’s good to check in on from time to …
“Subsidiary rights” usually refer to the right to exploit the book in other media. Pretty much any use of the book other than to sell copies of the book is a subsidiary right. Some lawyers would call these “derivative works” but in the literary world, they are subsidiary rights. Some examples include: Serial rights. This …
What are subsidiary rights in a literary publishing agreement? Read More »
Generally speaking, a media perils insurance policy protects the policyholder from lawsuits for libel and various intellectual property infringement claims. If the holder of the policy is sued for a covered claim, the insurance company would pay legal expenses to defend against the lawsuit and also pay any monetary damages or settlements related to the claim. …
This is an excerpt from the free ebook, Key Provisions in Video Game Publishing Agreements. In the marketing provisions [of a video game publishing agreement], there are three main questions to answer. Who has responsibility for marketing? Who has the right to market? Who has creative input in the marketing? The agreement should explicitly say …
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In a previous post, I wrote about what an “advance” is. In short, it is a payment up front that is an advance against the future revenue streams for a book. What is a “good” advance? A cynical answer to this might be “any advance is a good advance.” That is a reflection of the …
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In the free ebook, Key Provisions in Video Game Publishing Agreements, I write about a lot of different rights and responsibilities a publishing agreement might cover. But happens when the relationship between a developer and a publisher really just needs to end? Ideally, the termination provisions of the contract will set out exactly how that …
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From the horse’s mouth: The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is the non-profit, self-regulatory body that assigns ratings for video games and apps… The ESRB has been around since 1994, and it is, in short, a self-regulatory body. It works like the MPAA for film or the RIAA for music, assigning ratings to games as …
Royalties are probably the biggest part of an author’s publishing agreement. The section can read like a list of jargon-heavy terms that, unless you’ve looked at one of these agreements before, might as well be a foreign language. Generally, the royalty rate paid to an author will be based on the list price. The amount …
What is the author royalty rate in a literary publishing agreement? Read More »
An “advance” in a publishing deal is similar to an advance on future payment in any other context. That is, it is not just a check written to an author in advance of the deal like you might think from the name. It is an advance-on-royalties. Meaning, the amount the author gets in the advance …
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