Before anything else, a point of clarification after reading Jane Friedman's incredibly in-depth roundup of all things Anthropic. The wrangling over lawyers' fees, she has said, should not delay the onset of payments to rights holders. The first of those payments, in instances where there is clarity over who the rights holders are, should start trickling through in November.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
It's not all plain sailing, though. The Authors Guild has some interesting commentary on that little phrase in the previous paragraph “where there is clarity.” It seems that in many cases, lawyers are advising there are issues with the claim. These tend to arise from a disagreement between authors and publishers over who owns those rights. Victoria Strauss has an excellent blog with the characteristically blunt title, “Publishers Are Making Incorrect Claims on Authors' Payouts.”
What the Disputes Look Like
It seems that two particular issues are being reported. To quote Strauss, who exercises a goodly amount of caution in reminding us that these are reports from authors without full right of reply:
“Most of the reports I'm receiving fall into two categories: publishers making 50% or 100% claims on rights-reverted works (where they should receive no share), and publishers making 100% claims on in-print works (where their share should be 50%).”
Authors Guild have advised authors who believe their rights have reverted that they should continue to seek the 100 percent that would entitle them to. They have established a portal to help with the often complex process.
FutureBook Joins London Book Fair
I hadn't realized until reading this announcement that the FutureBook Conference had launched as recently as 2010. It's one of those events that feels as though it's always been there. But in 2027 the event, which focuses on, as the name implies, the future direction of all things to do with our industry and the most exciting innovations it has to offer, will be held in conjunction with London Book Fair. London Book Fair will take place on March 16–18 at its new home of Excel London (where the London Marathon Expo is held for fellow runners). FutureBook will take place on March 15, also at Excel London. Expect panels on AI and much more!
Thoughts or further questions on this post or any self-publishing issue?
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