RE: selling singles (update)

["John Cox" <John.E.Cox@btinternet.com>]

Ian Russell has already drawn attention to the soon-to-be 
published survey of scholarly publishing that was undertaken by 
Laura Cox of Frontline Global Marketing Services 
(laura.cox@frontlinegms.com) and myself.  That 78% of publishers 
offer individual articles for purchase should make it clear that 
this is now commonplace.

So far as the rights to sell individual articles online is 
concerned, there is absolutely no restriction on publishers 
offering pay-per-view if they acquired copyright from the author 
at the time of acceptance.  The problem may simply be that the 
author agreements no longer exist.  Before the advent of online 
publishing, many publishers published accepted articles even 
though the author may not have returned a signed author 
agreement.  Now that copyright and author rights have been put 
under the spotlight, publisher's processes have tightened up 
considerably.  Journal publishers now routinely seek copyright 
assignment, or a license to publish, that gives them all the 
print and online rights they need.

The position with magazines and newspapers is very different. 
Any periodical that has relied on pieces commissioned from 
professional freelance writers and journalists has traditionally 
paid for "one-time use" only.  Consequently, if the piece were to 
be republished online, the rights would have to be cleared and a 
further payment made to the author.  Today, such periodical 
publishers have changed their author agreements to include all 
the right that they generally need.  But this does not change 
older work, published before the early 1990s.

John Cox

Managing Director
John Cox Associates Ltd
Rookwood, Bradden
TOWCESTER, Northants NN12 8ED
United Kingdom
E-mail: John.E.Cox@btinternet.com
Web: www.johncoxassociates.com

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Okerson, Ann
Sent: 14 August 2008 00:58
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: selling singles (update)

Thanks to the many who replied for confirming my sense that 
selling of individual articles is commonplace.  I asked because I 
heard privately of a publisher who found it hard to do that. 
Perhaps the question I should ask is "what *would* make it hard 
to sell individual articles?"  Are materials published 5-50 years 
ago when authors' agreements did not include authors' rights a 
problem?  Are there any steps a publisher should take to make 
sure that a generous policy of making material available is 
sustainable?

With thanks,
Ann Okerson