Bilbary signed a deal with Random House.
http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/bilbary-now-carrying-random-house-ebook-titles/
Some of the issues I have with Bilbary's supplier (author) contract have been addressed within its July update to the contract. However, remaining to be resolved is a problem within section 5, specific to the "Taxes" section. Within it, Bilbary expressly states it owns all submitted titles.
I pursued the issue with Bilbary management and have been assured that senior management and lawyers will act to define more clearly this section so that copyright and content owners, publishers, and/or representative agents won't have to fight this one out with Bilbary in the courts or through arbitration. I was told that this "Taxes" section is governed by the contents of the entire contract, where ownership is clearly defined within a different section. However, it would be difficult for authors to defend their ownership rights when s/he signed a contract that states Bilbary owns all titles.
As such, I requested that Bilbary modify the "Taxes" section to state something like, "For tax-reporting purposes only, Bilbary is legally required to state that it owns the titles. Because the scope of this definition applies to tax-reporting only. It does not constitute a legally-binding transfer of content and copyright and/or other intellectual-property rights from content owners, their distributors and/or representation to Bilbary."
I'll share their reply as soon as I get one.
Take care,
LC
http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/bilbary-now-carrying-random-house-ebook-titles/
Some of the issues I have with Bilbary's supplier (author) contract have been addressed within its July update to the contract. However, remaining to be resolved is a problem within section 5, specific to the "Taxes" section. Within it, Bilbary expressly states it owns all submitted titles.
I pursued the issue with Bilbary management and have been assured that senior management and lawyers will act to define more clearly this section so that copyright and content owners, publishers, and/or representative agents won't have to fight this one out with Bilbary in the courts or through arbitration. I was told that this "Taxes" section is governed by the contents of the entire contract, where ownership is clearly defined within a different section. However, it would be difficult for authors to defend their ownership rights when s/he signed a contract that states Bilbary owns all titles.
As such, I requested that Bilbary modify the "Taxes" section to state something like, "For tax-reporting purposes only, Bilbary is legally required to state that it owns the titles. Because the scope of this definition applies to tax-reporting only. It does not constitute a legally-binding transfer of content and copyright and/or other intellectual-property rights from content owners, their distributors and/or representation to Bilbary."
I'll share their reply as soon as I get one.
Take care,
LC
