Intellectual Property Magazine
It’s not over once you sign
McAndrews, Held& Malloy’s Amber J Carpenter and Malaika Tyson examine strategies forterminating a previously granted copyright in the US
Amber JCarpenter and Malaika Tyson - McAndrews, Held & Malloy
In the past, in order to get their works published, authorswere contractually obligated to transfer or assign their copyrights
to theirpublishing houses, losing the ability to license their works to other thirdparties. Due to these assignments and transfers,
publishers often have astockpile of hundreds to thousands of titles in their portfolios. Because ofchanging times or economic
concerns, many of these works are no longer inprint, accumulating dust. However, it is not over once an author signs awaytheir
rights, due to a little-known doctrine within the US Copyright Act.