Publishing Agreement Review Tool: Risks Marked on the Publishing Contract
Upload a trade or hybrid publishing contract. The same file comes back with flags on the grant, royalties, reversion and the next-work option.
Checkory is a publishing agreement review tool. A trade or hybrid publishing contract arrives as one file, and the grant, the royalty base, reversion and the next-work option are not obvious on it. Upload that contract and get the same file back with flags on the grant of rights, royalties, reversion and the next-work option, plus a short explanation and an England and Wales pointer.
On that file it is not obvious whether the grant is a partial exclusive licence or a perpetual assignment of the whole copyright, which subsidiary rights go with it, what the advance actually says, whether print-on-demand still counts as in print, or whether an AI-training sentence is a grant. A perpetual all-rights grant goes to a solicitor with the marked file.
What comes back on the publishing contract
The whole publishing contract in one upload
Upload the whole trade or hybrid publishing agreement, PDF or DOCX. A pitch, a journal article agreement and a blank template are other jobs. The general first-pass page is the AI contract review tool. This URL is the publishing contract. Start at document analysis.
Flags on the grant, royalties, reversion and the next-work option
The sentences a reader can name are the grant of rights, royalties, reversion and the next-work option. Subsidiary rights and an AI-training carve-out sit beside them.
An England and Wales pointer on the same file
The marked file carries the flag, a short explanation, and a pointer where a provision of England and Wales may apply. Section 90 sits beside an assignment. Section 92 sits beside a line that says exclusive. The word on the file is not a finding that section 92 is met. The pointer is not a prediction of a judgment.
Upload their publishing paper
Drop the trade or hybrid publishing contract
Use the PDF or DOCX of the whole publishing agreement.
Flags land on the grant
Read the grant of rights, royalties, reversion and the next-work option, plus subsidiary rights and any AI-training carve-out.
Analyse a contract at /document-analysis
The path is /document-analysis. The button label is Analyse a contract.
A paid PDF report is not this upload
This pass leaves the flags on the publishing contract you uploaded.
High: perpetual all-rights grant
The grant reads as an assignment of the whole copyright for the full term, and the file has no reversion sentence. Section 90(3) requires a signed writing. Section 12(2) runs a full term to the end of 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies. That period is the length of a full-term grant. It is not a reason to sign one. Send this clash to a solicitor with the marked file. Scotland and Northern Ireland are separate legal systems. The pass does not replace a solicitor.
The same publishing contract comes back with flags
Pros
- ✓Flags on the grant of rights, royalties, reversion and the next-work option, plus a short explanation and an England and Wales pointer.
Cons
- ✗A perpetual all-rights grant still goes to a solicitor with the marked file.
A membership review is a lawyer read
Pros
- ✓Members who have legal help can receive a written review. The Authors Guild page says those reviews are at no charge.
Cons
- ✗Hybrid paper is often a checklist rather than a line-by-line read. Emerging Writer and Student membership does not include legal help.
A twelve-question score is not this file
Pros
- ✓The same questions and the same score apply whether you answer by hand or upload a PDF.
Cons
- ✗An educational score does not put section 90 or section 92 on the grant line of this publishing contract.
Rights, money, reversion on the uploaded publishing contract
| Sentence | What to read on the file | What you do with the mark |
|---|---|---|
| Grant of rights | Assignment or exclusive licence, formats, territory and term. | Flag it. No reversion sentence on a whole-copyright grant goes to a solicitor. |
| Subsidiary rights | Translation, audio, serial or dramatisation. No fetched statute states a split. | Flag the formats. Leave a blank split blank. |
| Royalties and advance | Base, rate, recoupment and the accounting date. | Flag a missing base or date. No fetched statute states a rate. |
| Reversion | When rights return, or print-on-demand still counts as in print. | Flag it against code clause 17 and the 16 February 2018 note. |
| Option on the next work | One book or several, and whether it survives termination. | Flag it. Code clause 15 keeps the word may. |
| AI-training carve-out | A training grant, or silence inside an all-rights grant. | Flag it. Section 29A(5) does not cancel a commercial grant. |
When a perpetual grant needs a solicitor
Before this publishing contract is relied on, name a perpetual assignment of the whole copyright, a reversion line that treats print-on-demand as still in print, and a next-work option with no limit and no decision period. Take those clashes to a solicitor with the marked file. Fetched 10 October 2026, the section pages record no known outstanding effects.
An assignment needs a signed writing
Section 11 makes the author first owner, subject to later provisions. Where a literary work is made by an employee in the course of employment, the employer is first owner unless agreed otherwise. A publishing grant by an author who is not that employee is a different sentence. Section 90 makes copyright transmissible by assignment, testamentary disposition or operation of law, as personal or moveable property. An assignment may be partial, and it is not effective unless it is in writing signed by or on behalf of the assignor. A whole-copyright grant for the full term, with no reversion sentence, is the High mark. Section 92 defines an exclusive licence as a signed writing that excludes all other persons, including the person granting the licence. The word exclusive on the file is not a finding that this definition is met.
Section 12 expires copyright in a literary work of known authorship at the end of 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies. Joint authors run from the last known death. Unknown authorship is a different period. That span is the length of a full-term grant. It is not a reason to sign one. The Publishers Association Code of Practice on Author Contracts (2010, 2021 note) is non-binding, does not apply where the author invests money in publication, and is not a statute. Point 2 prefers an exclusive licence for most trade works. The file path contains a media folder, so there is no link.
A reversion sentence that treats print-on-demand as still in print
Code clause 17 asks for precise reversion terms. A full term can be reasonable where the publisher has invested, with safeguards for breach, out of print, or sales below an agreed level. Whether print-on-demand still counts as in print depends on the circumstances. Reversion should not normally apply to a full assignment. Society of Authors, Before you sign: getting your rights back, 16 February 2018, asks for reversion if the work is unavailable or kept only as print-on-demand or ebook. Lifetime plus 70 years there is not section 12(2). Without an express return of copyright, the publisher can still own it. The fetch was blocked, so the name and date have no link. Those sections give no fixed-year right to end a modern licence.
A next-work option with no limit and no decision period
The Society of Authors note of 15 May 2018 treats an option as first refusal, with no advance on the later book at signature. It advises one book, terms to be agreed, and a decision within, say, six weeks. Six weeks is an example, not a limitation period. It advises against an option with no advance, print-on-demand only, or survival after termination. Code clause 15 says a multi-work option may be undesirable and may be unenforceable.
Subsidiary rights and the training carve-out
Section 16 lists restricted acts, including copying, issuing copies, communication to the public and adaptation. Section 21 treats a translation and a picture version as an adaptation of a literary work other than a computer program or a database. No fetched statute states a split of proceeds. Section 29A allows a copy for computational analysis only for non-commercial research by a person with lawful access. Subsection (5) does not strike down a grant of commercial training. Silence is not a licence to train.
See the marks on your publishing contract
Analyse a contractPublishing contract review tool
A general redline and draft tool is not this page
BeforeJD and Scrutr return a redline or a draft. This page marks the publishing contract already in hand.
A chat advisor is not this upload
Author Media can sketch a rights-reversion request in a thread. This upload returns the contract with flags.
This page marks the publishing contract
AuthorShield returns plain-English risks and questions. Base Ledger describes its full report as a PDF.
Upload a publishing agreement for review
A journal article agreement is not this contract
The University of Washington libraries guide is an article agreement, not this book contract. Authors Alliance, BOOK PUBLICATION CONTRACTS, October 2018, is named without a link: the path contains a media folder.
A template download is not this review
AI Lawyer, reviewed July 2026, and Juro generate a publishing agreement. This review marks the file already in hand.
Open the tool at /document-analysis
Open the upload at document analysis.
Book publishing agreement review tool
A paste of a pitch is not the contract file
Inkwright pastes a pitch or a solicitation against watchdog lists.
A general redline bot is not this page
The book query also returns the deal scan, the twelve-question evidence check, and Authors Guild contract reviews. The score compares the offer.
This page marks the book publishing contract
This page stays on a trade or hybrid book contract.
A moral-rights how-to stays on the blog
One waiver in a commissioning agreement stays on the live blog article
A waiver inside a commissioning agreement is the live article How to Review a Moral-Rights Waiver in a Commissioning Agreement, dated 20 September 2026.
Moral rights are not the whole publishing contract
Section 87 allows a waiver by a signed writing. Code point 3 mentions credit and a possible waiver. That fence does not become this page.
A ghostwriter scan is not this file
A ghostwriter scan checks a solicitation.
A content licence stays on its own page
Media, exclusivity and sublicensing stay on the content licence page
Media, exclusivity and sublicensing belong on the separate content-licence card. No address is invented for it.
Shared words royalties and reversion stay inside this publishing contract
On this page those words belong to the publishing contract.
A vendor training-rights how-to stays on the blog
One vendor MSA training clause stays on the live blog article
A vendor master-services training clause is the live article How to Review Vendor AI Training Rights Before Signing, dated 31 August 2026.
An AI-training carve-out is one row on this contract
The training sentence is one column beside the grant.
A software sublicence how-to stays on the blog
Affiliates and end users on a software licence stay on the live blog article
A right to sublicence affiliates and end users is the live article How to Review a Right to Sublicence Affiliates and End Users, dated 30 September 2026.
Subsidiary rights on a publishing contract are a different grant
Translation, audio, serial and dramatisation travel with the publishing grant.
Software licence flags stay on the software page
Grant, metrics and audit of a software licence stay on that page
Grant, metrics, audit and termination on an on-prem licence live on the software licence review tool, dated 25 September 2026.
A publishing contract is a different file
A book grant is a different file from an on-prem software licence.
IP assignment stays on the transfer page
Transfer of ownership stays on the assignment page
A present assignment of patents, copyright and trade secrets lives on the IP assignment agreement review tool, dated 9 October 2026.
A publishing grant is not that transfer
The book grant may assign copyright or license it. The file remains the publishing contract.
A trademark licence stays on the brand page
Brand licence flags stay on the trademark page
Quality control and naked-licence risk live on the trademark licence review tool, dated 9 October 2026.
A data licence stays on the dataset page
A dataset grant stays on the data licence page
Permitted use, provenance, revocation and derived model ownership live on the data licence review tool, dated 9 October 2026. The training row here is the carve-out in the publishing contract, read with section 29A.
This page does not draft a contract
A publishing agreement template is not this review
The Authors Guild model trade book contract of 12 March 2020 is a US sample in thirty-five sections. The news note of that date frames it under US copyright law. Clause text is not copied here.
Tracked changes and a new draft stay off this page
This pass flags the uploaded contract. It does not hand back a replacement draft.
The declined draft offer stays declined
Composing a new publishing agreement is a different task. This upload reads the contract you already hold.
A publishing checklist is not this upload
A firm checklist is not the same file
The LexisNexis UK checklist, updated 17 September 2026, and the Morse deal-terms checklist list grant, royalties and reversion. The copylaw checklist keeps its US examples on its own page.
A society guide PDF is not this upload
The WIPO publishing-contracts toolkit is a guide. Society of Authors, Guidance on Publishing Contracts, is named without a link because the path contains a media folder.
This page marks the uploaded publishing contract
This pass marks those sentences on the uploaded file.
Chat, Word add-on and lifecycle software
A general chat is not this upload
A chat answers in a thread. This upload returns the marked publishing contract.
A Word add-on is not this page
This pass runs on the uploaded PDF or DOCX.
Contract lifecycle software is not this page
Lifecycle software stores a portfolio. This page marks one publishing contract.
This page returns flags on the uploaded publishing contract
Grant of rights, royalties, reversion and the next-work option are the sentences a reader can name. A perpetual all-rights grant goes to a solicitor with the marked file. The pass does not replace a solicitor. Open the file at /document-analysis.
FAQ
Which file belongs in this publishing upload?
A trade or hybrid publishing contract, the whole agreement, as a PDF or DOCX. A content or copyright licence for media, editorial or stock is a different card. A moral-rights waiver in a commissioning agreement, a vendor training clause, and a software sublicence to affiliates and end users stay on their live articles. An on-prem software licence, a present IP assignment, a trademark licence and a dataset licence have their own published pages.
What does a perpetual all-rights grant mean on this file?
The grant reads as an assignment of the whole copyright for the full term, and the file has no reversion sentence. Section 90(3) says an assignment is not effective unless it is in writing signed by or on behalf of the assignor. Section 12(2) expires copyright in a literary work of known authorship at the end of 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies. That period is the length of a full-term grant. It is not a reason to sign one. Send that clash to a solicitor with the marked file. The pass does not replace a solicitor.
Does print-on-demand keep the book in print?
Only if that is how the reversion or out-of-print sentence on the file reads. Publishers Association code clause 17 notes that print-on-demand and ebook technology reduce the likelihood of books going out of print, and that whether that reading is reasonable depends on the circumstances. The Society of Authors note of 16 February 2018 asks for a right to revert if the work is kept available only as print-on-demand or ebook. The fetched Act sections do not give a general statutory right to end a modern publishing licence after a fixed number of years.
What should the next-work option say?
Read whether it is first refusal on one book, on terms to be agreed, with a decision period, or whether it covers more than one book, repeats the same terms, or survives termination. The Society of Authors note of 15 May 2018 gives six weeks as an example, not as a limitation period in the Act. Publishers Association code clause 15 says option clauses covering more than one work may be undesirable and may be unenforceable. Keep the word may.
Does section 29A strike down a training grant?
No. Section 29A allows a copy for computational analysis only where the person has lawful access and the sole purpose is research for a non-commercial purpose. Section 29A(5) says a contract term is unenforceable to the extent it blocks a copy that section allows. It does not strike down a sentence that grants commercial training. Silence is not a finding that training is licensed.
Why mark the file if a checklist already lists the points?
A membership review, a model contract and a twelve-question score can list rights and money without marking the sentences on the publishing contract you hold. This pass flags the grant of rights, royalties, reversion and the next-work option on that file, with a short explanation and an England and Wales pointer. A perpetual all-rights grant still goes to a solicitor with the marked file.
Related guides
Related articles
