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Sample Contract Clause

What it says:

You grant to the [publisher] the exclusive right to publish the Article for a period of one year from the date when the Issue is first mailed to subscribers. During this period, you shall not publish the Article, or any portion thereof, in any other law review, scholarly publication, or otherwise, nor shall you authorize any other party to do so, without the written consent of the [publisher].

Clause Type:

• Exclusive Use
• Duration of Grant

For:

• Writers
• Academic Authors

link to this example

What it means:

This is a contract for publication of an article in a scholarly journal (law review). It grants the publisher the exclusive right to publish the work for one year from the date the issue containing the work is first mailed to subscribers. During that year, the author cannot publish the piece anywhere -- including, it seems, on her own website or on a scholarly pre-print server -- without the consent of the publisher. But after one year, all rights revert to the author.