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Copyrights and Publishing rights from a large textbook company

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LaProfesora

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Hello All,

I was hired at a large university to write curriculum for a large science lab course. During my first year, I collected labs from the internet, wrote them out in my own words into labs that would work for my large lecture course, modifying materials and methods, editing the labs, and adding references and directions and case studies. I put the labs up on my university's learning platform.

In the second semester, I took all the labs and, at the urging of my boss and the textbook publisher who published our science textbook (a large national publisher), put all the labs into a custom lab manual. The textbook publisher took my Word files (exactly, but adding page numbers) and put a color cover on the manual, gave it an ISBN, and sold it to the bookstore for $20. I have only signed ONE paper for the large publisher - this:

May 5, 2009

This Letter of Agreement will serve as confirmation that xxxxxpublisherxxxxxx
Solutions will produce the following customized student textbook(s) for University of xxxxx for
delivery for the August 24, 2009 course launch:

xxxxxcourseXXXXXXX



University of xxxxxwill order approximately 650 units of the custom package within one year
of publication at an initial net unit price of $15.00.

The lab manuals will be:
• 1-color text
• 4-color cover (which will look like the xxxxxxx)
• Spiral bound
At this point, I would like to go with another publisher. I am unhappy with my sales rep, and feel taken advantage of.

I noticed that, in the front of my manual, the large publisher put this:

"Copyright 2010,2009 but The Large Publisher. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without prior permission of the publisher."

Have they taken my copyright? My publishing rights?

Do I not own my work anymore?

I have not received a dime from them, but they've made TONS from my manual.

And now that I want to go with another company, the large publisher is claiming I can't. I believe they are trying to bully me, and I want to know what my options are.

Thanks for all adviceWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


quincy

Senior Member
Actually, LaProfesora, you may never have held the copyrights in the works you created for the university. All of the work you did is probably owned (or was owned) by the university, as a work made for hire. The university would hold the copyrights in the work.

A work made for hire is a work created for an employer by an employee that falls within the scope of the employee's employment. The work that is created is generally work that the employee is paid to create as part of his job, and is generally created in the workplace. The resulting work serves the employer.

This sounds like the situation you are describing here. You are and were a university employee/professor, correct?

It is entirely possible that the university, as holder of the copyright, transferred some or all of the rights to the current publisher (ie, the right to reproduce the work, distribute the work, sell the work). That would be a reason why the publisher is listed in the front of the manual and not you or the university.

Have you spoken with your "boss" at the university about it yet? That is what I recommend that you do.

Good luck.
 
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LaProfesora

Junior Member
Actually, LaProfesora, you may never have held the copyrights in the works you created for the university. All of the work you did is probably owned (or was owned) by the university, as a work made for hire. The university would hold the copyrights in the work.

A work made for hire is a work created for an employer by an employee that falls within the scope of the employee's employment. The work that is created is generally work that the employee is paid to create as part of his job, and is generally created in the workplace. The resulting work serves the employer.

This sounds like the situation you are describing here. You are and were a university employee/professor, correct?

It is entirely possible that the university, as holder of the copyright, transferred some or all of the rights to the current publisher (ie, the right to reproduce the work, distribute the work, sell the work). That would be a reason why the publisher is listed in the front of the manual and not you or the university.

Have you spoken with your "boss" at the university about it yet? That is what I recommend that you do.

Good luck.
Thank you very much for your response.

I can actually completely see how the university I work at may own my work. I was paid by the university to produce it, but I NEVER gave the rights to my work (copyright or publishing) to the large textbook publisher. I gave them the right to print it, and that's all they did.

I'm actually perfectly fine if the university owns the work, but under that guise, I feel I should be able to shop the work out, with all the changes and improvements I have made in the last two years, to any house I choose. And two other houses are offering me much better deals.

I have talked with my boss, because the textbook rep is someone we all know and have worked with over the last 30 years. Most of my department have just done textbooks from him, I am the second person to do a custom manual, and the second person to be unhappy with him. My colleague who printed with him before told him to "shove it," and wrote a completely new book with a new publisher. I fear I will have to do the same. My boss' reaction is "don't make waves. You can do what you want, but don't make me miserable in doing it." Very hands-off.

I did contact the legal counsel at my university, and I think I will get some good advice from them. But in my field, the more info I can get from varied sources, the better decisions I can make. I feel like I got "had," because I didn't know any better.

I'm appreciative of your advice, quincy, and I would take any other suggestions you might have very thankfully.
 

quincy

Senior Member
I suggest you clarify with the help of the university's legal counsel not only who exactly holds the copyrights in the works you have already produced for the university, but also who would hold the rights to any works you may decide to create later outside your workplace.

Perhaps you can review with legal counsel your employment contract, to see if there are any clauses hidden in it somewhere that could limit your ability to create a NEW work of your own, where you could retain all rights and profit off all sales.

If the university owns the copyrights in the current works, however, or if they have transferred rights to the publisher, you would more than likely have to go off in a completely different direction for any future works you create.

Other than that, it seems you are already doing what you need to be doing. :)

Good luck.
 

LaProfesora

Junior Member
I suggest you clarify with the help of the university's legal counsel not only who exactly holds the copyrights in the works you have already produced for the university, but also who would hold the rights to any works you may decide to create later outside your workplace.

Perhaps you can review with legal counsel your employment contract, to see if there are any clauses hidden in it somewhere that could limit your ability to create a NEW work of your own, where you could retain all rights and profit off all sales.

If the university owns the copyrights in the current works, however, or if they have transferred rights to the publisher, you would more than likely have to go off in a completely different direction for any future works you create.

Other than that, it seems you are already doing what you need to be doing. :)

Good luck.
Hi quincy (et al)

Thanks again for the feedback. I haven't heard back from legal yet, but I did hear from the textbook company. Let me share what he said,

he said:

Not sure if this got through. Yes, I believe if we revert your rights now, you are on your own for summer. Do you want me to hold til summer orders have been placed?

Thanks,
I said:

No, I don't want to move slowly. I am getting really frustrated at this situation, and I want my rights to my work ASAP. Then, I can decide how I want to move forward, with all of my work in my name. I'm angry that this situation has become so complicated, and I am going to fix it, in my way, my decision.

Make this happen. No more talking about it happening, I want it fixed, yesterday.
he said:

I have put the wheels in motion. LaProfesora, I am really doing everything here to help you as best I can so all goes smoothly. The fact that I caught this was a gesture of help, not something to promote you getting upset. I am trying to help you.

Whenever we publish a book, we have the rights to publish the book. We do not own the rights to publish and when she signed the contract, she agreed to that. It is not a big deal to revert the rights, sometimes it just take a while. Date of the original contract is 5/5/09.
The section of the contract that states this is:
5: Rights.
(a) Author grants to publisher all rights under copyright in the Work including the sole and exclusive right to publish, reproduce, print, distribute and sell the Work in any form or media now or hereafter known throughout the world

These things usually take time but our folks were good enough to cut through the red tape and I think we will get this done today. It usually could take months. What is your fax number?

Thanks much,
it sounds from above that he was emailing someone in his dept, and copied part of that email and sent to me

I said:

I don't do faxes. Please email me the contracts I have signed, and if there is a document that gives me all my rights back, scan and email it, then drop it in the mail. I need these in emails so I can forward to my legal dept.
he said:

Being non royalty, There are no rights to be reverted and you are free and clear to start your new book right now! So you are all good to go.

Thanks much,
I said:

OK, so I own all my Copyright and Publishing rights, and I can use my materials I developed freely?

Do you have any signed contracts that I need to forward to my legal department?
he said:

Nope, you are free and clear. I apologize. I personally thought this was the case all along.
So, he jerked me around for nothing. He has no contracts, he was just bluffing, and he took my rights, but now I have them - right?

I can go to another publisher, and do my manual with someone else?

Thanks! If I don't have my rights yet, what exactly should I say to get them back and make my change?
 

quincy

Senior Member
And the university does not own the copyrights in the works as a work made for hire? Or haven't you had the opportunity to check on this?

If the works ARE works made for hire, even if the publisher agrees to release the university from the contract that gives the publisher the exclusive rights to print and publish your work(s), you would still not hold the rights. The university would. Therefore, you would not be the one going off to a new publisher for the works currently held by the old publisher. The university would.

For any NEW works you create, you MAY be able to retain all of your rights in the works, depending on your contract with the university.

I think you need the university's legal counsel to review everything. They are in a better position to advise you, as they can look over your contract with the university and they can look over any contract(s) the university has signed with the current publishing company.

Good luck.
 
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quincy

Senior Member
Facts cannot be copyrighted. LaProfesora can take the labs he found online and use them - he just cannot not duplicate in writing the way these labs were expressed in writing by others online.

By rewriting and reworking them and adding to them and putting them together in a manual, he has effectively made them copyrightable as his (or the university's, as the case may be).

An example: It is a fact that if you place a burning match inside a small-necked bottle, and then place a larger peeled hard-boiled egg over the top of this bottle, the hard-boiled egg will be sucked into the bottle once the fire goes out inside the bottle.* This experiment with facts can be used by anyone. How the steps are described can be original enough to make this common science experiment copyrightable - even when the experiment itself cannot be. A compilation of these experiments can make a lab manual copyright-protected.

(*I was in middle school when this experiment was done....really didn't learn much. :) After a review online, the drop in air pressure inside the bottle allows for the atmospheric pressure outside to push the egg inside the bottle....I think)
 
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Silverplum

Senior Member
Facts cannot be copyrighted. LaProfesora could take the labs he found online and use them - he just could not duplicate the way these labs were expressed by others online.

By rewriting and reworking them and adding to them and putting them together in a manual, he has effectively made them copyrightable as his (or the university's, as the case may be).
I totally believe you.

My point was just what I wrote.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Oh. Well. Then the point you made was a very astute one. :D

And, when you wrote "I totally believe you," I assume that does not refer to my pre-edit reason for the egg going inside the bottle. That should NOT have been believed, because I based it entirely on memory (and, if memory serves me now, my science grade in middle school sucked :)).
 
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Silverplum

Senior Member
Oh. Well. Then the point you made was a very astute one. :D
Thank you. :) D

quincy said:
And, when you wrote "I totally believe you," I assume that does not refer to my pre-edit reason for the egg going inside the bottle. That should NOT have been believed, because I based it entirely on memory (and, if memory serves me now, my science grade in middle school sucked :)).
Tee hee!
:p
 

LaProfesora

Junior Member
And the university does not own the copyrights in the works as a work made for hire? Or haven't you had the opportunity to check on this?
I haven't checked on this, but I certainly will add this to my list of questions for legal counsel. I was not hired to "write a lab manual." I was hired to develop the curriculum for a new course. I had the options when I started managing the lab of 1. Adopting a national lab manual, and using it in my lab. 2. Picking another author's labs from a database, and paying them to use them. 3. Do what I did, and read twenty manuals, get a feel for what these students needed, and then write my own labs.

After I had finished writing all these labs, my boss suggested it might be nice to package them as a custom manual. So, I went above and beyond my job description, and did this custom manual. I signed the "Publisher can print the manual" contract in my first post, and that's the only thing that has EVER been signed - from me, not my boss, not the university, no one else. This was my deal, and no money changed hands, except my students buying this custom manual from the large publisher.

If the works ARE works made for hire, even if the publisher agrees to release the university from the contract that gives the publisher the exclusive rights to print and publish your work(s), you would still not hold the rights. The university would. Therefore, you would not be the one going off to a new publisher for the works currently held by the old publisher. The university would.
I approached the publisher with the "deal." I signed the only LOA, in the first post. The university plays no part in this, other than I work there and run their lab. I make the magic happen.

For any NEW works you create, you MAY be able to retain all of your rights in the works, depending on your contract with the university.
Yes, I have been told I can freelance and write for other manuals and textbooks, as an independent contractor.

I think you need the university's legal counsel to review everything. They are in a better position to advise you, as they can look over your contract with the university and they can look over any contract(s) the university has signed with the current publishing company.

Good luck.
You are completely right, but the process is moving slowly and I'm trying to find out what to expect, and what my options are.

What I want to do is this: Take my 13 labs that I have written, throw out three, write three new ones, add my 100 pages of content, and custom publish with a new publishing house. The new house will also take each lab I have written, and add it to the national database, so that if other universities like the way I write, I can earn royalties. Under Ohio ethics laws, I cannot get royalties from my OWN students. But I can get royalties if other schools adopt my labs. One of my colleagues is doing it, and I would like to also.

It's just this copyright that the large publisher threw on the front pages of my manual. I did not give them my rights, I did not sign a contract, and now they are jerking me around. And I'm wondering what rights I have.

Thank you all.
 

LaProfesora

Junior Member
Facts cannot be copyrighted. LaProfesora can take the labs he found online and use them - he just cannot not duplicate in writing the way these labs were expressed in writing by others online.

By rewriting and reworking them and adding to them and putting them together in a manual, he has effectively made them copyrightable as his (or the university's, as the case may be).

An example: It is a fact that if you place a burning match inside a small-necked bottle, and then place a larger peeled hard-boiled egg over the top of this bottle, the hard-boiled egg will be sucked into the bottle once the fire goes out inside the bottle.* This experiment with facts can be used by anyone. How the steps are described can be original enough to make this common science experiment copyrightable - even when the experiment itself cannot be. A compilation of these experiments can make a lab manual copyright-protected.

(*I was in middle school when this experiment was done....really didn't learn much. :) After a review online, the drop in air pressure inside the bottle allows for the atmospheric pressure outside to push the egg inside the bottle....I think)
Exactly. Of the twenty labs I read, 15 do dissections. I wrote a dissection lab by researching on my own, writing my own material and methods that are specific to my students, and writing my own assessment questions. That's what my manual includes. I did not invent dissections, nor did any of these other authors. I just wrote it in my own words.
 

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