Rights Time Bomb? - The Big Bump

Publishing In the 21st Century: "The Big Bump is a major copyright event shaping up for the near future. As copyright attorney Lloyd J. Jassin informed us, thanks to a provision of the US Copyright code authors will be able to terminate contracts negotiated in the late 1970s even if those contracts appear to give the publisher rights forever. 'Starting in 2011,' Jassin writes, 'the publishing and entertainment industries will be looking at the possibility of thousands of negotiations with copyright owners seeking to recapture their rights. Some call it "contract bumping." This powerful "re-valuation mechanism" found in the Copyright Act allows authors (and their heirs) to terminate contracts 35-years after the contract date. The termination right trumps written agreements — even agreements which state they are in perpetuity.'"