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Ernest Hemingway vs. Scribner's

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Ernest Hemingway, in his excitement to get his first novel, The Sun Also Rises, published, sold the copyright of that book to Charles Scribner's & Sons Publishing House.

Later, when the book became a best-seller, and its author was somewhat of a celebrity, Hemingway felt that he had made a mistake selling the copyright to the book. He wanted it — and the money it was earning — back.

Selling the copyright to a book amounts to selling ownership of that book. Since Hemingway didn't own the best-selling book any longer, he wasn't receiving any of the vast amounts of money it was earning. 

Hemingway decided to sue Scribner's for the money the company was making on his book.  After all, his lawyers argued, Hemingway was the artist, the creator, and without him, Scribner's wouldn't have any of the money the book was making. By rights, the lawyers argued, the author and creator of the book should be getting the money the book was bringing in. Even if he had, in his unintentional ignorance, sold the copyright to Scribner's in order to get the book published.

Hemingway lost.

The Supreme Court ruled that Hemingway had not been coerced into signing the contract, which clearly stated exactly what the author was giving away to the publisher.  The court also ruled that Hemingway had not been under duress, and that the publisher, in the court's opinion, had paid a suitable and substantial amount of money for the said book. It ruled that the contract unequivocally stated that the ownership of the book would be transferred, upon signing and payment, to Scribner's, and that the author, Hemingway, would give up all rights and claims to the book, including any monies it might make in the future.

The Court reaffirmed the copyright law, ruling that Scribner's, since it owned the copyright, owned the book, and that any and all monies produced by the sale of said book belonged to the owner of the copyright — Scribner's.

There are no words to describe how bitter Hemingway was over the loss of all the monies earned by The Sun Also Rises. No doubt Hemingway, wherever his spirit may be, is even more bitter about the fact that Scribner's bought the rights to all of Hemingway's books after his death, and thus, now earns all the monies his books make.

The young artist Hemingway, in his desperation to be published, sold the copyright to his own book, giving away ownership to that book, and in doing so, he learned one of the most difficult lessons of publishing life: 

If you sell your copyright, the book no longer belongs to you,
 and any monies made from that book do not belong to you.

RockWay Press, founded by an author, knows how important it is for an artist to retain ownership of his creation. Therefore, RockWay never even asks for an author's copyright. All copyrights of the books that RockWay Press publishes remain the property of the author, the creator and owner of the book.

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