Hi again frankauf :)
Thanks for your clarification - much appreciated. I'm going to answer
your question on the basis that:
1. The agreement you're referring to is governed by UK law;
2. That your questions are as confirmed in the clarification which you
replied to on 20 June and;
3. That this answer will be provided on the basis of my experience in
this area (i.e. I see a lot of these types of agreements in my line of
work). I will also provide you with some general reference links at
the end of the answer regarding contract and copyright law but the
basis of my answer will be from personal knowledge and how I
understand the question in light of the information provided.
With respect to your first question, i.e. "If you sign the agreement,
what time period you are restricted to NOT being able to write
competing works?" it would seem that on first glance, you are
restricted to not being able to write competing works "during the life
of this agreement" (bear in mind that you MIGHT still be able to write
competing works during the life of the agreement provided you get
consent of the publishers). You state, however, that the agreement
does not specify a term of years.
You should doublecheck the agreement to confirm that it definitely
does NOT have any term length specified (some agreements will, at the
very least, have what's known as an "initial term" which will usually
start at around 1 year, after which point either party can cancel the
agreement).
Following on from my paragraph above, you should also check to see if
there is any kind of termination clause - this is the type of clause
that will allow either or both parties to terminate the agreement upon
a certain amount of notice being given to the other party.
If you cannot find any term length specified in the agreement, then it
suggests (and I say suggest because I have not seen the entire
agreement, only the wording which you've supplied) that the agreement
is either meant to be, at the very least, perpetual OR that the
publishers have either forgotten or chosen not to include a term
length with respect to the agreement. If this is the case, then this
means that you will not be entitled to write competing works for at
least the length of your natural life without the prior consent of the
publishers. I say for "at least the length of your natural life"
because basic contract law suggests that when one party to a contract
is deceased, then the contract becomes invalid. There may, however,
be other provisions in the agreement which state otherwise - again,
you will need to check.
If you can find a termination clause clause in the agreement which
allows you to terminate, then once you terminate the agreement, the
obligation to ask for permission with respect to writing competing
works also terminates (subject to any other restrictive clauses that
might be in the agreement).
With respect to your second question i.e. "Whether the "life of the
agreement" is related in any way to the "legal term of copyright":
1. There may be a clause in the agreement somewhere specifically
stating that both parties agree that the life of the agreement is
deemed to be equal to the legal term of copyright. You need to check
for this.
2. By signing the agreement itself, "....the author for the legal term
of copyright...grants to the Publishers the sole and exclusive right
and licence to produce and publish the Work.." it appears irrelevant
whether there is an actual specified term of the agreement or not.
What the clause is suggesting is that you are giving the Publishers an
exclusive licence for the Works during your lifetime plus 70 years
after your death, regardless of any length of the agreement. If there
is no actual specified term of the agreement, you should assume that
this is the case. If there IS a specified term of the agreement, then
it still suggests that the legal term of copyright will still be the
life of the author plus 70 years UNLESS there is some mechanism, such
as a termination clause, which allows both parties to terminate their
obligations under the agreement OR unless it states something to
contrary elsewhere in the agreement.
I hope that the above proves useful to you. Based on the limited
information to hand, I've tried to provide an answer which will give
you a good basis for doing some further investigations on your own.
I've also had to limit my answers to "possibly's", "mights" and
"suggests" as its very difficult to construe a contract's meaning (and
certain clauses) without seeing the document in its entirety. I've
also listed some links below which you may find useful in light of
your question. Should you require any clarification, please do let me
know before hitting the rating button :)
Kind regards
jem-ga :)
1.Website of the UK Patent Office which has an EXCELLENT section on
copyright including defintions of copyright, basic copyright
information and guidance notes:
http://www.patent.gov.uk/copy/index.htm
2. For links to organisations who assist with protecting copyright,
including copyright in published materials visit:
http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/std/resources/copyright/published.htm
3. The British Copyright Council's website also has some very useful
guides for download (available in .pdf format) available at:
http://www.editor.net/bcc/publications.php
*You can download Adobe's .pdf reader (Adobe Acrobat) for free at:
http://www.adobe.com
4. Of particular interest, visit:
http://www.anweb.co.uk
a website billing itself as a "resource for artists". Although
initially it looks like it relates only to print work artists (e.g.
for example, graphic designers or portrait painters) it has excellent
resources for artists of all kinds (e.g. writers, musicians, etc)
including;
"What is a Contract" found at:
http://www.anweb.co.uk/l_04_d3/d3a01.htm
"Standard Terms in Artists' UK Contracts":
http://www.anweb.co.uk/l_04_d3/d3a07.htm
"Ways Out of a Contract":
http://www.anweb.co.uk/l_04_d3/d3a13.htm
and an extensive section on copyright starting at:
http://www.anweb.co.uk/l_04_d3/d3b01.htm |
