Following Random House CEO Markus Dohle asserting rights to electronic editions of existing titles despite any explicit language in pre-1994 contracts granting such rights, the Authors Guild took strong exception to the land grab and vowed action against the world's largest trade publisher.
In a letter sent to authors and agents, Dohle laid out Random House's eBook strategy and said the firm was committed to bringing its backlist to the electronic realm, writing “the vast majority of our backlist contracts grant us the exclusive right to publish books in electronic formats.” That's probably true: in 1994 the firm inserted a clause in its standard contract giving Random House electronic rights to published works. But Dohle went a step further and asserted the firm had a right to publish electronic editions of backlist titles, saying the standard Random House contract clauses "in book form" or "in all editions" also applied to electronic rights.
Perhaps. But the Authors Guild begs to differ. In a strongly worded dissent, Guild officials said Dohle was overreaching and that established case law provided plenty of limitations over the rights a publisher can expect. The federal court case cited was indeed a milestone -- Random House v. Rosetta Books -- and it explicitly stated that Random House had no expectations to electronic rights to books if those rights were not explicitly listed in the book contract.
Right now both sides are in the posturing phase: Dohle's clearly in the wrong, and the Authors Guild obviously wants to see the best deal possible for authors. Because the eBook field is still in its infancy, there's no establishing way to value standard royalties and eBook rights. With the book industry struggling, we don't expect Dohle to lay down a line in the sand and start issuing eBook titles willy-nilly -- but expect plenty of negotiations in coming months.
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