The Contract You Should Never Sign

The publishing contract is the cornerstone of the author-publisher relation. In the framework of the Intellectual Property Act, each of the rights assigned in a publishing contract implies privileges and obligations for both parties. Knowledge of all the clauses and what each means is vital to getting negotiation right. Analysing and deconstructing a publishing contract is a practical exercise that serves to identify compromising clauses, what they mean and involve, which can be negotiated and which the author should never agree to.