B. Methods of Operation
Management Traditions by Genre
The intellectual properties in various sectors have their own traditions of management that play a part in the types of service providers that emerge in any particular sector, and the types of rights they administer. Understanding a particular industry tradition is a prerequisite to reviewing service providers in that industry. What follows is a very brief synopsis of the traditions that exist in some major intellectual property genres.
1. Literary works. Texts and literary works are direct-licensed in agreements between authors and publishers. These agreements often involve extensive assignment of rights to the publisher, and authors may use a literary agent to help negotiate these agreements on their behalf. In the past it was not uncommon for authors to convey "all rights" to the publisher, but this practice is coming under increasing scrutiny by authors’ rights groups like the National Writers Union, which is urging its members to shun "all rights" and "all electronic use rights" contracts.11
Publishers license reproduction rights to literary works through collective licensing with reprographic rights organizations like the CCC. New collective licensing initiatives (i.e., the PRC and the Authors Registry) are being developed by authors to manage the reuse rights (also called secondary use rights) for their works in electronic environments.