Sub-publishing Management

Sub-publishing description

The Intellectual Property Code does not mention the particular case of sub-publishing. The main references in this area are therefore the internal rules issued by SACEM, the standard contract drawn up by the CSDEM, as well as the practices of the profession, which are very diverse in this area.

For a publisher, being represented abroad meets a dual requirement: contractual and commercial.

Contractual first, because the Intellectual Property Code requires the publisher to ensure "permanent and continued exploitation and commercial distribution" for the published work. However, almost all publishing contracts, starting with the standard contract drawn up by the CSDEM, provide for a transfer of intangible property rights for the entire universe.

Commercially then, to promote its catalog effectively among performers, recording professionals, audiovisual professionals, cinema, advertising, live shows, video games... all over the world without taking into account cultural differences and customs of each professional environment.

File and register contracts and sub-published works

There are three types of sub-publishing contracts:

The special contract: By which an original publisher transfers one or more works from its catalog for one or more territories, for a given period.
The general contract: By which an original publisher transfers all or part of its catalog (all the works of an author/composer, all the works of a musical genre, etc.) for one or more territories, for a given period. In this type of contract, the transfer is generally made for the works present in the publisher's catalog at the time of signing, as well as those that the publisher will acquire during the duration of the contract.
The option contract: This is a general contract for which the transfer is only acquired for the works present in the publisher's catalog at the time of signing, the works subsequently acquired by the publisher having to be the subject of option exercise by the sub-publisher.

In these sub-publishing contracts, the publisher and the sub-publisher agree on the framework of their collaboration and determine together in particular:

The ceded territory which can be either:

the original territory of the sub-publisher
the sub-publisher's home territory plus other territories
the whole world

It should be noted, however, that SACEM prohibits a publisher from transferring the territory where it is domiciled to a sub-publisher.

The duration of the contract:

CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) imposes a minimum contract duration of three years, with this contract being able to be extended for shorter periods. In fact, these contracts are often concluded for an initial period ranging from three to five years.

The missions entrusted to the sub-publisher

The missions entrusted to the sub-publisher may vary depending on the nature of the work, the issues linked to each type of exploitation for it. Nevertheless, we find certain constants, at the very basis of sub-publishing:

- the sub-publisher always represents the original publisher before the collective management society of the transferred territory. He therefore collects from the latter all or part of the rights accruing to the original publisher (see below), and is responsible for verifying the rights distributed

- the sub-publisher is always mandated to generate new exploitations on its territory. These include phonographic, videographic exploitation and all types of performance of the work. Graphics exploitation and synchronization may be subject to specific processing (direct management by the original publisher or necessary agreement from the original publisher).

Concerning phonographic and videographic exploitation, sub-publishing contracts provide for the collection of mechanical reproduction rights by the sub-publisher, according to one of the following two clauses to the exclusion of any other variant:

the sales clause: collection on any media sold in the territory assigned to the sub-publisher, regardless of the country of manufacture of the media
the manufacturing clause: collection on any support manufactured in the territory assigned to the sub-publisher, regardless of the country of sale of the support

Sub-publishing is a major aspect of the exploitation of a work abroad. As part of a rational operation, the sub-publisher supports the stage performance, local adaptations and covers, it generates and manages with the publisher the ancillary uses of the disc (use in cinema, advertising, audiovisual, Internet, etc.) and allows the control and proper repatriation of rights generated in a country. All on an exclusive basis, and for at least three years.