Q: What is the assignment clause in a book publishing contract? Is it important?
A: It defines whether you or your publisher can give-grant-sell to someone else the rights and obligations found in your Agreement. It might matter a lot.
Does the assignment clause ever become a business matter in book publishing?
I’ve worked on and signed hundreds of book publishing contracts as a publisher, author, agent, and packager. The first Agreement I signed as an author was in 1986 (the book is still in print and I still get a small royalty check every six months) and was just two pages long. Most publishing contracts today go from twelve to twenty pages with the goal of covering absolutely any and every potential situation and conflict imaginable in the ever-expanding and changing publishing universe.
I recently got a call from a friend from the advertising industry who was working on book contract, which was filled with new language and terms for him. He had a checklist of questions, including the assignment clause, [Read more…]
