Publishing
Publishing is not just about putting words onto paper. Publishers and authors have to consider cross-media opportunities and the growing influence of online publishing. In this complex and evolving industry publishers and authors must manage their rights, and the value of those rights, judiciously.
“A number of other people saw in the yarn potentialities for revision, reshaping and improvement. It was condensed, boiled down, digested, redigested, reprinted, book-clubbed, synopsized, subjected to scenario treatment and ultimately blown up into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock. All that survived in the end were the title, the names of some of the characters and the copyright, which was mine. This is what produced the enjoyable delusions of grandeur. Every time somebody new did something to the story, he had to pay for the privilege of improving on it. I hired a gardener to hack mimosa roots, traded in the secondhand Citroen for a better one and gave Germaine a raise. My agent was unable to talk Mr. Hitchcock out of a percentage of the gross for the movie rights or I might have become a multimillionaire in fact as well as in fantasy, but I still got a very welcome return from what turned out to be an enormously successful movie.“
David Dodge - author of To Catch a Thief, taken from The Rich Man's Guide to the Riviera*
Book Publishing
Key Areas of Expertise
For most of our publishing clients we act as their legal portal – when they have a legal issue, they call us. We assist where we know we can deliver excellent and expert legal and commercial advice. If the issue requires other expertise, we recommend a particular lawyer from another respected firm that we believe offer excellence in their field. Some of our key areas of expertise are described below.
Intellectual Property: Advising on Copyright, Designs, Confidential Information and Trade Marks as well as trade practices.
The vast majority of our advice is in the field of Intellectual Property (“IP”) or related areas such as “passing off” or misleading and deceptive conduct under the Trade Practice Act. Our experience includes issues relating to: copyright and trade mark licences and clearances; infringement of IP rights (individual and wide spread piracy matters); fair dealing defences; protecting ideas, designs and confidential information; IP corporate structuring, trade mark registrations and protection (such as for imprints) and collecting societies (particularly CAL and Viscopy).
Contracts: Creating, Tailoring, Advising and Negotiating
With the often-complex passage of publishing rights, contracts must be clear and effective. We have extensive experience in creating contracts that meet commercial needs. We tailor our documents so that they merge seamlessly with your business – you’ll get contracts that are easy to understand and use but legally effective.
We have created, tailored, advised on or negotiated contracts for working with authors, designers and other content providers, affiliate companies, software programmers, syndicators, packagers, distributors and warehouses. We pride ourselves on our work in new fields of technology.
Dispute Resolution: Negotiation, Mediation, Arbitration and Litigation
Sometimes disputes are unavoidable. In most circumstances, we believe a negotiated resolution is the best approach. Where this fails, or circumstances demand a different approach, we help you manage the costs and risks of going to court with our extensive experience and always practical and commercial focus. We work closely with the leading barristers in Sydney and our network of overseas associates.
Pre-Publication Advice: Advising on Defamation, Sedition and Contempt
Australia’s content laws are constantly changing – we help you make the right decisions about the commercial risks and benefits in proceeding to print.
Simpsons represents major publishing houses, industry associations and some authors.
To speak to Adam Simpson about a publishing matter, call him on (02) 9247 3473, or email him at .
* Published in 1963 by Cassell Plc., a division of The Orion Publishing Group (London). Attempts to trace the copyright holder were unsuccessful. We would like to thank The Orion Publishing Group for their assistance.