Selling rights to materials

My co-writer and I are selling the rights to a program we wrote. An organization wants to purchase these rights and update the materials. We are in agreement as we wrote this long ago and know there needs to be some fresh ideas from others.

I just completed reading the eleven page legal agreement, and have found all the permissions I got from others which is part of the package they require. We are in agreement as to the amount of the purchase. We have been receiving royalties for the last twenty years. The purchase price is more than a weekend at a resort but less than a new car.

Is there anything I should be concerned about? Has anyone ever sold rights to written materials?

Carol

It wouild be a good move to have a lawyer familiar with publishing contracts look it over.

I agree with Dick.

I agree wth Dick and Merri.

If the royalties are meaningful, why sell the rights?

The people purchasing the rights want to update the manuals and we don't choose to do so. Although we were ahead of our time in complimentary medicine materials, there are a lot of new strategies out there.

The purchasing organization has been sending out the manuals for the past five years. We have been doing training of about five new facilitators a year, and will continue with this for the next year. The organization purchasing the materials is a nonprofit, and if they make money that is all right, although perhaps we'd be upset if they made a large amount of money, although that would be because of their new ideas and ownership. We have known they wanted to do this and have held off for several years which I think was responsible for their financial settlement. They have agreed to put a history of the program in the new manual. Although the program is twenty years old, it has not grown, and to do so needs new ideas and new people.

I have some sad feelings, but being able to continue training people for the next year is a good thing. The permissions are 20 years old and the organization will probably have to again request them if they wish to keep them. When I looked them over, I found it especially interesting that one publisher had sent me in a different direction than the person I thought was the author of the material. It seems if you are famous, you can not only get a book published but can get someone to write it!

Although there have never been any legal issues regarding the materials I think perhaps there should be something in the contract regarding this, that we cannot be held responsible. Perhaps an attorney can give me that answer.

Carol

We are still in negotiation to sell the rights. I happened to think that I had used some of the materials other places, and that I wanted to continue to be able to do so. The lawyer suggested "it would be relatively simple to draft a 'license back' that allows you to continue engaging in those activities notwithstanding the purchase of the materials."

We have not received this clause yet but it seemed a good idea.

The main thing is that they will be updating the materials and are excited about this endeavor. They are good people to work with.

Carol

I'm wondering if it is your lawyer or the other party's? Hope it is yours. On something like this you need one no matter how nice the other people may be. You are right about needing a clause that relieves you of any legal responsibility.

No lawyer thought of this, and I actually thought of it in regard to the buyer. I could imagine them possibly finding other places we'd used the materials and this could cause problems for both of us.

This organization has been our publisher for the past six years and carried out all they said in the past contract.

This is not a bad thing. We just need to make sure we've thought of all the contingencies from each of our perspectives.

I thought the "buy back" clause sounded like a good idea for anyone in this position.

Carol