Managing Intellectual Property

INTRODUCTION

At the heart of the book publishing industry lies the ability of a publisher to select or commission content that the reading public will be ready to purchase, which will satisfy their interests in a variety of thematic areas. Book publishers produce this content in print and/or in other formats (electronic versions of books, periodicals, websites, blogs, etc.) and use sales and marketing skills to sell this content to readers. Book publishers are creators, acquirers, custodians, and managers owners and users of intellectual property rights. They possess certain rights in the books they produce and sell, and they hold other rights on behalf of third parties. Their business involves exploiting the rights of others, just as they equally seek to defend and protect what is theirs and what they have been entrusted to defend. Publishers therefore have a professional interest in exploiting these rights to the best advantage of their authors as well as themselves. They are thus obliged to treat the rights of others with respect....