am delivering a 6-hr one-day training session to Government funded body
have quoted for preparation and delivery, but they want to buy all rights to my resources and session plans - what would be the repercussions to me if I go ahead with this? what other alternatives are there
jennifer coates
4 Responses
Worth considering…
If I were you I’d sell them the lesson plans, resources etc, on the following conditions…
1 – They can only use the materials with their own (named) department/division – they have a non-exclusive license.
2 – The copyright rests with you, and you can sell the same resources etc to any other organisation at any time in the future.
Of course, if they made you an offer you couldn’t refuse (e.g. pays half your mortgage in 1 hit) then don’t refuse it..!!
I’d just make sure that what ever they are likely to do with it, you are happy with this. E.g. if they sell it on for example, will you be happy with that? If they use it to effectively exclude you from delivering the course yourself, what ‘compensation’ would you like for this?
i agree
Hi
I agree with Martin, especially on the final points. They may wish to purchase the material so they don’t have to pay any development fees for future training in this subject. If they are thinking that and don’t agree to have you doing that training then you need to consider the lost income.
Good luck with it!
Blake
You could make more money
There are a number of issues here.
Firstly I assume you have protected your copyright in your terms and conditions and that they have previosuly agreed these by virtue of them signing a contract with you that incorporates your terms. If not then they could already own your copyright for this job!
Secondly, ask yourself why they want to buy the copyright. Is it to exclude you in future; that’s fine if they pay enough in a lump sum or you could put a clause in that excludes use without a fee each time they reuse them – i.e. a royalty.
The other problem with selling the copyright is that you are prevented from running similar sessions elsewhere. If your course is “that good” you are losing potential income from other customers. Hence a licence to use the material in your client’s sector could suit both parties.
Finally, if your material is so good, and I’m sure it is, then how about thinking about how you might capitialise on this. There might well be a market for it and you might be better off going down that route.
My backgroung is in marketing and I would be happy to give you some advice on this if you want to phone me.
Stefan
College & Trainer Marketing Ltd
Tel 01926 632 794
Stefan@stefandrew.com
Licensing
Be aware that in the training world, intellectual copyright means virtually nothing! A couple of word changes and all of a sudden you will have to go through a lengthy court case to possibly prove a point.
Having worked for a training provider, US based and very litigious, their approach seemed sound:
1. License BUT get a guaranteed minimum deliver days as part of the contract. What this means is that you can generate a revenue stream after the materials have been licensed over.
2. If you want to seel, then sell the whole lot (intellectual rights and all, but make the price propoprtionately high.
3. Don’t think the Public Sector is any more moral or better than the private sector!