Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Possible Copyright Infringement?

I am a children's book author. I have a contract with my publisher for royalties on a soft cover book. I recently found that a company is legally buying the book from a distributor and then altering the cover (tearing it off) and re-binding the book as a hard cover book, giving it a new ISBN number and selling it for a lot higher price. Is this legal? They are not paying me a higher fee for what is now a hard cover book. Nor did they get permission from the publisher or me about altering the cover (of which I own the artwork). And giving it a new ISBN number seems fishy to me.

Can anyone advise me on the legality of this practice?


Asked on 5/20/04, 3:17 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Bradley Rosen

Re: Possible Copyright Infringement?

Whether there has been any infringement depends inlarge part upon what both your contract with your publisher states and also what your publisher's contract with the distributor states. You should have these reviewed by an attorney to see what your rights are. This will answer whether there was a right to alter the artwork. It should also answer the question of whether the remarketing of soft cover books as hard cover is a breach of the agreement.

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Answered on 5/20/04, 3:33 pm
William Wright

Re: Possible Copyright Infringement?

You may in fact have a claim. Feel free to contact me to discuss in more detail.

Best regards,

Bill

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Answered on 5/20/04, 7:30 pm


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