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Rights and territories in danger?
With the looming ebook and international POD availability, won't the traditional territorial rights market start to become shaky? Especially for publishers in countries like Australia whose main income comes from distributing US and UK owned content?
Am I right in thinking that now that publishers are negotiating over digital rights (which in a way should include POD), that international territories are being ignored? Which means their local branches must inevitably be reduced to a marketing department...
This is of course a while a way, but with the recent ebook moves by Sony and iRex we may just reach a tipping point which changes the landscape quite suddenly, but I wondered if the people here had thought about this side of things.
Am I right in thinking that now that publishers are negotiating over digital rights (which in a way should include POD), that international territories are being ignored? Which means their local branches must inevitably be reduced to a marketing department...
This is of course a while a way, but with the recent ebook moves by Sony and iRex we may just reach a tipping point which changes the landscape quite suddenly, but I wondered if the people here had thought about this side of things.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kate Eltham on -
Hi David, I obsess about this a lot. In Australia there are some complicating factors. For example, at the moment the Australian Productivity Commission is undertaking a review of our parallel importation restrictions with a view to lifting them entirely. That could make the Australian market as a copyright territory redundant, or certainly changes the incentives for the independent publishers like Text, Scribe, Black Inc. etc, who've based their profitability and growth on buying in and publishing Australian editions of successful overseas titles.
But on the digital side, it's a bit of a mess. I spoke to one literary agent recently who could see a few bunfights looming over digital rights. For example, is it really worth it to a publisher to obtain anything less than worldwide digital rights? And if not, then literary agents have a few dilemmas because many publishers, especially in the US, are demanding world digital rights. If an agent sells a client's book to an Australian publisher there is an incentive to keep digital rights off the table altogether, lest it limit their options to sell into the US market later. The same agent has started redrafting her contracts to separate out various kinds of digital media. She is treating ebook rights as a separate subsidiary to other kinds of digital products.
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Permalink Reply by David Henley on -
On the plus side the barriers are breaking down in two ways. The launch of POD in Australia now means I almost have my ideal publishing model laid out in my mind...
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