Could Be Worse Clause About Reversion of Rights

Termination:

16(a) In the event that the Work shall at any time be out of print, the Author may give notice thereof to the Publisher and in such event the Publisher shall declare within 60 days, in writing, whether it intends to keep the Work available for sale. The term "out of print" is defined as being unavailable in any of the formats specified [previously] in this Agreement.[These include, but are not limited to, hardcover, anthologies, book club editions, translations and motion picture rights.] If the Publisher declares its intention to return the book to print, it shall act not later than six (6) months from the date of such notice. If within 60 days the Publisher does not declare in writing that it intends to keep the Work available for sale, then this Agreement shall terminate and all rights granted hereunder shall revert to the Author by way of a written reversion letter, together with any existing property originally furnished by the Author.

This is an Out of Print clause. It allows the author of the literary work to terminate her contract with her publisher and get her rights back if the publisher is no longer publishing the work. However, the definition of what it means for the work to be considered "out of print" is quite broad. As long as the publisher is making the work available in any one format, the work will not be considered "out of print." Even if the work is not available in any format, the publisher, once notified by the author, has 60 days to declare its intention to make the work available again. If the publisher does not make that declaration, or if it does, but then fails in fact to make the work available within six months, then the rights revert to the author.