ESO Law Firm · Entertainment · Authors
Keep your rights on the page.
Publishing & Literary Lawyer for Authors
A book contract can outlive its author, and the rights you sign away today are the film deal, audiobook, and translation income you don’t receive tomorrow. ESO Law Firm helps authors nationwide understand publishing paperwork before it’s permanent.
How We Help Authors
From the first agent offer to the option call from a studio, we cover the documents of a writing career:
- Publishing contract review & negotiation
- Literary agent agreement review
- Copyright registration for books & manuscripts
- Film & television option agreements
- Co-author & collaboration agreements
- Ghostwriting agreements
- Self-publishing & distribution platform terms
Common Legal Issues for Authors
A publishing deal is a bundle of rights: print, ebook, audio, translation, film, merchandise. The grant-of-rights clause decides which of those the publisher takes and which you keep, and the reversion clause decides whether you ever get them back when a book goes quiet. We negotiate reservations of rights, real reversion triggers, and royalty language you can actually audit.
Register the copyright in your book, ideally before or within three months of publication. Registration is what opens the courthouse door and unlocks statutory damages if someone copies your work.
Ready to protect your work?
Flat-fee counsel for authors nationwide, a clear quote upfront, and your contract reviewed before you sign.
Prefer ongoing counsel? Ask about the ESO Membership.
Author Legal FAQ
Do I need to register the copyright in my book?
Copyright exists automatically when you write the book, but registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is required before you can sue an infringer, and registering before infringement, or within three months of publication, unlocks statutory damages and attorney’s fees. It’s inexpensive insurance for your most valuable asset.
What rights does a publisher actually take?
Whatever the grant-of-rights clause says, often far more than print. Subsidiary rights like audio, translation, and film can be reserved to you or shared, and the reversion clause controls whether rights return when the book stops selling. Every one of those lines is negotiable before signature.
What happens when a studio wants to option my book?
An option gives the producer the exclusive right, for a set period, to purchase the film rights at an agreed price. The option fee, the option length and extensions, the purchase price, and which rights you reserve, sequels, stage, publishing, are all set in that agreement, so it deserves careful review.