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 …
What is a good advance in a literary publishing agreement? Read More »
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 …
Termination clauses in video game publishing agreements Read More »
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 …
What is an advance in a literary publishing agreement? Read More »
Choice of law provisions are common in business agreements. Where one or both parties are in North Carolina, a North Carolina choice of law is common, too. A new law in North Carolina allows for parties to choose North Carolina law and litigation in North Carolina, even when they have no other ties to the …
In the free eBook I recently released on game publishing, I wrote that music is a different animal than most other things because – in part – of the way the copyrights for music work. Here, I wanted to expand on that a bit. If a developer or publisher is looking to release an official …
Odin Law and Media will be among the exhibitors at this year’s NCWN Fall Conference in Wrightsville Beach this weekend. The conference features networking events, educational sessions, master classes, critiquing services and more. It should be a great gathering for North Carolina writers. Brandon J. Huffman will man the Odin Law and Media exhibitor table …
Join Brandon J. Huffman at the NC Writers’ Network Fall Conference Read More »
A “libel reading” is a form of content review where an attorney is reading a book or passage specifically to assess the risk of libel. What is libel? Libel is a published false statement damaging to a person’s reputation. So, the attorney is looking for statements that would, if published without revision, be damaging to a …
When dealing with game publishing, the question should come up: what about future games or expansions, DLC, etc. related to the same game? Does the publisher have any rights to those? Does the publisher get a cut of the revenue? Who pays for their development? What about games not related to the first title? In …
Video Game publisher options on sequels, expansions and future works Read More »