Reversion of Rights in Publishing Contracts

Publishing contracts involve the sale of all kinds of rights: print rights, film rights, electronic rights, merchandising rights, etc. and authors spend a fair amount of time negotiating these rights with their publishers, as they should. After all, the decisions authors and publishers make about these rights shape their publishing deals.

But what happens to an author’s rights if a deal falls through? Or, more commonly, what happens when sales dwindle, a publisher loses interest, and a book stalls? Prudent authors acknowledge the potential risks associated with publishing contracts. They protect their interests by pushing for strong “reversion of rights” language in their publishing contracts.

“Reversion of rights” language is contract language that allows authors to reacquire the rights to their work when their relationships with their publishers terminate. Specifically, the language delineates the circumstances under which authors may request a reversion of rights and the processes or procedures that must be followed when the rights purchased by the publisher ultimately are transferred back to the author.