© 2004, John Calder http://www.TheEzine.netAs a marketer, you are no doubt familiar with
concept of reprint rights and resale rights. Perhaps you seek dream scenario of acquiring exclusive rights to a hot niche product. Yet, you come up against an obstacle: no one has created a product in your niche!
Is there a way around this? Yes, and it comes down to re-examining where you source your content. When you fail to find a quality, resalable, digital product among "reprint rights craze" crowd, it's time to head back to pioneers of content licensing. In other words, head straight to traditional book publishers.
Licensing 101
Licensing through traditional publishers appears daunting at first glance. Yet, process is quite simple when you understand:
Types of rights available What to look for Who to talk to
Available Rights
Publishing rights fall within two very broad categories: Primary rights and Subsidiary rights. Primary rights, quite simply, describe all of publisher’s intended uses of a given work. Subsidiary rights describe those uses left to original author.
How these rights are assigned depends on publishing agreement. Authors typically grant to their publisher: hardcover rights, paperback rights and translation rights. They may retain electronic reprint rights and book club rights, but this is not always case. Again, it depends on both publisher and author’s intended distribution of work. There may or may not be third-party licensing options available.
What to Look For
As an information marketer, you want to find a work available for third-party licensing. Specifically, you should look for subsidiary electronic reprint rights. Start with small, specialized publishers first. You’ll face less bureaucracy and you’re also much more likely to acquire contact with original author for direct negotiation.
