Clause 27

This clause’s language is generous to authors; it is creator-friendly.

CLAUSE TEXT:

Author is owner of the copyright in the Work. Author is entitled to all the benefits contained in the United States Copyright Law effective as of the date of the signing of this Agreement, including but not limited to Section 203, which provides authors and their successors with a right of termination.

(a) Publisher shall print in every copy of the Work a copyright notice that contains Author's name as owner of the copyright and that complies with the United States Copyright Act and the Universal Copyright Convention; and

(b) Publisher shall, within three months of first publication, duly register a claim for United States copyright in the Work, in the name of Author as "claimant"; and

(c) Every license granted by Publisher hereunder to reproduce and distribute copies of the Work shall contain a requirement that the licensee print the aforesaid copyright notice in all copies.

EXPLANATION:

The Kernochan Center thanks to the Authors Guild for this model clause. The clause specifies that the author retains all copyrights in the work, but obliges the publisher include a copyright notice in the author's name. If the publisher licenses rights to anyone else to make or distribute of the work, the publisher's contract with its licensee will demand that those copies include a copyright notice in the author's name.