Explain the main terms of the book publishing contract in a little detail first.
First, the author should submit the manuscript according to the date agreed in the contract; Manuscripts should be created in the way agreed in the contract and reach the standards agreed in the contract.
Second, the author should ensure that the delivered manuscript is independently created by himself, and there is no infringement or breach of contract. If the author violates this guarantee obligation, he may be liable for damages to the publishing house. There is no such guarantee clause in the publishing contract. In the case of infringement, it is often thought that the publishing house is at fault, so it should bear joint and several tort liability.
Three, the publishing house is responsible for publishing the manuscript submitted by the author; All publishing related expenses shall be borne by the publishing house; The publishing house shall pay remuneration to the author according to the amount, date and method agreed in the contract.
4. The publishing house obtains exclusive publishing right through contract. During the validity of the contract, the author shall not permit a third party to publish in the same way. According to the interpretation of Article 39 of the Implementation Regulations, the exclusive publishing right refers to "the exclusive right to publish books in the original, revised and simplified versions of the same language in the area agreed in the contract within the validity period of the contract".
Five, there should be a clear agreement on the area and duration of exclusive publishing rights. For example, whether it is in Chinese mainland, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, or globally, and so on. If there is no special agreement, it should be considered as the publishing right within the scope of Chinese mainland.
Unless otherwise stipulated in the contract, the author also reserves the right to perform, record, shoot, play, exhibit, adapt, translate or use his works in any other way. Since the exercise of these rights goes beyond the scope of selling or directly using the relevant books, it is not appropriate to include these rights in the publishing contract. If a publishing house wants to represent some rights other than copyright, such as translation rights, it should clearly stipulate with the author in the publishing contract.
Seven, the publishing contract should also take into account, if the book is out of stock after the release, how to deal with it. Article 31 of the Copyright Law stipulates: "If the book publisher refuses to reprint or republish after the book is out of stock, the copyright owner has the right to terminate the contract." According to this regulation, the author has the right to request the publishing house to reprint or republish the work after discovering that it is out of stock. With regard to out-of-stock, there is a special explanation in Article 42 of the Implementing Regulations, that is, if the two orders issued by the copyright owner to the book publisher are not fulfilled within six months, they will be regarded as out-of-stock. If the publisher fails to reprint or republish within a certain period of time, or explicitly refuses to reprint or republish, the author has the right to terminate the contract. In other words, the author can't unilaterally terminate the contract as soon as he finds out that it is out of stock, but give the other party a chance to reprint it.
Eight, after the publication of the work, the author is generally entitled to obtain some sample books. The contract should clearly stipulate the number of sample books that the author can get and the number of books that can be bought at preferential prices. For individual books with high cost, such as picture books and large reference books, the number of sample books can be reduced or not given to the author, but it cannot be decided unilaterally by the publishing house, and it should be agreed by both parties.
Nine, if the publisher and the author agree to reprint the book, the publisher should ask the author for any amendments before reprinting the book. If the author can complete the revision within the prescribed time limit, the publishing house should publish the revised version. This provision is especially important for scientific and technical works. Because of the rapid development of science and technology. Authors always want to publish works that reflect the latest development level. If it is republished or republished within a short period of time, for example, only two months, the publishing house may republish or republish without consulting the author, but this should also be clearly stated in the contract.
Ten, from the publishing practice in China, most of the manuscripts have to be edited and processed by publishing houses. Only a few authors have created works that fully meet the publishing requirements and need not be revised. This situation may not change in a short time. This is because many authors are not familiar with the specific requirements of the manuscript in the process of publishing, although they are of high quality and good subject matter. Editors, who have been engaged in this work for a long time, can process manuscripts with good themes that do not fully meet the publishing requirements into manuscripts that meet the requirements. However, the modification of works inevitably involves the personal rights in copyright. Sometimes what the editor thinks needs to be revised may be written by the author on purpose. If the editor changes it without the author's permission, it may distort the original intention of the work. The Copyright Law not only considers that the right of revision is the author's right (article 10), but also considers the needs of publishing practice, so it is stipulated in article 33 that if a publishing house wants to revise a manuscript, it must obtain the author's permission and make it clear in the contract.
Eleven, in the first draft of the publishing contract, it is generally stipulated that the publishing house should immediately notify the author after receiving the manuscript, and review the manuscript within a certain period of time to make a decision on whether to adopt it. If it needs to be revised, it should be returned to the author for revision in time. If the author has not been informed after this time limit, the author may think that the publishing house has decided to adopt it, or the publishing house does not intend to adopt it, but gives the manuscript to other publishing houses, thus causing similar disputes. In practice, we often encounter such a problem: after receiving the author's manuscript, the publishing house did not review it in time, delayed making a decision, delayed publishing for three to five years, or even nearly ten years, and finally stopped publishing, only paying the author a small amount of manuscript fees. Doing so is a great disrespect for the author's labor. Often due to the changes in the book market, the author's works eventually lost the opportunity to be published. If the publishing house does not intend to publish, it should inform the author as soon as possible, and the author can choose another publishing house to publish.
Twelve, the publishing house actively invited the author to create a manuscript, after repeated revisions by the author, still can not reach the publishing level, the publishing house should also pay an appropriate amount of contract fees according to the contract or relevant regulations.
Thirteen, due to the publishing house (including its higher authorities) on the one hand, the manuscript can not be published. In the case that the author cannot request compulsory performance, the publishing house should not only pay all the remuneration payable to the author, but also compensate the author for the damage caused by not publishing the book.
Fourteen, after publishing a work, the publishing house shall return the manuscript to the author. Legally speaking, original works, especially original works of fine arts, belong to the author's personal property. Some publishers have damaged or lost the original works due to poor custody. If there is no exemption clause in the contract, the publishing house should compensate the author appropriately. The amount of compensation shall be determined by both parties through consultation. If consultation fails, the judicial organ shall make a judgment. Some publishers need to archive manuscripts for a period of time, while some authors voluntarily give up the ownership of manuscripts. These exceptions should be clearly stipulated in the contract.