Page:Copyright, Its History And Its Law (1912).djvu/469

 BUSINESS RELATIONS 437

agent cannot accept conditions or make sale be- yond the authority given him by the author, and an innocent publisher may be held responsible for acts beyond that authority, as in the English case of Heinemann v. Smart Set Pub. Co., in 1909, where the defendants had bought "serial rights" with leave to condense into one number, which the agent had no authority to grant.

In the publishing contract usual in America, the Usual Ameri- author "grants and assigns" to the publishers the can contract stated work, undertaking either to copyright it him- self or authorizing the publishers to enter copyright in their name, or as his attorneys in his name. The contract usually includes all translations, abridg- ments, selections, dramatizations, etc., or specifically reserves those to the author, the publishers in the first case agreeing to share profits or otherwise remuner- ate the author on such special forms. The author is expected to guarantee that he is sole owner of the work and has full power to make the grant, that the work is not a violation of any other copyright and that it is free from scandalous or libelous matter.

The publishers undertake to publish the work in Publishers' such style as they deem best suited to its sale, at their obligations own expense, unless the author contracts to pay for the plates or for other publishing costs, and usually agree to account for sales semi-yearly or yearly and to make payments within four months thereafter. The royalty is usually based on the trade-list (retail) price, on the cloth or ordinary binding, or the style of binding in which the largest number of copies shall have been sold. It is frequently stipulated that on paper-bound copies, or editions or copies for schools or subscription sale, or a foreign market, or otherwise sold at a reduced price, the royalty shall be reduced, and that on press and other free copies no royalty shall