Expert: Cathy Clamp - 3/12/2008

Question
hey, cathy, thanks for your time. i read your bio and such and am not sure my
question will be of interest to you, but i liked the tone of your answers to
others so i thought i would ask anyway.

i have written a form poem for the christian market. i am interested in
licensing it for cards, posters, etc.. about two weeks ago i applied for a
copyright and now i am wondering how to go about marketing the poem? do i
need to wait for official notice of the copyright? how do i locate entities to
license to? do you know of a good resource for learning about licensing
intellectual property?

thanks for your help, manny.  

Answer
Hi, Manny!

Well, probably the first thing you want to do is remove the word "license" from your vocabulary. That has a particular meaning in copyright law and it's NOT a good thing for you. A "license" is the equivalent of a "lease" and it temporarily GIVES AWAY your copyright to the holder of the license for the term of the agreement---however long that might be. I've seen licenses that extend for the "full term of the copyright" which would be 70 years past your death. You would have no say in where your poem was published, or what changes they might make to it. You might or might not get paid for places where it might appear, and an unscrupulous holder of a license could, in turn, grant a license to a completely different person/entity without your approval.

So...not the best thing.

The term I believe you're thinking of (instead of license) is "right to publish." This is a contractual term, outside of copyright law, that gives a publisher/magazine/entity the right to publish or produce the poem for the general public. Copyright stays firmly with you, provided you don't voluntarily give it away. Reading agreements is important and a good thing to get in the habit of.

Your best bet is to look for agreements that give "first rights." This can appear as First North American Rights, First Internet Rights or First World Rights. A "first right" is just what it sounds like. The company is the FIRST to publish/produce the poem. You can only give first rights ONCE, as you can imagine. Thereafter, you'd be able to sell "reprint rights."

I wish I was more versed in greeting cards, but I know some people who are, so I'll ask around to find out what good markets are out there for Christian poetry. I know there are some, but I don't know the information. Stay tuned, and I'll get back to you in a few days with that info. Thanks! :)

Cathy