Re: Defunct publisher had grabbed copyright

Carol Busby, you posted the tale of a client whose publisher had, contrary to the contract provision requiring that it register copyright in the work in the author's name (which is the usual procedure), had instead registered the work in its own name. This apparently occurred 15 years ago, and the publisher is now out of business.

(1) You said the publisher called itself an "employer for hire," a term
with which I'm not familiar, and I don't believe it appears in Title 17. Is that the same as calling the book a WMFH? Is the term a valid one?

(2) What was the wording of the notice on the copyright page of the book?
Did it name the author, per the contract? Or the publisher, per the registration? If the latter, I'd assume the author would have noticed and objected immediately--even before publication, upon seeing proofs; I gather, therefore, that the published notice asserted copyright in the author's name. What bearing would this have on the situation?

(I'm now wondering, as an author, if any of my publishers have pulled
anything like this. Aaaargh!)

--DS Received on Mon May 29 2006 - 20:35:01 GMT