B

This is in some respects the most satisfactory, if a proper price can be obtained. But the transaction should be managed by a competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of the Society.

II. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of agreement).

In this case the following rules should be attended to: (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of production forms a part without the strictest investigation.

(2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements in his own organs: or by charging exchange advertisements. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.

(3.) Not to allow a special charge for "office expenses," unless the same allowance is made to the author.

(4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental rights.

(5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.

VOL. XII.

BESANT.

79787

[PRICE SIXPENCE.

(6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher. As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or doctor!

III. The Royalty System.

It is above all things necessary to know what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now possible for an author to ascertain approximately and very nearly the truth. From time to time the very important figures connected with royalties are published in The Author. Readers can also work out the figures themselves from the "Cost of Production."

IV. A Commission Agreement.

The main points are:

(1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production. (2) Keep control of the advertisements.

(3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book. General.

All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four above mentioned.

Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author. Never sign any agreement without competent advice from the Secretary of the Society.

Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.
Avoid agreements by letter if possible.

The main points which the Society has always demanded. from the outset are:

(1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement

means.

(2.) The inspection of those account books which belong to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or withheld.

WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.

NEVeeretary of the Society of Authors or some com

EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the

petent legal authority.

2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for the production of a play with anyone except an established manager.

3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for PLAYS

IN THREE OR MORE ACTS:

(a.) SALE OUTRIGHT OF THE PERFORMING RIGHT. This is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into such a contract should stipulate in the contract for production of the piece by a certain date and for proper publication of his name on the play-bills.

B 2

720

137

ado

(b.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF PERCENTAGES

on gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5 and 15 per cent. An anthor should obtain a percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts in preference to the American system. Should obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed date on or before which the play should be performed.

(c.) SALE OF PERFORMING RIGHT OR OF A LICENCE TO PERFORM ON THE BASIS OF ROYALTIES (i.e., fixed nightly fees). This method should be always avoided except in cases where the fees are likely to be small or difficult to collect. The other safeguards set out under heading (b.) apply also in this case.

4. PLAYS IN ONE ACT are often sold outright, but it is better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should be reserved.

5. Authors should remember that performing rights can be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and time. This is most important.

6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction is of great importance.

7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot print the book of the words.

8. Never forget that AMERICAN RIGHTS may be exceedingly valuable. They should never be included in English agreements without the author obtaining a substantial consideration.

9. Agreements for collaboration should be carefully drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.

10. An author should remember that production of a play is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract. He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in the beginning.

11. An author must remember that the dramatic market is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object is to obtain adequate publication.

As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete on account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic contracts, THOSE AUTHORS DESIROUS OF FURTHER INFORMATION ARE REFERRED TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY.

1.

E

HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.

VERY member has a right to ask for and to receive advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub. lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his business or the administration of his property. If the advice sought is such as can be given best by a solicitor, the member has a right to an opinion from the Society's solicitors. If the case is such that Counsel's opinion is desirable, the Committee will obtain for him Counsel's opinion. All this without any cost to the member. 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright and publishers' agreements do not generally fall within the

experience of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use the Society.

3. Send to the Office copies of past agreements and past accounts, with a copy of the book represented. The Secretary will always be glad to have any agreements, new or old, for inspection and note. The information thus obtained may prove invaluable.

4. BEFORE SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WHATEVER, send the document to the Society for examination.

5. Remember always that in belonging to the Society you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you are reaping no benefit to yourself, and that you are advancing the best interests of literature in promoting the independence of the writer.

6. The Committee have now arranged for the reception of members' agreements and their preservation in a fireproof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary, who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :-(1) To read and advise upon agreements and to give advice concerning publishers. (2) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action upon them. (3) To keep agreements. (4) To enforce payments due according to agreements.

of charge, the cost of producing it would be a very heavy charge on the resources of the Society if a great many members did not forward to the Secretary the modest 68. 6d. subscription for the year.

Communications for The Author should be addressed to the Offices of the Society, 4, Portugal-street, Lincoln's-inn Fields, W.C., and should reach the Editor NOT LATER THAN THE 21st OF EACH MONTH.

All persons engaged in literary work of any kind, whether members of the Society or not, are invited to communicate to the Editor any points connected with their work which it would be advisable in the general interest to publish.

THE AUTHORS' CLUB is situated at 3, Whitehall-court, London, S.W. Address the Secretary for information concerning rules of admission, &c.

13582

LITERARY PROPERTY.

I-A Publisher's Agreement and Mr. "Absolute."

AGREEMENT made this day of

of

BETWEEN

(hereinafter called the AUTHOR) of the one part and of (bereinafter called the PUBLISHER) of the other part, WHEREBY it is agreed as follows:

1. The PUBLISHER agrees to purchase and the AUTHOR agrees to sell the entire copyright, without any reserve, in the United Kingdom and all other parts of the world, of a work entitled the completed manuscript executed in a proper manner of which the AUTHOR has delivered to the PUBLISHER, and all future editions thereof in consideration of the following payments, viz. :

A royalty of

on the published price of all copies sold up to 3000, a royalty of after 3000 (this last increase only taking place as long as the book is not reduced in price lower than 6s. and as long as 500 copies are sold in each year).

2. The PUBLISHER will according to his own judgment and in such a manner as in his unfettered discretion he may consider advisable at his own cost print and publish a first edition of the said work, and further editions if in his judgment further editions are required, and in his absolute discretion advertise the same, and shall determine all details and in his absolute discretion make all arrangements of and incidental to the printing, publishing, advertising, sale price, and reviewing of the said work.

3. The PUBLISHER shall in his absolute discretion have the right to sell, exchange, assign, or otherwise dispose of all and every right of publication or of translation of the said work on any terms and for any period and either wholly or partially or exclusively or otherwise as he shall think expedient for the colonies and foreign countries, and an amount equivalent to 50 per cent. of the net profits realised and actually received by the PUBLISHER shall be paid to the AUTHOR.

4. If the PUBLISHER shall sell an edition (or such number of copies as may be fixed on by the PUBLISHER in his own absolute discretion as constituting an edition for the purpose of this clause) to a publisher or bookseller in the United States of America, the provision as to royalties in clause I hereof provided shall not apply, but the AUTHOR shall be paid a royalty equivalent to one half the royalty that would be paid were the copies in question sold to the English trade.

5. If the said work shall be included in any edition of works published in England for exclusive sale in any colony, the royalty shall be 2d. on each copy sold.

6. The PUBLISHER may, in his absolute discretion, sell, exchange, assign, or otherwise dispose of the remainder of any edition at remainder prices, and the AUTHOR shall not be entitled to any royalty in respect thereof, but shall in lieu thereof be entitled to a payment equivalent to 5 per cent. of the net profit realised by such sale and actually received by the PUBLISHER.

7. The AUTHOR shall revise and return for press with all reasonable speed the proof sheets of the work so that the same may be printed without interruption.

8. If the printer's charges for author's corrections of the first or any other edition of the said work exceed an average of 68. per sheet of thirty-two pages, the excess shall be repaid to the PUBLISHER by the AUTHOR and may be deducted from royalties due or to become due hereunder or from any moneys held by the PUBLISHER on account of the AUTHOR.

9. The AUTHOR shall revise with all possible despatch any new edition of the said work and correct the proofs and otherwise assist as may be required by the PUBLISHER.

10. The AUTHOR shall not write or publish, either directly or indirectly, any other work on the same subject of such a kind that the sale of the work shall be in any way prejudicially affected, and should be write another work on the same or cognate subjects he shall in the first instance give the PUBLISHER the right to acquire the work by purchase or otherwise as may be arranged.

11. This agreement is entered into by the PUBLISHER on the warranty by the AUTHOR that the said work does not infringe any copyright, and that the said work does not contain anything of a libellous nature. If the said work does contain anything constituting or alleged to constitate a breach of such warranty, and proceedings are threatened or brought for any alleged infringement of copyright or for any alleged libel, and it is deemed advisable by the PUBLISHER in his absolute discretion not to contest the matter but to arrive at a settlement thereof, or if the action is successfully contested, then and in every case the AUTHOR shall pay in advance to the PUBLISHER & sufficient sum to cover the estimated costs of the PUBLISHER in defending such action or threatened proceedings, and shall at the same time give to the PUBLISHER security satisfactory to him to indemnify him against any damage awarded in such action, and shall on demand repay to the PUBLISHER all costs (as between solicitor and client), damages, and expenses incurred by the PUBLISHER in respect of or resulting from or incidental to the publication, advertisement, withdrawal of, and other dealings with the said work, to the effect that the PUBLISHER shall have full and complete indemnity from the AUTHOR in respect of all out of pocket expenses in connection with the said work.

12. The PUBLISHER shall keep proper books of accounts showing the number of copies of the said work sold, and also accounts showing the sales up to the 30th day of June and the 31st day of December in every year, as far as can be accurately ascertained, shall be delivered to the AUTHOR as soon as practicable after these respective dates, and the royalties due and payable shall be paid not later than the ensuing 30th day of November and the 31st day of May respectively in every year, and in estimating such royalties thirteen copies of the said work shall be counted as twelve. 13. The PUBLISHER shall give to the AUTHOR free of charge six copies of the said work.

14. Nothing in this agreement contained shall constitute or be taken to constitute a partnership between the parties.

TH

HE agreement printed above has nearly all the faults which from an author's point of view it could possibly contain. These faults have been criticised over and over again in The Author, and also in the work published by the Society entitled "Forms of Agreement issued by the Publishers' Association, with Comments by G. Herbert Thring and Illustrative Examples by Sir Walter Besant." But it has been thought essential to reproduce this special form, as it is a new form recently brought forward. Several copies have been sent to the Secretary for his comments. It is much to be regretted that publishers who really desire an equitable agreement between the parties should still persist in putting forward such a document.

CLAUSE 1.-The author sells every right he has in the world in England, her Colonies and Dependencies, in America, and under the Berne Convention. The folly of this course is evident. The English publishers should only hold a licence to publish in England, her Colonies and Dependencies. It is sometimes necessary to except Canada. All other rights are generally left in the hands of an agent, and much better so than in the hands of publishers, for this reason-that a publisher does not as a general rule undertake the work of a literary agent; that his office is not to place literary work in other hands, but to produce literary work for the author; that work of this kind left in the hands of publishers is not likely to receive anything like the same attention as it is if left in the hands of a literary agent; that the publisher is the only person who gains by having control of this work, and that the author loses by leaving it in his hands. It should be pointed out further that the publisher does not anywhere in the agreement undertake to secure the American copyright for the author, nor even to do his best to obtain it. It may pay an English publisher better to sell sheets or stereos to America and pay the author a royalty as per clause 4. It should be added (see clause 3) that for this agency work, while the literary agent charges 10 per cent., the publisher generally asks from 30 to 50 per cent. (in this case 50 per cent.). Out of a large series of agreements before the Society from all sorts and conditions of publishers the lowest charge for this literary agency business has been 25 per cent., and this only in

one case.

Further, a publisher who makes his profit out of the English book publication looks upon the increase in his profits from these other sources as little extra luxuries. He does not push to get a fair price for the author or to keep up the author's position in the literary market, but he readily accepts any offer that is made.

An example was recently before the Secretary where the serial rights of a 6s. novel, held by the publisher, were sold for £30. The book was by an author of no mean reputation, who could obtain without difficulty £100 if his work had been fairly marketed.

There is another point-that publishers very often delay the publication of a book in order to market these minor rights, and it is quite possible that, as the agreement stands, if the publisher was desirous of serialising both in England and America the publication might be delayed almost indefinitely.

That there should be a rising royalty is only fair if the author cannot claim the highest royalty at once. With regard to this point,

nothing further need be said, the amount that an author can obtain in royalty being merely a matter of bargaining, but attention should be drawn to the latter part of the clause, which is inserted in brackets. It might lead the unsuspecting author into considerable difficulty, as the publisher nowhere undertakes to produce the book at 68., and it is possible that he might, if the sales were averaging about 500 a year, stop them before they reach that number.

66

In CLAUSE 2 Mr. "Absolute" has everything at his "unfettered discretion" and practically takes all the powers into his own hands. He does not mention the date when he will publish, and he does not mention the form in which he will publish, nor does he mention the price at which he will publish, and at his absolute discretion he advertises or not, and at "his absolute discretion" he makes what arrangement he likes with regard to the production of the book. He is particularly absolute" in this clause. It is needless to say that such a clause as this is " absolutely" bad from the author's point of view. Some of the difficulties of CLAUSE 3 have already been pointed out when commenting on clause 1, but Mr. "Absolute" makes his position exceedingly clear to the unfortunate author. The publisher, as already pointed out, pockets 50 per cent. of the profits, for which the negotiations, in many cases, entail the mere writing of one or two short letters; and again it should be pointed out that the sale of these minor rights may entail great delay in publication in addition to the efforts of the publisher being careless and half-hearted.

Again, in CLAUSE 4, the publisher safeguards himself against obtaining the American copyright. As a general rule, it does not pay a publisher to obtain the American copyright for an author. In clause 4 if he does not obtain such copyright, the author is to have half the royalty that he would obtain if the copies had been sold to the English trade; this, quite irrespective of any bargain which Mr. Absolute" may make with the American house with which he is dealing. The arrangement may be an exceedingly good arrangement for the publisher; no doubt Mr. "Absolute" will see that it is a good arrangement, otherwise he will not accept it, as the acceptance or rejection lies entirely with him, and it is possible that he might arrange with an American publisher to obtain more than 50 per cent. of the just returns.

In CLAUSE 5 it will be noticed that the author is to have 2d. on each copy sold to the Colonies. As the book to which this agreement refers is presumably a 6s. book (no price being actually fixed), it is as well to point out that the ordinary price paid to an author is from 4d. to 4 d. a

copy. The arrangement by which the author gets 2d. is an exceedingly good one for Mr. "Absolute."

The next clause (6) is also a dangerous clause for the author. It is wearisome to repeat the reasons, but attention should be drawn to the fact that the author is paid 5 per cent. on the net profits, the publisher taking the rest.

With regard to CLAUSE 8, again, it is fair that the publisher should be protected against the heavy expense of corrections brought about by the author, but the amount, 6s. per sheet of thirty-two pages, as quoted in this agreement, is perhaps the smallest amount that has been allowed to any author in any agreement that has come before the Society.

In CLAUSE 9, again, the author is entirely at the beck and call of the publisher. The work is the author's, but he is not allowed to revise it unless the publisher desires him to do so, and his revision, even, is subject to the publisher's discretion.

In CLAUSE 10 the author is forbidden to publish a work which is likely to conflict with the interests of Mr. " Absolute," but our friend Mr. "Absolute" might, on the other hand, desiring to control the market with regard to a certain style of publication, kill a book at "his absolute discretion" in order that it might not in any way conflict with any work of his own on the same subject already on the market. If the author is bound not to produce, it is only fair that the publisher should be equally bound.

CLAUSE II is perhaps the most absolute clause of this absolute agreement. If the book was the author's, and the publisher had a licence to publish, it is fair under certain circumstances, and to a certain limited extent, to guarantee the publisher against infringement of copyright and libel; but as the book is the publisher's, he ought to protect himself before the purchase. In any case, the author is asked to concede much too much. A case once arose in which the publisher of a scientific book dealing with the sex question on scientific lines was prosecuted by the police. The publisher pleaded guilty to obscene publication, and the author, although his book was approved by some of the greatest scientists in Europe, had no power of clearing his character. This case is not an exact analogy, but power is given to the publisher of making any agreement without the author having any opportunity of clearing himself. It is possible that under similar circumstances the publisher might consent to the payment of a large sum to satisfy a case rather than permit the author to vindicate his character with regard to what he had written. Besides, the fact that the publisher is protected

from all loss would necessarily render him careless as to the costs he might incur, the settlements he might make, and his whole course of action. The author would be powerless under the clause as it stands. Mr. " 'Absolute" has

"out-Heroded Herod," " pray you avoid him." It must be repeated that where a publisher makes an out-and-out purchase, as he does in this agreement, the motto should be caveat empter, and the author should not give a guarantee to the publisher.

The account clause (12) is not satisfactory ; it is not, however, as bad as some. The irony of clause 14 is perhaps its most amusing point. Apology must be made for a merely superficial commentary on this extraordinary agreement. If any member of the Society would care to have further details he must apply to the secretary. Space does not allow of the further unravelling of Mr. "Absolute's " methods. G. H. T.

PARIS LETTER.

4 bis, rue des Beaux-Arts.

HE first spring of the new century has been

Tsignalised by an outburst of literary and

intellectual activity. Place aux jeunes! might be its watchword. A marked favour is being shown to young writers and the ideas promulgated by the rising generation. The reading committee of the Comédie Française-that erst stronghold of precedent, protection, and prejudice -is placing itself in the advance guard of the movement by accepting new men's work, rightly esteeming that the hall-mark of original talent counterbalances the lack of a celebrated signature. Of the second revolution going on in the heart of the Comédie itself it is not our province to speak. The proceedings of the first general assembly of the Association internationale des Académies have, likewise, been duly detailed elsewhere. In his opening speech the president made a graceful allusion to the services rendered by the Royal Society, to whose initiative the idea of an international catalogue of scientific literature was due. The floral games at Toulouse, and the pretty ceremonies which accompanied the bestowal by the Clémence Faure Academy of the silver violet, primrose, pink, eglantine, lily, and marigold (marking the respective order of merit attained by the poem thus recompensed) must also rauk among the matter "crowded out." That the judge's office was no sinecure is attested by the fact that out of a total of 759 poetical effusions only ten were deemed worthy of reward