Speaker's Notes: Lynette Owen

When rights first started to burgeon in the 1960s, categories tended to be core ones - translation rights, US rights, paperback rights, book club rights, reprint right for OP titles and the occasional approach re serial rights and film and television rights. Reprint rights arose from the need to stock the libraries of new US colleges - now less common. Paperback rights peaked in the 1970s-80s and have now been virtually replaced by vertical publishing arrangements. Translation rights continue - developments have been the sale of condition rights with the rise of high-investment heavily illustrated colour books; expansion in range of countries we work with as remoter markets have become more accessible, and extension in range of titles which can be licensed as a result of changing demand from transitional countries following political and economic changes; still some censorship problems in China. Rise in number of low-price local English language licences granted to developing countries since demise of ELBS scheme; such editions may deter piracy and compulsory licences but can also result in leakage into other markets, now facilitated by sales via websites. Serial rights to newspapers can now generate substantial sums for more sensational titles, but now carry stringent confidentiality conditions to deter spoilers, and can result in authors feeling that highly selective extracts skew the overall impression of the book. Film and television rights - many books are optioned but it is mooted that 95% of options are never taken up. However, a large proportion of films which are made are based on published material rather than original screenplays. It is now possible to film sensitive subjects and also titles which require elaborate special effects. Merchandising rights are often part of the deal and income from these items can exceed box office receipts. Electronic publishing and in particular the internet have had major effects on the industry; the rise of online retailers has highlighted the potential conflict between the global marketplace and territorial rights. There have been problems with US editions advertised on UK websites, and problems with buying round for differentially priced global editions of academic books. Dictionaries and encyclopaedias have lent themselves to publication in electronic form, but this has increasingly been undertaken by the original publisher rather then via licensing. Legal and medical publishers have developed online databases, and almost all journal publishers have invested in making their content available electronically. Content which requires searchability seems most suitable for this type of delivery. Licensing of content electronically has been primarily to aggregators who can offer access to digital libraries with varying models of payment and permitted usage. E-books have been offered by publishers themselves with varying degrees of success - less likely that people would want to read a whole novel on a hand-held device than to refer to selected information. The future remains unpredictable - as long as there is a market for print, then some traditional methods of licensing will remain (e.g. translation rights, local reprint rights). Publishers will continue to adapt both their publishing and their licensing policy to market circumstances; invariably there will be some experimentation in the process.