From: Pippa Smart <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 09:11:44 +0100 Hi - I am only really familiar with the UK CLA who have a very useful guide to "where the money goes" (http://www.cla.co.uk/protect_creativity/wherethemoneygoes) If I am right, there is really no point in this clause being in the contract. I can only think that this clause has been included following some wrangle about an element receiving royalty (e.g. the cover image) where the non-copyright owner felt entitled to some cut. Pippa ***** Pippa Smart Research Communication and Publishing Consultant PSP Consulting email: [log in to unmask] Web: www.pspconsulting.org **** Editor of the ALPSP-Alert, Reviews editor of Learned Publishing **** On 29 August 2013 02:56, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > From: Kevin Smith <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 19:07:00 +0000 > > I have been busy recently helping various faculty authors review > publication contracts, and I ran across a clause recently that prompts > this question. > > In a book publishing agreement from a major publishing house, the last > paragraph of the section on royalties said this: > > “Any publisher’s proceeds from rights managed by national copyright > organizations… are the sole property of [name of publisher]. Any such > author’s proceeds are the sole property of Author.” The clause went > on to say that the author is responsible for taxes on this income and > that this provision had precedence over any other royalty arrangement. > > On its face this seems like a very reasonable provision. I am not > sure why I have not noticed similar clauses before in other contracts; > it may just be my own inattention. But it raised the question for me > (and the author!) of how the publisher’s proceeds and the author’s > proceeds are determined. I presume, but do not know, that this > division is specified in the contract between a publisher and an > organization like the Copyright Clearance Center (who are specifically > mentioned as an example of a national rights organization). If that > is the case, the author clearly has no say in the division of > royalties, but I wonder if s/he has any way to even know what that > division is. > > Can anyone clarify for me how or where the publisher and author > proportions of licensing income are decided, and if authors have any > way to inquire into that determination? > > Thanks for your help, > > Kevin > > By the way, this contract is very clear and direct about the division > of licensing income if the publisher licenses directly, which is one > reason that the cryptic phrasing of this provision about licensing > through a collective rights organization caught my eye. > > Kevin L. Smith, M.L.S., J.D. > > Director, Copyright and Scholarly Communication > Duke University Libraries > Durham, NC 27708 > [log in to unmask]