Robinson Law Offices P.C. Book and Book Publishing Law Attorneys counsel and represent book authors, screenwriters, literary artists, and their estates in copyright and trademark protection matters and in structuring, negotiating, and documenting agreements for books of all types.

We have handled a variety of authors and subjects, including serious nonfiction, fiction, teaching curriculum, study materials, humorous and comical books, and graphic novels. While many of these have been done in the traditional book format, the trend indicates a greater need for contacts and agreements to govern the new media and nontraditional electronic formats and Internet publishing. We are ready to assist you in this new arena.

We have over 20 years of experience advising clients and representing their interests. We have negotiated, structured, and documented the deals that provided for the protection and commercial exploitation of their intellectual property. We will strive to do the same for you!

Robinson Law Offices P.C. is serious about protecting authors’ and literary artists’ rights.

You have written the book and now someone wants to have you sign a contract before they publish it. Before you ever sign one document or any publishing contract, you should see an experienced book publishing attorney who can counsel you on the rights you may be giving up to the publisher.

Sometimes you can negotiate to retain control of your publishing rights. Authors can continue to hold certain rights in their work with a grant of a non-exclusive license to publish their work in a particular format and to sell it. The language that allows you to terminate the contract at a designated time allows another publisher to take over publishing and distribution upon certain conditions.

If you unfortunately sign a contract granting the publisher exclusive right to print, publish, distribute, and sell copies of your work for the duration of the copyright the work needs to be reviewed. You may be harmed by what seems like a good short-term deal that instead will kill your literary work in the future.

Contract Terms are negotiable and should be reviewed by an experienced attorney prior to signing them. We have seen many authors who were victims of publishing houses that closed while holding copyrights and exclusive licenses to their work. The author was subsequently unable to print or distribute their work again without great expense.

Other agreements that must be considered in negotiations and contract terms include:

• Author Contract: Identifying languages, electronic rights, merchandising, etc.
• Cover Artist/Illustrator Contract: Identifying whether there are royalties etc.
• Editor Contract: Identifies whether he receives royalties or work made for hire etc.
• Distributor Contract: Rights granted to the Distributor from the Publisher.
• Foreign Rights and Licensing Contracts: Reprints and Translations

Contact The Experienced Book Publishing Attorneys at Robinson Law Offices P.C. for a Free Consultation Today!