Code of conduct
This Code, while not comprehensive, sets out the minimum professional and ethical levels of conduct expected of APA members in their relationships and contracts with authors, illustrators and other contributors (collectively referred to as authors below).
All members are expected to support and abide by the following principles:
Contracts:
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Publishers will offer author contracts that are, in all the circumstances, fair.
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Publishers will offer author agreements that are clear, comprehensive and expressed in terms that are not ambiguous.
Copyright:
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Publishers will give authors appropriate attribution in publications and, where the author retains copyright, will, in line with industry practice, clearly acknowledge the author’s ownership of copyright.
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Publishers will give due respect to the copyright and intellectual property rights of others.
Rights reversion:
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Technological change has introduced ambiguity into some historical clauses relating to reversion of rights. Authors typically sell publishers an exclusive license to publish a work. There are circumstances where a publisher is no longer actively making a work available and has no further plan to do so, so it becomes appropriate to relinquish the license and return the purchased rights to the author.
Traditionally, contracts between publishers and authors often included a reversion clause that allowed an author to terminate a licence granted to a publisher when a work went ‘out-of-print’. With the advent of e-book and print-on-demand technology it is possible for a title never to be technically classified as ‘out-of-print’.
Where publishers include a reversion clause in their contracts, the contract should specify a threshold that can be clearly and objectively assessed. Defined quantities of sales or royalties are two examples of possible measures as an alternative to ‘out-of-print’.
Financial arrangements:
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Publishers will promptly report and pay to authors all royalties and other payments that become due to them.
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Where a contract requires an author to contribute to the costs of publication:
a. the agreement will allocate costs, risks and rewards fairly, having regard to all the circumstances; and
b. the publisher will be open and honest with authors in relation to the likely returns an author might expect from any financial contribution he or she makes to a publication.
Disputes
Publishers will seek to resolve disputes with authors and contributors promptly and fairly, having regard to all the circumstances, including the terms of the relevant publisher agreement/s.
Failure to abide by the Code of Conduct
The Constitution of the Association allows the Board to expel, suspend or caution a Member. This may take place if it is determined that a Member is operating in a way that is detrimental to the interests of the publishing industry, or has engaged in conduct likely to bring the Association into disrepute.