Highlights for Authors:
- You grant Expert Fundraiser the sole and exclusive right to produce, publish and sell your work in English throughout the world in electronic format only (you retain all other rights)
- You receive a royalty of 50% of the retail download price on all sales of your work sold through Expert Fundraiser
- Royalty payments are made every six months by cheque in Canadian dollars
- Initial term of this agreement is four years
- You retain the copyright of your work
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Sample Electronic Publishing Agreement
This agreement is entered into on the__________ of ________, _______, between Alan Sharpe Consulting, Inc. (parent company of Expert Fundraiser and hereinafter known as “the Publisher”) located at 1 Herlan Avenue, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada and____________________(hereinafter known as “the Author”) of _______________________________ concerning a work presently known as ___________________________ (hereinafter known as “Work”).
This Agreement is considered legal and binding in all countries. If there should be any legal dispute, the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada shall apply.
1. The Author hereby represents and warrants to the Publisher that:
A. The Work is free and clear of any counts of libel, plagiarism, breach of privacy or misrepresentation of facts.
B. The Work does not infringe upon any copyright or proprietary right, common law or statutory law, and does not contain any material of libellous nature.
C. The Work is not in the public domain and the Author is the sole owner and copyright holder of the work with full power to enter into this agreement.
D. If the Work has been previously published in whole or in part, the Author currently holds all copyrights to the Work and is legally permitted to enter this agreement.
E. The Author has not heretofore and will not hereafter during the term of this Agreement enter into any agreement or understanding that would conflict with the rights herein granted to the Publisher.
F. If the Work includes quotations or illustrations in which the copyright does not belong to the Author then the Author shall obtain written permission for their use from the owners and shall pay any fees or costs involved, and on request the Author will send to the Publisher copies of the permissions obtained and proof of copyright fees paid by the Author. If the Author shall breach this warranty, the Publisher shall be entitled to injunctive relief in addition to all other remedies which may be available to it. The Author further agrees that the publisher, its distributors, and any retailer will be held harmless against any recovery or penalty finally sustained arising out of this breach of this warranty, and in this event the Author will reimburse the Publisher for all court costs and legal fees incurred. Any out of court settlement of any suit filed jointly against the Author and the Publisher shall be made only by mutual agreement in writing between same.
2. Grantor of Rights
A. The Author, on behalf of himself/herself and his/her heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assignees, grants the Publisher sole and exclusive right to produce, publish and sell the Work in English throughout the world in electronic format only (including email, digital download, disk, CD, or any other digital format known or to be invented). This Agreement does not infringe on print rights.
B. The Publisher undertakes to publish the Work in those electronic formats, both encrypted and unencrypted, deemed by the Publisher to be appropriate and suitable at the time of publication, and, at its discretion, to publish in new digital formats as and when they are introduced. T
C. The Publisher undertakes not to publish the Work as part of a compilation product, except with the prior written agreement of the Author.
D. At any time before the expiration of this agreement the Publisher shall have first option to conclude a new agreement with the Author for further publication rights to the Work on terms to be mutually agreed upon.
3. Term of Agreement
A. Electronic rights will be exclusive for a term of four years commencing on the date the Work becomes available for sale on the Publisher’s website. This term shall be automatically renewed for additional periods of one year each unless terminated by written notice by either party at least ninety days prior to the end of the initial term or the end of any renewal term.
B. This agreement may be terminated after one year by either the author or the publisher with a ninety-day written, certified mail notice or other receipted delivery service, and all rights granted the Publisher will revert to Author at the time of such termination.
C. Upon breach of agreement, the agreement may be terminated by either party with a 30-day written notice. Notification of breach and intention to terminate the agreement is to be delivered by certified mail or other receipted delivery service. If breaching party corrects breach within 30 days, the agreement shall continue to remain in place until its natural expiration. Upon expiration of the agreement term, all rights granted the Publisher will revert back to the Author.
D. During the term of the agreement, the Work will not be said to be out of print.
4. Manuscript Preparation and Delivery
A. Author shall provide an acceptable, final revision of the manuscript in either Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format within the time agreed upon or this agreement will be void. Publisher will not be held liable for lost manuscripts or defective disks.
B. If, in the opinion of the Publisher, the manuscript is unacceptable or unsatisfactory to the Publisher, the Publisher may reject it by written notice within sixty days of delivery, in which case this agreement shall be deemed terminated and there shall be no further obligation upon the Publisher to publish the Work or to make any further payment hereunder, and all rights granted to the Publisher under this agreement shall revert to the Author.
5. Editing Rights
A. Changes, additions, deletions, abridgements, or condensations in the text of the Work or changes of title may only be made by the Publisher, its agents, or employees, with the prior written consent of the Author. Minor typographic errors may be corrected by the Publisher without written consent.
6. Publication
A. The Publisher agrees to publish and commence distribution of the Work in digital or electronic format within twelve months of delivery of the Author’s final manuscript, unless prevented by circumstances beyond the Publisher’s control, or unless otherwise agreed with the Author.
B. In the event the Publisher fails to publish and distribute the Work by said date, the Author shall have the option to terminate this agreement upon seven day’s notice from the Author to the Publisher, and all rights hereunder shall revert to the Author. The Author shall retain any payments made under this agreement, without forfeiting the Author’s rights to seek further damages from the Publisher.
C. This mandated publication date may be extended to any other date, and any number of such extensions may be made, upon mutual agreement between the Publisher and the Author.
7. Marketing and Promotion
A. The Author shall provide the Publisher with biographical information, a photo of the Author, and promotional copy for use on the Publisher’s website. The Publisher reserves the right to edit or rewrite the promotional copy submitted by the Author.
B. The Author grants the Publisher the right to use the Author’s name, likeness, title of work and biographical material for publishing, advertising and promoting the Work.
C. Cover art will be provided by the Publisher. If the Author has his/her own cover art, the Author must warrant that the provided art is either owned by the Author or that it does not infringe on any copyright.
D. Publisher reserves final approval of art in consultation with Author.
E. The Publisher undertakes to design and create the Work to a high standard within the technical limitations of the electronic book format at the time of publication, and to take full advantage of any enhancements to the standard book format, such as the use of hyperlinks and colour, where possible and appropriate.
F. The Publisher agrees to promote the Work on the Publisher’s websites and to seek promotion by any and all appropriate means available including listings on electronic book marketing websites, and providing free electronic copies for review by online and offline reviewers.
G. Pricing of the Work shall be solely at the discretion of the Publisher.
H. The Author agrees to self-promote the Work to the best of his/her ability. If the Author has his/her own website, the Work must be linked to the Publisher’s website. With any promotional material the Author generates, the Author will consult with the Publisher to insure proper use of the Publisher’s name and/or other information.
I. The Author may use up to 10% of the content of the Work to post on his/her website or to give away as “teasers” to promote the Work provided it includes a link to the Publisher’s website.
8. Royalty Payments and Statements
A. The Publisher shall pay to the Author a royalty of 50% of the retail download price in Canadian dollars on all sales of the Work sold through the Publisher’s website. If the Work is purchased on DVD or CD, the royalty will also be 50%.
B. The Publisher has the right to agreement with distributors, bookstores, vendors, organizations and outlets of electronic books to sell the Work in association with the Publisher’s name. For all sales through these outlets, the Author will be compensated 50% of the download price less any handling costs or discounts charged by the outlet.
C. Royalties shall be calculated and paid on or within thirty days of June 30th and December 31st of each year of this agreement, covering the six months from January 1st to June 31st and July 1st to December 31st, respectively.
D. Royalties shall be paid by cheque, in Canadian dollars, drawn on a Canadian bank, unless previous arrangements are made with the Author. Payment arrangements, mutually agreed upon by the Publisher and the Author, shall be made for payment of royalties to the Author if he/she resides outside Canada or the United States.
E. In order to stimulate sales, the Publisher reserves the right to lower the price of the Work after a reasonable amount of time if the price appears to be too high (no sooner than three months).
F. No royalty shall be paid on paper or digital copies distributed for review, advertising, publicity, promotional purpose, samples, or other similar purposes, or on copies sold below or at cost.
G. The Author is responsible for paying his/her own taxes on all royalty payments received from Publisher and is advised to keep accurate records for tax purposes.
H. The Author or the Author’s duly appointed representatives may examine the Publisher’s accounts as they relate to the Work at any time after written demand by the Author. Such examination shall be at the Author’s expense unless errors are found in excess of 5% of royalties in the Author’s favour; in which case, the Publisher shall then defray all usual, customary, and reasonable charges for such audit. The Publisher shall pay the Author any sums due within thirty days.
9. Infringement
A. If during the existence of this Agreement the copyright shall be infringed, the Publisher may, at its own expense, take such legal action, in the Author’s name if necessary, as may be required to restrain such infringement or to seek damages. The Publisher shall not be liable to the Author for the Publisher’s failure to take such legal steps. If the Publisher does not bring such an action, the Author may do so, in the Author’s name and at the Author’s expense.
B. Money damages recovered for an infringement shall be applied first toward the repayment of the expense of bringing and maintaining the action, and thereafter the balance shall belong to the Author, provided, however, that any money damages recovered on account of a loss of the Publisher’s profits shall be divided equally between the Author and the Publisher.
10. Assignment, Bankruptcy and Insolvency
A. The Publisher may at any time and without notice to the Author sell itself, or the majority of itself, its holdings, or licenses. Current agreements would transfer to the new owner.
B. If the Publisher is legally judged bankrupt or liquidates its business, this Agreement shall be terminated effectively and all rights granted to the Publisher shall be terminated.
12. Subsidiary Rights
A. The Author and/or the Author’s agent shall retain in full the exclusive right to sell or license the Work for publication in whole or in part, in English or in any foreign language, in any way, shape, edition, or form not in conflict with the rights granted to the Publisher under this agreement. All and any other subsidiary rights including television, film, stage, radio, video and audio shall remain with the Author.
B. Upon mutual agreement between the Publisher and the Author regarding the splitting of the proceeds between the Publisher and the Author, and regarding the extent of the Publisher’s authority in any subsidiary rights matter, the Publisher may act as the Author’s agent in any such matter. However, the legal rights to make agreements for subsidiary rights, licensing or sale shall remain with the Author.
C. Should the Author at any time during the term of this agreement secure a print publishing agreement with another publisher who requires the electronic rights, then the Publisher shall be willing to negotiate fair recompense from the print publisher for the termination of this agreement, the withdrawal of the Work from sale, and the transfer of the electronic rights to that publisher.
13. Inheritance
A. This agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors, administrators and assigns of the Author, and upon and to the successors and assigns of the Publisher.
14. Disputes
A. If the Publisher is in any way in breach of this agreement and fails to remedy the breach within thirty days from written notice by the Author, or if the Publisher ceases business as an electronic publisher, then all rights assigned to the Publisher under this agreement will revert to the Author.
B. In the event of any dispute or disagreement regarding this agreement, the parties agree that common sense should prevail, and that, if necessary, an independent person or persons mutually agreed upon by both parties can be called upon to make a decision that is binding upon both parties.
15. Entire Agreement
A. This Agreement hereby constitutes the entire agreement between the Author and the Publisher and supersedes all previous agreements regarding the Work, whether oral or in writing. Modification of this agreement may only occur in writing, signed by both parties.
Signed for and on behalf of the Author by:
Name: __________________________________
Signature: _________________________________
Date: __________________________________
Signed for and on behalf of Alan Sharpe Consulting, Inc. by:
Name: __________________________________
Signature: __________________________________
Date: __________________________________
