7. Rightsholder and User Issues
A. Rightsholder Issues (continued)
Assigning Rights
When rightsholders enter into an agreement with a service provider, they assign distinct rights to the provider for the term of the agreement. The rights assigned typically include the right for the provider to represent the rightsholders in negotiating uses of the intellectual property, permission to litigate infringements on their behalf, and permission to place the intellectual property in particular media for storage and distribution.
Other rights assigned in the agreement are more specific to the service provider’s needs. Academic Press’s Image Directory, for example, requests only an assignment of rights to use the rightsholder’s images and descriptions in an electronic database.4 Because they simply broker access to content and do not administer rights or distribute works, no other assignments are needed. ASCAP requires the assignment of nondramatic public performances of each of the rightsholder’s musical works, as well as permission to sue for misuses of their work in the name of the Society, in the name of the rightsholder, or in conjunction with any other members.5
Although the trend in assigning rights is to do so on a nonexclusive basis, providers are often uneasy with this notion because it allows for competition that can jeopardize their revenues. Collectives in particular are concerned that the management of their rightsholders’ intellectual property by different sources eventually undermines their strength in representing the rightsholders as a group. Despite these apprehensions, providers may have little say in the matter, since many rightsholders shun agreements with exclusive rights provisions. Notable exceptions are stock photography and illustrations agencies, which have a tradition of exclusive rights assignment as a means of controlling materials in their repertoires and preventing their use by competitors.6