The electronic rights covered in a book publishing agreement are ruled by several sensitive parameters that must be reviewed by both the publisher and the author so that a mutually beneficial arrangement is reached.
So what exactly do ‘electronic rights’ cover? In some cases this may merely indicate a grant of ‘electronic rights’, the entire scope of electronic publishing may not be included in the deal. What this means is that the nuances of electronic database and storage rights need to be clearly stated in the agreement to cover the entire scope of electronic publishing of the title and who retains these copyrights.
The issue of whether or not the author owns electronic rights is key, but in many cases, the author is not the sole owner of the title. This means that all quoted and third party material rights will need to be granted to the author for him/her to claim complete rights to the published title. Thus the subtleties of how these rights are established and the need to obtain the required license for other material, as also permissions and such must be legally binding in an author agreement.
The area of electronic rights publishing and electronic print on demand cover several nuances that require qualified legal assistance to avoid hassles once the contract is in place. Thus a traditional book publishing agreement which does not make a provision for electronic rights may become an issue later on. A clear agreement is in the best interest of all parties concerned and minimizes issues that arise out of uncertainties in contract terms.