How to Obtain Permission to Publish & Sell Copyrighted Audio Books
Copyright law works to protect the intellectual and artistic property of authors, artists and other creative workers so that ideas may not be stolen or falsely copied without permission. Obtaining these rights in order to publish or distribute a work requires great effort and legal wrangling in order to produce a product the author or current copyright holder is pleased with.
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Things You'll Need
- Attorney specializing in copyright law
- Author of the work being published or sold
Instructions
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Selling and Publishing Copyrighted Audio Books
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Consult/Retain an attorney specializing in copyright law. The U.S Copyright Act grants a number of rights to the author or copyright holder of a specific work and an attorney will be able to assist in identifying the following: who owns the copyright, if the work in question is held under copyright law, and if the rights to distribute/publish a certain work are available. According to www.bitlaw.com, a comprehensive source for research and copyright law, "All copyright rights are held by the book's author until the author specifically transfers them. ... the right to copy a work is one of the exclusive rights granted under the Copyright Act. This distinction allows a copyright owner to sell copies of a work, or even the original work itself (such as a sculpture), without forfeiting her rights under the Copyright Act."
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Determine who retains copyright of the specific work. In some occasions the author has already signed copyright of their work away and it will rest in another person or organization. This entity or person must be contacted in order to obtain permission to sell and distribute the work. Use the retainer attorney to contact the author of work or copyright holder. It must be made clear that permission is being sought to reproduce audio versions of the work in question.
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Secure the following rights: Reproduction and Distribution. This may be done with simple written permission or may require a separate contract where royalties/fees may be negotiated through attorneys. The right for reproduction will enable a person to produce copies or "publish" versions of an existing work. Distribution will then allow those copies to be sold at a price determined by the entity that has permission to distribute the work. Remember that these rights are not without limit. "The rights are not without limit, however, as they are specifically limited by 'fair use,' " according to bitlaw.com, "and several other specific limitations set forth in the Copyright Act."
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