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The Importance of Being Right (about Rights)

Samantha Francis | 07/13/2010 | Digital, | Export, | Rights

Territorial rights are valuable. You want to use them and you want protect them. Although it may seem as though the line between one territory and another blurs online, it doesn’t. Or at least, it doesn’t have to when publishers are making sure to properly support rights information in their ONIX files.

As we recently learned from Michael Tamblyn, incorrect rights information in a title’s ONIX file can cost publishers significant losses. BookNet Canada’s Meghan MacDonald reported that, in Kobo’s case, bad metadata can lead to lengthy delays and can cause up to ten days worth of missed sales. What’s worse is that incorrect or missing metadata may result in a book not being sold in a territory for which you do hold rights.

Can you afford to lose out on sales? By taking the time to include a maximum of five data elements in your ONIX file, you can avoid hassles and lost income—and protect your territorial rights. At the most basic level, all you need to do is fill out two pieces of information: choose a code to identify the type of rights held and then identify the rights country or territory that the rights apply to. If you want to get more specific, you can also identify excluded countries or territories. This information is communicated within the Sales Rights composite in your ONIX file. Keep in mind that the geographical rights information you attach to an ISBN within your ONIX file only specifies where you are legally able to sell a book, and should not list the rights that are available for sale.

To take full advantage of the rights you do hold for a title make sure your ONIX file is complete. As ebook sales continue to rise, the accuracy of your ONIX file is increasingly crucial.

The Details:

To identify the type of rights held:
Include the Sales Rights Composite in your ONIX file.
Populate PR.21.1 Sales Rights Type Code within the Sales Rights Composite.
This code can be either 01 (exclusive rights), 02 (non-exclusive rights), or 03 (not for sale) in the countries or territories that follow.

To identify the rights country or territory that the rights apply to:
Populate PR.21.2 Rights Country
If the geographical region is a country, it goes here. Country codes are outlined in ONIX Code List 91, but are always two uppercase letters. For example, CA is Canada.

PR.21.3 Rights Territory can also be used.
If the geographical region is something other than a country, it goes here. Territory codes are outlined in ONIX Code List 49, are always uppercase letters, but the length can vary. For example, CA-NS is Nova Scotia and WORLD is World.

To identify excluded countries or territories:
Include the Not For Sale Composite in your ONIX file.
This composite allows you to identify countries or territories where you do not hold rights, since it may be easier to state exclusions than to state a long list. It uses Rights Country and Rights Territory elements in the same way as above. For example, by using the Not For Sale composite, you can state that you hold World rights, excluding Australia instead of listing every country where you do hold rights.

Putting it all together:
Example:
If I wanted to say that I have exclusive rights to sell title x everywhere in the world except for Australia, it would look like this in my ONIX file:
<SalesRights>
<SalesRightsType>01</SalesRightsType>
<RightsTerritory>WORLD</RightsTerritory>
<NotForSale>
<RightsCountry>AU</RightsCountry>
</NotForSale>
</SalesRights>

To read Meghan MacDonald’s blog post about lost sales due to bad metadata, click here.

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