How to Buy the Copyright for an Old Book
Buying copyrights to old books is a great way to start a new publishing venture or to expand on an existing one. Old books have a history that can be analyzed to determine the marketability of a reprint. They also have established brand awareness, making the title feel more recognizable to those considering a purchase. The copyrights to these books can often be purchased cheaply if the existing publishers are not printing new editions, although popular titles can be expensive.
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Instructions
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How to Buy the Copyright for an Old Book
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Research the copyright information on file at the U.S. Copyright Office or online at Copyright.gov. The catalog of copyrights can be searched by different criteria, such as author, title or publisher. Old books may sometimes require special searches. Anything published prior to January 1, 1978 will be found in the "Other Services" section of the online catalog.
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Determine if the book in which you are interested is still protected by a copyright or if it has expired. The general rule is that a copyright is valid for the life of the author plus 70 years. For books published before 1978, the copyright was valid for 28 years with an option to renew for an additional 67 years. Refer to the copyright information for a particular book to determine if it has fallen into the realm of public domain.
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Contact the registered publisher for the book. Contacting the author directly is usually not an option for older books because they have most likely moved or perhaps died since the copyright was registered. Write a simple letter identifying the author and title of the work in which you are interested. Explain that you would like to buy the copyright and need to know if they are open to discussion on the matter. Do not list a price in your initial correspondence.
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Estimate the amount of money you expect to make from sales of the book and determine what you feel would be a fair price for purchasing the copyright. Allow the publisher to make the first offer, and then reply with a lower counter offer. This leaves you room to negotiate. Remind them that this is an older book that has many copies already in circulation, which should help prevent the publisher from attempting to overprice the item.
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Obtain a written contract for the transfer of copyright ownership. It is important to have written documentation that proves you are the new owner. The contract should also indemnify you from any liabilities of the previous copyright owner. Once all parties have signed the contract and the funds for the purchase have changed hands, the copyright of the book is yours.
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Tips & Warnings
Find out if any copyrights exist in other countries, and if so, whether or not those copyrights have separate owners or if they are included with the purchase.
Resources
- Photo Credit ēst smiltis no ausīm, Flickr.com Creative Commons License
