DOCSLIB.ORG

CONTENTS Letter from and We Were the Last Ones Still Talking

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
CONTENTS Letter from and We Were the Last Ones Still Talking the pitch spring 2014 The Newsletter for the Association of Authors' Representatives CONTENTS LETTER FROM and we were the last ones still talking. I THE PRESIDENT felt as if I had had a primer on the last 1. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT fifty years in this business. Michigan-born Carole always 3. THE RISE OF MASS MARKET e in the American agent thought she would follow her father 4. BIG MOVES: SPOTLIGHT ON Wcommunity have suffered way too many into law, then considered looking for EDITORS' NEW POSITIONS sad losses in the past couple of years. a position on Wall Street, and moved How we miss the genial temperament to New York City after college in the 5. LOIS WALLACE, AN ORIGINAL of Owen Laster, who seemed to know mid-1960s only to find that it appeared 6. NEW FINANCING POSSIBILITIES everyone else at the Four Seasons impossible for a young woman to find FOR THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS when we met for a group lunch there; a good job on Wall Street. To pay the 6. COMMITTEE REPORT: the gentlemanly warmth of Carl rent, she took a job as a copy editor at INTERNATIONAL Brandt; the droll seriousness of Robert Holt, Rinehart and Winston, and found 7. CONTRIBUTORS Lescher. I figure that Wendy Weil herself copyediting books such as “The and Lois Wallace, the best of friends Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. Staff 8. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IF in life, are avidly discussing books, changes left her head of the copyediting YOU'RE BUILDING A NEW AGENCY WEBSITE fashion, and the latest gossip in the department. From there she went to great beyond. I had been fortunate Dutton, then owned by Jack Macrae’s 10. COMMITTEE REPORT: WEBSITE for many years to have been in a family, where she was managing 11. UP AND COMING EDITORS networking group comprised of these editor. Dutton distributed a number fabulous agents, and there is a great of publishers including the Saturday 18. COMMITTEE REPORT: ROYALTIES void in the loss of their company, their Review Press and the Richard W. Baron collective wisdom, and their stories Publishing Co. (where she met her 19. CRAFT PUBLISHING GOES of the old days. We who loved and future husband). She went on to manage EVERY WHICH WAY respected them so much truly miss the various corporate transitions, mergers, 20. MARK YOUR CALENDARS presence of these classic professionals in and acquisitions through the 1970s. In 21. FROM EGYPT TO e-books: our lives and our businesses. those days, she commented, there was A CONVERSATION WITH AGENT ___________________ widespread use of index cards to manage EXTRAORDINAIRE JEAN business details; in the pre-computer NAGGAR Last month I had a long- era the person who did everything 22. REPORT FROM THE BOOK FAIRS overdue chatty lunch with Carole by hand was a person who learned 23. COMMITTEE REPORT: Baron, now of Knopf/Doubleday. I how things work. Her jobs brought her CONTRACTS know Carole is always good for an a deep understanding of all business eye-opening story, or a revelation aspects of publishing – via what was 23. NEW MEMBERS about why certain business things are probably thousands of index cards. 24. 'OPEN ROAD' DECISION the way they are – how mass market A call came in 1975 from LEAVES OPEN QUESTIONS paperbacks evolved, for example, or Phyllis Grann, who was looking for 25. COMMITTEE REPORT: how a publisher should be taking care a managing editor at Pocket Books. DIGITAL RIGHTS of its authors. This time I begged her Carole and Linda Grey, who had been 26. AAR CANON OF ETHICS to give me the short version of her hired to be an editor, arrived to start life story in publishing, which I knew work on the same day, but Phyllis was 28. BOARD OF DIRECTORS would be colorful and beguiling. We off at a sales conference and there was sat there at the Century Club until the no one there to greet them. (They waiters started clearing up all around us, left together wondering if they really continued on page 2 page 2 the pitch spring 2014 continued from page 1 had jobs and became fast friends.) As administrative editor, Carole learned about contracts and reprints and how to deal with notoriously high-profile publishing executives who ruled through the 70s and 80s. (Ah, no details; I promised not to tell tales or name names….) Then Peter Mayer, who had been announced as the new #1 at Pocket, asked her to run the editorial department. Her response was absolute: she didn’t want the job. She didn’t want to buy books. She didn’t have an opinion about books. She was good at organizing things, not editorial matters. But her husband and book was literary, a commercial book Press, once owned by her husband, Peter challenged her to do it: why hold was commercial, and never the twain Richard Baron, and sold to Doubleday yourself back?, they both asked. So she would meet – until Garp sold 90,000 where it had been phased out. She said yes, and the rest is history. She did copies in hardcover and went on to sell envisioned a line of books that would some fabulous paperback originals in millions in paperback. continue to feed the trade paperbacks at an era when paperback was largely a After three years, Carole went Dell, and hired Susan Kamil to be the reprint enterprise. She commented that to Crown as editor in chief, edited editor in chief of The Dial Press and to some of the things we say today about “Princess Daisy” by Judith Krantz, and bring it back to life as it exists today – a e-books as a model for original material acquired “The Clan of the Cave Bear” publisher of award nominees/winners are similar to what they used to say by Jean M. Auel. Then in l981 she went and bestselling authors. about paperbacks decades ago – if it is on to Dell as publisher. Here Carole After almost 18 years at not good enough for hardcover, let’s try was in charge of hardcovers (Delacorte), Dell/Delacorte, in the interest of paperback. (Which is of course wrong, trade paperbacks (Dell and Delta reorganization, Carole moved to Dutton but the paperback format might be trade paperback) and the mass market as president, and then to Putnam. right for the right book.) Today, some line, bringing together a lifetime of Always keeping her hand in editing, might say, if it is not good enough for a experience in all formats. She brought working with writers like Maeve Binchy, physical book release, try digital. (Again in Susan Moldow as editor in chief, Judy Blume, Thomas Harris, Nicholas this is wrong, as many new writers are and the two systematically started to Evans, Jean M. Auel, Elmore Leonard, discovered to have “legs” by their own remold the Dell Publishing program: Kurt Vonnegut, Harlan Coben, and digital publishing of their first books.) Delacorte hardcovers went from 100 Danielle Steel, Carole realized that it was Carole loved the mass market titles a year to 40; upmarket reprints time to devote herself to working with culture. It was reaching millions of found a home in the trade paperback authors full-time. She is now happily people who wanted to read. As late lines rather than mass, including books doing that for Knopf. as the 1970s, there was still a healthy that were acquired by the legendary We continued to discuss her business in reprint publishing; her Sam Lawrence; and the category mass range and rise as a publisher. She boss, Peter Mayer, would always insist, market books served as a training remains a hands-on editor with a deep “buy the backlist! buy the author!” camp for bestselling authors. Never and rare knowledge of the business, So when Carole bought “The World forgetting Peter Mayer’s cry, when Dell from contracts to copyediting, from According to Garp” at Pocket for an bought the paperback rights to John format to sell-through. Her formula? impressive sum, she bought the John Grisham’s second novel, “The Firm,” Buy a reasonable number of books. Irving backlist, actively relaunched the she remembered to buy the rights to his Make sure you can do something for backlist as reprint editions, and really first book, “A Time to Kill,” too. One each book. Know who the reader is. paid attention to these paperback of the things Carole is most proud of Will you take a copy to lunch? Can publications. At this time a literary is bringing back the imprint The Dial you make sure everyone you know continued on page 3 page 3 the pitch spring 2014 continued from page 2 reads this book? And the sales and marketing people need to know what is going on for every single book, what the expectations are, and what you can do to help them do their job for each title. I asked what she dislikes about agents, and not unexpectedly this no-nonsense gal said flatly that she doesn’t appreciate submissions that come weighted down with hype and hyperbole, or submissions of manuscripts which a nervous author may still actually be revising. She dislikes vying with the agent to be the reigning editorial voice to the author; “the editor is supposed to edit!” she thunders, in stark contrast to refrains all too often heard in agent gatherings. What has changed the most, in her view? “Publishing has always THE RISE OF MASS MARKET been about content, and the publisher is the broker of getting the writer and the reader together,” she says.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Global Publishing Industry in 2017
    The Global Publishing Industry in 2017 The Global Publishing Industry in 2017 The user is allowed to reproduce, distribute, adapt, translate and publicly perform this publication, including for commer- cial purposes, without explicit permission, provided that the content is accompanied by an acknowledgement that WIPO is the source and that it is clearly indicated if changes were made to the original content. Suggested citation: WIPO (2019). The Global Publishing Industry in 2017. Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization. Adaptation/translation/derivatives should not carry any offi- cial emblem or logo, unless they have been approved and validated by WIPO. Please contact us via the WIPO website to obtain permission. For any derivative work, please include the following dis- claimer: “The Secretariat of WIPO assumes no liability or responsibility with regard to the transformation or translation of the original content.” When content published by WIPO, such as images, graphics, trademarks or logos, is attributed to a third-party, the user of such content is solely responsible for clearing the rights with the right holder(s). To view a copy of this license, please visit © WIPO, 2019 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Intellectual Property Organization The designations employed and the presentation of material 34, chemin des Colombettes, throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any P.O. Box 18 opinion whatsoever on the part of WIPO concerning the legal CH-1211 Geneva 20, status of any country, territory or area or of its authorities, Switzerland or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. ISBN: 978-92-805-3041-4 This publication is not intended to reflect the views of the Member States or the WIPO Secretariat.
    [Show full text]
  • Publish Without Perishing: a Practical Handbook for Academic Authors. INSTITUTION National Education Association, Washington, D.C.; National Writers Union
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 342 021 CS 213 205 AUTHOR Benjaminson, Peter TITLE Publish without Perishing: A Practical Handbook for Academic Authors. INSTITUTION National Education Association, Washington, D.C.; National Writers Union. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8106-1544-4 PUB DATE 92 NOTE 135p.; Reference & Resource Series. AVAILABLE FROM NEA Professional Library. P.O. Box 509, West Haven, CT 06516 (Stock No. 1544-4-00, $16.95). PUB TYPE Guides - Non-Classroom Use (055) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Copyrights7 Faculty Development; *Faculty Publishing; Higher Education; *Publishing Industry; *Publish or Perish Issue; Textbook Publication; *Writing for Publication IDENTIFIERS *Scholarly Writing ABSTRACT Providing a guide to academic authors with a manuscript in hand, this book explains the book publishing process step-by-step and provides examples of the actual experiences (good and bad) of academic authors. Chapters in the book are entitled: (1) It. Doesn't Have to Be This Way;(2) Agents: Can't Live with'Em, Can't Live without'Em;(3) Collaboration: Do You Want to Do It klone, or with Someone Else?;(4) Preparing Proposals;(5) Peer Review: A Long Walk on a Short One?;(6) Advances: It's What's Up Front That Counts; (7) Royalties: The King and Queenmakers;(8) Subventions: You Don't Pay, You Don't Play;(9) Copyright (Right) and Work for 114.re (Wrong); (10) Indexes and :ther Danger,..;(11) Subsidiary Rights: The Biggest Part is Underwater; (12) Dealing with Editors and Other Strangers; (13) Will It Be ±nookstores? Will Anyone Know It's There?; (14) Reprints and Remainderings: There Is Life after Termination; (15) Was It Good for You Too? Do You Want to Do It again? With the Same Publisher?;(16) Don't Fight: Grieve, Arbitrate, or Mediate; and (17) Never Give Up: Publish without Perishing.
    [Show full text]
  • BIBLIOGRAPHY MASTER Books 1-78 September 2020
    BIBLIOGRAPHY MASTER Books 1-78 September 2020 Abrahamson, E. (2004). Change without pain. Boston: Harvard Business Press. 43 Abrams, Jennifer. (2019). Swimming in the Deep End. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. 75 Ackerman, D. (1990). A natural history of the senses. New York: Random House. 1 Ackerman, R. (1994). A husband’s little black book. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc. 14 Ackerman, R.H. & Maslin-Ostrowski, P. (2002) The wounded leader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 54 Ackoff, R. (1991). Ackoff’s fables. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 11 Ackoff, R. (1999). Re-creating the corporation. New York: Oxford University Press. 18 Ackoff, R. & Greenberg, D. (2008). Turning learning right side up. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing. 44, 47, 77 Adams, James. (2001). Conceptual Blockbusting, 4th ed. New York: Basic Books 75 Adams, M. (2000). Beginning to read. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 34 Adams, S. (1996). The Dilbert principle. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.23 Albom, M. (1997). Tuesdays with Morrie. New York: Doubleday. 16 Albom, M. (2003). The five people you meet in heaven. New York: Hyperion. 33 Alexie, S. (1993). The Lone Ranger and Tonto fistfight in heaven. New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press. 32 Allen, D. (2001). Getting things done. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc. 21 Amabile, Teresa, & Kramer, Steven. (2011). The Progress Principle. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press. 55 Anchor, Shawn. (2010). The Happiness Advantage. New York: Crown. 58 Arbinger, Institute. (2000). Leadership and self-deception. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler 42 Arden, Paul. (2006). Whatever you think, think the opposite. 77 Argyris, C. (1990).
    [Show full text]
  • Los Grupos Editoriales Españoles Y Su Influencia En La Creación De Los Cánones Literarios Actuales
    Grupos editoriales e influencia en los cánones literarios actuales Luis Pablo Núñez Los grupos editoriales españoles y su influencia en la creación de los cánones literarios actuales Luis PABLO NÚÑEZ CSIC, CCHS Grupos editoriales e influencia en los cánones literarios actuales Luis Pablo Núñez Debemos evocar con claridad la distinción entre el texto literario y el producto editorial. Ambos son necesarios para el buen funcionamiento de la industria del libro, pero, con creciente intensidad, el primero es arrinconado por el segundo hasta ser suplantado por él. JUAN GOYTISOLO En EE. UU. hay dos categorías en las librerías: literatura y bestsellers. Mi libro, El ocho, no era una cosa ni otra. [...] Entre la gran literatura y la literatura más popular, [...] mis libros no encajan ni en una categoría ni en la otra. KATHERINE NEVILLE Escribir historias de detectives es escribir literatura ligera, puro entretenimiento. No es como escribir propaganda política o literatura clásica. El género negro, ya se sabe, es una de las formas más populares de entretenimiento que existen. Si además intentas decir algo con ello... Bueno, yo lo he intentado, por supuesto. STIEG LARSSON Grupos editoriales e influencia en los cánones literarios actuales Luis Pablo Núñez FACTORES PARA LA HOMOGENEIZACIÓN FACTORES PARA LA HOMOGENEIZACIÓN DE LA INDUSTRIA DEL LIBRO DE LOS HÁBITOS DE LECTURA - Concentración editorial - Estrategias comerciales de difusión - Expansión (filiales) (acceso al lector a través de más medios) - Ventajas para la compra de derechos / - Librerías dependientes de grupos títulos comunes - Listados de libros más vendidos Grupos editoriales e influencia en los cánones literarios actuales Luis Pablo Núñez RANKING MUNDIAL DE EDITORES (2009) [<http://publishingperspectives.com/?p=981>] [20/02/2010] (RANKING DE 2008: Delibros 224 (2008), pp.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sixties Counterculture and Public Space, 1964--1967
    University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 2003 "Everybody get together": The sixties counterculture and public space, 1964--1967 Jill Katherine Silos University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Silos, Jill Katherine, ""Everybody get together": The sixties counterculture and public space, 1964--1967" (2003). Doctoral Dissertations. 170. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/170 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • Watson-Guptill 2018 Catalog
    An imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House Visit us at tenspeed.com @tenspeedpress @tenspeedpress @tenspeedpress 2018 UPCOMING RELEASES UPCOMING RELEASES ZEN CAMERA POP MANGA MERMAIDS AND OTHER MAKE AND MEND THE TWO-PENCIL METHOD Creative Awakening with a Daily SEA CREATURES Sashiko-Inspired Embroidery Projects The Revolutionary Approach Practice in Photography A Coloring Book to Customize and Repair Textiles and to Drawing It All DAVID ULRICH CAMILLA D’ERRICO Decorate Your Home MARK CRILLEY On sale: 2/13/2018 On sale: 7/10/2018 JESSICA MARQUEZ On sale: 9/18/2018 $22.00 hardcover (Can $29.00) $15.99 trade paperback (Can $21.99) On sale: 8/14/2018 $18.99 trade paperback (Can $24.99) ISBN: 978-0-399-58033-8 ISBN: 978-0-399-58225-7 $18.99 hardcover (Can $24.99) ISBN: 978-0-399-58125-0 eBook ISBN: 978-0-399-58034-5 9 13⁄16 x 9 13⁄16; 80 pages ISBN: 978-0-399-57943-1 eBook ISBN: 978-0-399-58126-7 7 7⁄16 x 9; 224 pages eBook ISBN: 978-0-399-57944-8 8 x 10; 160 pages 7½ x 6½; 160 pages CREATIVE WOOD LETTERS BOTANICAL LINE DRAWING WATSON-GUPTILL LARGE THE GIFT OF CALLIGRAPHY 35 Simple Craft Projects 200 Step-by-Step Flowers, Leaves, SKETCHBOOK (BROWN LEATHER) A Modern Approach to Hand for Decorating Your Home Cacti, Succulents, and Other Items Lettering with 25 Projects to Give KRISTA AASEN Found in Nature On sale: 8/21/2018 and to Keep $11.99 hardcover (Can $15.99) On sale: 6/5/2018 PEGGY DEAN MAYBELLE IMASA-STUKULS ISBN: 978-0-399-58235-6 $14.99 trade paperback (Can $19.99) On sale: 7/24/2018 On sale: 9/25/2018
    [Show full text]
  • Social Responsibility and Sustainability Report 2019 Social Responsibility and Sustainability Report 2019
    Social Responsibility and Sustainability Report 2019 Social Responsibility and Sustainability Report 2019 Dear Friends: PRISA has moved in a positive direction over the course of fiscal year 2018, in terms of both economic-financial and operational parameters as well as with regard to the strategic reorientation and refocusing of our businesses, as our Chief Executive Officer explains below. The year has also seen improvements to our corporate governance, and here, first of all, I would like to pay tribute to the per- son who served as our Chairman over the past year, Manuel Polanco. Our Board of Directors and its committees have been extremely active over the year, and we have been diligent in adopting their decisions. We believe the results have been positive, as you too will see in the wide-ranging information made public by the Company on this matter. We still have some way to go and we will forge ahead with the same determination as before. Our goal is to achieve the very best governance standards. We don’t do this merely to formally comply with regulatory frameworks or recommendations of best practice – though laudable in itself – but because of our conviction that we can thereby ensure that the Board best fulfills its central mission: to enable PRISA to pursue an ambitious business project, one that has great future potential and is that sustainable over time; and one that can attract, motivate and retain the talent necessary to make this a reality. Javier Monzón PRISA has enormous potential to generate value for its shareholders, for its professionals Chairman of PRISA and for all those we serve with our activity: educational communities, students and their «Our goal is to achieve families, readers and listeners, promoters and protagonists of cultural and social change the very best governance and, more broadly speaking, the general public and the societies where we operate.
    [Show full text]
  • Presentación De Powerpoint
    January-December 2020 Results. Promotora de informaciones S.A. Results FY2020 PROMOTORA DE INFORMACIONES, S.A. February 24, 2021 January-December 2020 Results. Promotora de informaciones S.A. INDEX General Overview 3 Main 2020 corporative delivering 5 Covid-19 Impact 6 2021 Outlook 7 Education 9 Radio 15 News 18 Total Group 21 Appendix 32 2 January-December 2020 Results. Promotora de informaciones S.A. GENERAL OVERVIEW 2020 results marked by pandemic, with digital business boost, improved flexibility and financial strength ❑ EBITDA in 2020 reached 64 million euros compared to 189 million euros in 2019. Education business has been conditioned by the non-face-to-face opening of schools in most of the countries in which it is present, while the media business has been affected by the declines in the global advertising market. ❑ Digital business accelerates its expansion with a 20.3% growth in Ed-Tech subscription models in LatAm, reaching 1,727,000 students; El País reached 84,793 digital-only subscribers and radio recorded 59 million monthly average hours of streaming and 24 million podcast downloads. The group's digital revenues increased their contribution by 31% to represent 30% of the total. ❑ Improvement on flexibility and financial strength of the Group after Santillana España sale and the refinancing agreement signed, which extends debt maturities until 2025 and increases the company's liquidity. ❑ Changes in the shareholding structure of the company following the entry of a new shareholder with an industrial profile: Vivendi takes a 9.9% stake in the company. ❑ 2020 Events represent a major boost in the company's strategic roadmap focused on the growth of Ed-tech subscription models in LatAm and subscription models in the media businesses and highlight the improvement in ESG criteria focused on social commitment, digital development and improved corporate governance.
    [Show full text]
  • Congratulations to All of the Winners & Finalists of the 2013 USA Best
    Congratulations to all of the Winners & Finalists of The 2013 USA Best Book Awards! Categories are listed alphabetically. All finalists are of equal merit. Animals/Pets: General Winner Chasing Doctor Dolittle: Learning the Language of Animals by Con Slobodchikoff, PhD St. Martin's Press 978-0-312-61179-8 Finalist How to Change the World in 30 Seconds: A Web Warrior's Guide to Animal Advocacy Online by C.A. Wulff Barking Planet Productions 978-0978692889 Finalist Pee Where You Want: Man's Best Friend Talks Back! by Karen H. Thompson The Dottin Publishing Group 978-0-9847853-0-8 Animals/Pets: Narrative Non-Fiction Winner M.E. And My Shadow: Wisdom From A Fourlegged Master by Mary Ellen Weiland Shadow Press 978-0-9837443-1-3 Finalist Lessons from Rocky & His Friends: Pawprints on the Heart by Bradford P. Miller LFR Publishing 978-1-4793-5231-9 Anthologies: Non-Fiction Winner No Lumps, Thank You. A Bra Anthologie. Special Edition: Uplifting Stories of Breast Cancer Survival by Meg Spielman Peldo and Kim Wagner Schiffer Publishing 978-0-7643-4288-2 Finalist Essays for my Father: A Legacy of Passion, Politics, and Patriotism in Small-Town America by Richard Muti Richard Muti 978-0-9891482-0-7 Art: General Winner Flight of the Mind, Marcus C. Thomas, A Painter's Journey Through Paralysis by Leslee N. Johnson Lydia Inglett Publishing/Starbooks.biz 978-1-938417-04-7 Art: Instructional/How-To Winner Out There: Design, Art, Travel, Shopping by Maria Gabriela Brito Pointed Leaf Press 978-1938461033 Autobiography/Memoirs Winner IMPOSSIBLE ODDS: The
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolving Role of Commercial Use in Copyright
    The Evolving Role of “For Profit” Use in Copyright Law: Lessons from the 1909 Act by Lydia Pallas Loren1 Copyright law in the United States has always involved a struggle for balance; a balance between granting rights to “authors” in their “writings” sufficient to provide the incentive to create and ensuring that those rights do not stifle the progress copyright law is designed to achieve. Whether described as designing “leaky rules” or designing rules that permit a certain amount of “free-riding,”2 the copyright law must build in a balance in order to achieve its underlying purpose of progress in knowledge and learning. The “free-riding” permitted by the Copyright Act is not an accident,3 but rather is integral to the design of an effective system meant to promote progress. The rights granted to copyright owners come at a cost borne the public in reduced access, use, and enjoyment of copyrighted works. How the legal rules define that balance has transformed over time. At first the rights granted were narrow, and the hurdles necessary to achieve those rights significant.4 Slowly, at first, the rights became greater and lasted for longer. A doctrine of “fair use” developed in the 1800s,5 pushing back on the expansion of rights and making sure that the rights remained limited so that progress could be achieved. Today the rights granted to copyright owners have expanded to a point beyond the wildest dreams of the founding fathers and fair use is called upon to do more and more to achieve the desperately needed balance in copyright 1 Jeffrey Bain Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law, Lewis and Clark Law School.
    [Show full text]
  • NSP Draft Contract
    PUBLISHING AGREEMENT This Agreement is made as of DATE, between NO STARCH PRESS, INC. (“we” or “us”), located at 245 8th St., San Francisco, CA 94103, and AUTHOR (“you”), located at ADDRESS, concerning a literary work tentatively entitled WORKING TITLE (“Work”). The Work is described in Schedule A, attached to and made a part of this Agreement. The parties agree: 1. Grant of Rights and Term of This any deadline in your schedule, and we, in our sole Agreement. You grant, convey, and transfer to discretion, have not agreed in writing to extend Us the exclusive right to publish, distribute, and your deadline, we may terminate your sell the Work in whole or in part in print, Agreement, and you shall promptly return to us electronic, or any other form or medium, now any monies advanced or granted to you by us. known or hereafter developed, in all languages, throughout the world, for the duration of 4. Advances and Approval. We will pay you an copyright in the Work, which shall be the term of advance against royalties of $XXX as follows: this Agreement unless it is terminated sooner as the Agreement provides. “Electronic Form” shall include photographic, audio, video, digital, laser, $XXX on our acceptance of one-third magnetic, or any other form, and for any medium of the manuscript. now known or hereafter developed. You may publish excerpts from the Work or articles based $XXX on our acceptance of one-half of on the Work, provided that no individual excerpt the manuscript. represents more than ten percent (10%) of the entire Work, and that all such excerpts or articles $XXX on our acceptance of the balance contain appropriate references to the Work, of the manuscript, including any including a reference to us as its publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • In the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division
    Case: 1:17-cv-08799 Document #: 1 Filed: 12/06/17 Page 1 of 26 PageID #:1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION Leslie Weller, an individual, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) Case No. 1:17-cv-08799 v. ) ) Gillian Flynn, Penguin Random House LLC ) d/b/a Crown Publishing Group, Arnon Milchan, ) Regency Enterprises, Inc. Bruna Papandrea, Laura ) Jeanne Reese Witherspoon, Ceán Chaffin, TSG ) Entertainment Finance LLC, Joshua Donen, ) Leslie Dixon, Artemple-Hollywood LLC, New ) Regency Productions, Inc., Twentieth Century ) Fox Film Corporation, and David Fincher, ) ) Defendants. ) Complaint for Copyright Infringement NOW COMES Plaintiff Leslie Weller, by and through her attorneys at Ziliak Law LLC, and for her Complaint against the above-named Defendants states as follows: Nature of the Action 1. This is an action for copyright infringement brought by Plaintiff, Leslie Weller, author and owner of the original dramatic work Out of the Blue, against the author of the book Gone Girl, a popular thriller novel (the “Novel”), the Novel’s publisher and distributor, and the producers, distributors, and director of the film Gone Girl (the “Film”). Plaintiff first wrote Out of the Blue in 2005 and then revised it between 2005 and 2008. The Novel was first published in 2012. The Film was released in 2014, starred Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tyler Perry, and was directed by David Fincher. Page 1 of 26 Case: 1:17-cv-08799 Document #: 1 Filed: 12/06/17 Page 2 of 26 PageID #:2 Jurisdiction and Venue 2. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
    [Show full text]