I recently went to the Frankfurt Book Fair, which was a great opportunity to catch up with old colleagues and meet new people now that I\u2019m working freelance. In previous years, I was there selling rights to foreign publishers, but this time was different. I was there with RightsZone and spent more time with other Rights professionals, talking about the shared challenges of our work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After so many years working in Rights, hearing the same frustrations I\u2019d experienced echoed across the globe was both reassuring and disheartening, especially within academic, professional and educational publishing. Despite the value rights teams bring, the function is still too often overlooked and under-resourced. A common phrase among the Rights people we met was \u201cThere is no budget.\u201d More is always expected, yet nothing is put in place to help achieve it. It\u2019s the rights paradox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rights departments generate income, protect assets and build relationships, yet they still struggle to secure the investment and visibility they deserve. The role combines sales and marketing awareness, copyright expertise and strong relational skills: a mix that demands commercial instinct, legal accuracy and diplomacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Too often, other departments are misinformed and either assume the work is purely administrative, limited to permission requests and contracts or that deals simply roll in on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rights teams work under constant pressure to meet budgets, manage co-edition schedules and sell enough deals to keep both authors and publishers satisfied. They juggle multiple hats: keeping up to date on copyright law, managing permissions and subrights, and balancing commercial deadlines with accuracy. And while much of the job centres on preparing submissions, negotiating new deals, drafting contracts and addendums, and responding to an endless stream of emails, just as much time is spent advising colleagues, managing expectations and keeping track of any changes that might affect rights sales (ie. constantly reminding other teams of the importance of subrights and permissions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Revenue from permissions and subrights can be significant and is often a welcome boost for academic and professional publishers. So why is internal support still so hard to secure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During company mergers or restructures, Rights is often the last department to be considered, yet still expected to absorb new workloads within existing budgets. Company systems are primarily set up for the needs of editorial, production or sales, and there are frequent internal battles to secure the right add-ons to manage rights, permissions and royalties efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When other departments receive investment in new CRMs or marketing tools, Rights is told to \u201cmake do\u201d or find free alternatives. The result is a team responsible for revenue, risk and reputation, without the resources to manage them properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rights income is not just a bonus; it balances tight margins and supports sustainability. Teams with the means to work efficiently can focus on new opportunities, and Rights professionals need tools to track permissions and licences clearly in order to protect authors\u2019 work and uphold the company\u2019s reputation. It shouldn\u2019t have to be tedious or draining. Having to fight the same internal battles and feeling under-invested ultimately leads to inefficiency, lost income and staff burnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t have a miracle solution to offer. There will always be financial challenges that limit progress or prevent lighter workloads. But raising awareness of how hard people in Rights have to work is important. It\u2019s a niche part of publishing, often overlooked or dismissed as non-essential. Rights is not an optional extra; it\u2019s a core part of publishing. And it deserves a budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I recently went to the Frankfurt Book Fair, which was a great opportunity to catch up with old colleagues and meet new people now that I\u2019m working freelance. In previous years, I was there selling rights to foreign publishers, but this time was different. I was there with RightsZone and spent more time with other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-insights"],"yoast_head":"\n