Sample Contract Clause
Author grants to Publisher the exclusive rights to print, publish, distribute, sell and license the rights to any and all editions and/or formats of the Book, in whole or in part, in the English language throughout the world.
Author grants to Publisher the non-exclusive right to Electronic versions of the Book. (Electronic versions shall be defined as online and digital reproductions and displays of the verbatim text and illustrations of the Book, or excerpts, for promotional purposes only. This grant of rights shall in no event be deemed to be a grant of electronic-book or audio-recording rights, which are reserved by the Author.)
These rights shall be granted to the Publisher for a period of five (5) years from date of this agreement.
These clauses - taken from a negotiated literary contract - are among the author-friendliest we've encountered. Although the grant of English-language print rights is broad, it also is brief; the author recovers all rights after five years. Moreover, the contract explicitly reserves to the author the e-book and audio-book rights. In addition, because the contract covers only English language rights, the author retains foreign language rights.