Lawyer for book publishers in the Netherlands
Years after publication, the contract with the author still decides who may sell the translation and film rights to a book. As a law firm for book publishers in the Netherlands, Liaise drafts contracts with authors, translators and illustrators, reviews manuscripts featuring real people before they go to print and negotiates the sale of film and translation rights from a publisher’s list.
We act for literary publishers and for publishers of non-fiction, children’s books and educational titles. Music publishers will find their own page on the publishing deal, newspapers and magazines the page on media law.
This page sets out Dutch law and Dutch publishing practice.
Would you like a contract drafted, a manuscript read or advice on the rights to a title on your list? Call 020 675 88 21 or send us a message.
What a publishing house agrees with authors, translators and illustrators
If an author assigns copyright or grants an exclusive licence, the contract itself has had to be in writing since 1 January 2026. An assignment also requires a deed (article 2(3) of the Dutch Copyright Act, in Dutch). Under the same provision, the publisher receives only the powers expressly stated in the contract or that necessarily follow from it. So set out in the contract which editions are allowed, such as an e-book or an audiobook, in which languages and for how long.
The publisher must also inform every author at least once a year about how the work is exploited, the revenue and the remuneration (article 25ca). For a list, that means a statement per title and per author. If an author’s contribution to the whole is not significant, the obligation falls away. It still applies if that author needs the information to claim additional remuneration because a title is doing far better than expected.
An educational series is written by a team and appears in revised editions. If an author writes as an employee of the publisher, the publisher counts as the author of that work unless agreed otherwise (article 7). If a series is produced under the publisher’s direction and supervision, the publisher is the author of the whole and each contributor keeps the copyright in their own contribution (article 5). Agree in advance who may revise the next edition and how the original authors will then be credited.
More about the book publishing contract →
When a publisher should have a manuscript read by a lawyer
A legal reading makes sense for a manuscript in which real people can be recognised: a biography, an exposé or a novel that stays close to real events. It needs to be finished before the book goes to the printer, because after publication a court can order the publisher to take the book off the market. In 2019 the author and the publisher of an autobiographical book were ordered to recall the trade stock within 48 hours and have it destroyed, with a bailiff or civil-law notary confirming it (Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal, ECLI:NL:GHARL:2019:9503, in Dutch).
The publishing contract decides who bears the cost of such a claim. In the model contract of the Dutch literary publishers and the Auteursbond (the Dutch authors’ association), author and publisher are jointly responsible for a claim about the content and share the costs on a reasonable basis. If the author failed to warn the publisher in good time about sensitivities concerning people in the book that the author should have foreseen, all costs fall on the author (article 2(2)).
Publishing a book about real people →
Selling film, translation and audio rights to titles on your list
The publishing contract determines which rights a publisher may sell to a foreign publisher, a producer or a streamer. In the model contract for original Dutch-language literary work (June 2021, in Dutch), publication in another language falls within the publisher’s licence (article 1(5)). A film or stage adaptation, or an audiobook with another publisher or platform, also needs the author’s written consent (article 1(6)). So ask for that consent before you offer a producer an option.
If the publisher sells such a right to a third party, the notes to the model contract give 60 per cent of the proceeds to the author and 40 per cent to the publisher. The author may not receive less.
In a licence to a foreign publisher you record the language area and the term, and when that publisher sends its sales figures. Dutch law requires a licensee to supply missing information for the annual statement to the author and the publisher on request (article 25ca(2)). With that date in the licence, the publisher has the figures before it sends the author the annual statement, which under the model contract is due by 1 May.
More about the option agreement for a book →
AI arrangements with authors and AI companies
An AI company that wants to train a language model on books can rely on the text and data mining exception if it has lawful access to the work (article 15o of the Dutch Copyright Act, in Dutch). A publisher that wants to stop this has to reserve that use expressly. For work available online, this can be done in a machine-readable form, for example in the website’s robots.txt or metadata.
To grant a licence to an AI company, the publisher needs that power under its contract with the author. In new contracts, record who makes the reservation, whether the publisher may grant licences for training and how the proceeds are shared. We advise publishers on those clauses and on the licence with the AI company itself.
Taking action when someone copies your books or educational titles
The contract with the author decides whether the publisher can itself take action against copying. In the model contract the author irrevocably authorises the publisher to take action in and out of court, if necessary in the author’s name (article 1(2)). Where the publisher is itself the author of a series, the question does not arise.
Publishers can also act together. Educational publishers did so against a platform that had copied their course materials. In the interview with ThiemeMeulenhoff the publisher explains that the platform replaced all the copied material as soon as it heard about the case.
More about the cease-and-desist letter for copyright infringement →
Privacy of pupils and readers in digital publishing
An educational publisher with a digital learning environment processes pupils’ data. Schools and suppliers of digital learning materials have made agreements on this in the Dutch Covenant on Digital Educational Resources and Privacy (privacyconvenant.nl, in Dutch). Under the covenant the school is responsible for the pupils’ data. Once a supplier has signed the covenant, it records in a data processing agreement with each school what happens to that data.
If the publisher sells books or subscriptions to readers itself, it is the controller for that customer data under the GDPR.
More about data protection law →
Lawyer for publishers in Amsterdam
We act for publishers and also for authors, translators and illustrators, so we know both sides of a publishing contract. For publishers we draft model contracts and review existing contracts against Dutch rules on author contracts. We draft contracts for the film adaptation of Dutch books, for publishers and for authors.
We read manuscripts featuring real people before they go to print. If a cease-and-desist letter or interim injunction proceedings follow publication, we act for the publisher, and for the author where the claim is brought against both. Our office is at De Lairessestraat 158 in Amsterdam.
A contract, a manuscript or a licence for your list? Call 020 675 88 21 or send us a message.
