Authors and publishers are arguingover who owns the rights to publish electronic versions of backlist book titles.   In the old days, before digital books were ever thought possible, the standard contract between author and publisher gave publishers the right to all works “in book form.”  The question now is whether e-books are “in book form.”

In 2002, Random House sued RosettaBooks, an e-book publisher, for copyright infringement when Rosetta signed contracts with authors to release digital versions of previously published novels.   At an early stage of the case, a  a federal judge denied Random House’s request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that “in book form” did not automatically include e-books. An appellate court similarly denied Random House’s request.  The question was never finally resolved, however, as the parties settled with Random House granting Rosetta a license to release e-book versions of 51 titles.

Random House has just sent a letter to a number of claiming that the company has “the exclusive right to publish in electronic book publishing formats” even under their older agreements.

It sounds like a great exam question for a law school contracts class.