Non-Fiction Copyright Query

Hi all... glad I found this site, its a minefield out there trying to find information.

And my question is pretty darn complicated me thinks!

I wrote a biography a few years ago, I got a book deal right away but my editor ended up leaving the company, nobody else wanted to deal with it, I got discouraged with no answers to my editing queries and just dropped it.

By the time they started actually asking about the book, I was not able to write thanks to a medical condition (although I didn't realize it at the time, I thought it was writers block). But they issued a new date for a deadline, and asked me to submit a draft. Seeing as I was expecting to deal with an editor (as was the case with my first book), I was more concerned with the telling of the tale, it was a rough draft.

They deemed the 'work' not satisfactory and dropped it. (They had signed another entity and ended up with a near-authorized biography, mine was very much unauthorized).

I'm not sure of the terms of my contract, but they expected me to try and sell it to another publisher and pay back my advance with the proceeds. I just dropped the whole thing. Again. I met the challenge of researching a very difficult subject, it was a great book. I had a ton of 'scoops', none were included in the authorized version or in another book done on the subject. The subject has cooled off, I'm not going to have publishers in this market lining up anytime soon. However, a few mags are interested in the 'scoops'.

But how much of my own material can I use legally? Can I rewrite it?
Can I assume they have the rights to the text and the quotes as per the draft they received but not the information? I can't pretend I don't know what I know. And there have been new developments not in the proposal. (I should add the publisher never saw the images I collected, nor are they mentioned in the proposal).

The second thing is that I would like to try and drum up interest in a foreign language territory (don't recall if they had foreign rights) where the subject
is still 'hot' by doing a magazine story using the book material. Again, given that the article will be 2000 words and not 200,000, there will be substantial changes.

In this case, I'd like to approach the publisher, but I have no idea if they're
going to view it as promotional and support it or say 'pay us first'. (Which is impossible). I know no one here can say what they'll do, either, but if anyone has any similar experiences, please share.

I'm also considering just going to the publisher (which is a very large company so don't know how flexible they are) and seeing if they'll take a deal where I start selling the parts of the verbatim book copy to magazines and just split the money with them. But I'm afraid they may tell me I can't publish it at all without paying them off entirely first and then I won't be able to do anything. Have these big companies been known to be flexible?

Then again... I'm wondering if I own the copyright and they can't stop me from publishing an article based on the book, all they can do is demand I repay the advance so it's really up to me?

I hope this makes sense!


sas

hmmm... why am I a guest?

Hi sas,

Welcome to the forum! You are logged in and your post is a member post. That's an interesting situation. You will need to look at your contract to find what rights you have and what rights you signed to the publisher.

My husband's first book (academic text) received a small retainer from a pubisher who pulled out. No contracts were signed and he sent the manuscript out to other publishers and it was subsequently accepted and published. He kept the retainer and, having not signed a contract with the first publisher, kept all the rights to his work until he signed a contract with the subsequent publisher.

So, you need to find out about the rights you have signed away.

I agree with Don. What I'm wondering is, do you still have your contract? Some of your comments make it seem that you do not.

Thanks. The contract is kicking around here somewhere, I have to dig it up. But its the standard major publishing house agreement with not much alteration.

I did speak to my agent, and he seems to think that all they can do is ask for their money back, they can't block publication. They don't own the rights although they do have the rights to the proceeds. And if I have a conversation with them first, we can come to an agreement about partial repayment.

The answer I still can't get is a general one, about the definition of the 'work'. Can the original be rewritten with new quotes and text, and how much of the existing text can be retained under fair usage? I know the latter is variable, but I still need confirmation that quotes and text as submitted to the publisher can not be used if I wanted to create a new work, but the information can. I'm guessing this is the case.

To be honest, if I was going to bring a lawyer in, I'd probably look at getting out of the advance altogether, I think I have grounds based on their utter lack of editorial support.

There is no better advice than that offered by Don and Dick. See a lawyer.