Of course, a publishing agreement is mandatory between an author and a publisher for the publication of a book. But publishers do not make agreements with authors always in Bangladesh. Though it is difficult to exactly say the number of such occurrences, such practices are not negligible at all. The available sources including newspapers indicate that young writers allege that publishers do not wish to sign publishing contracts. In most cases, publishers are more willing to establish a mutual bond based on trust with the authors of books. While new authors are enthusiastic about having their books published, publishers intentionally manipulate them and avoid making a publishing agreement with authors for financial gains in illegal means.
Moreover, there are malpractices in providing royalties in Bangladesh. Indeed, writers do not get royalties on most occasions Even though writers are supposed to get 15-20 percent in royalties, most publishers with a few well-known exceptions don’t give the writers their royalties. Only a handful of writers get paid. As is further criticized, the publishers who pay the royalty don’t pay it based on the main price but they pay on the discounted price. Of course, it remains unclear how many books are sold because publishers do not reveal the exact number of sales. Consequently, royalties are affected accordingly. Of the authors, young authors are more deprived of royalties compared to established ones. Indeed, with only a few exceptions, most of the new authors are deprived of royalties.
It is notable here that a book publishing agreement is an agreement made between a publisher and an author of a book. Such an agreement specifies all the terms and conditions of the publication of a book including, but not limited to, the grant of rights, copyright ownership and payment details. By clarifying the terms and conditions, the book publishing agreement ensures that the interests of publishers and authors are protected and the agreement is complied with. Even though there are practices of making an oral agreement (which does not suffice as proof that the two parties entered into a transaction) regarding the publication of books, a written agreement that can help protect the interests of both the parties in case any issues come up is mandatory.
Thus, an important question may be relevantly asked: what are the reasons behind such unacceptable practices of book publication in Bangladesh? Of course, there are many regulatory, publication industry based and other reasons behind such practices. Some notable reasons are the lack of industrial and professional approach to book publication, inadequate government efforts especially a lack of efforts to implement book publishing agreements or contracts, inadequate implementation of relevant laws, inadequate monitoring efforts, a lack of understanding of the importance of book publishing agreements, erroneous perception of publishers on making publishing agreements, a lack of efforts of book publishing associations, and the unwillingness of publishers to pay authors (or a lack of a publication based business practice that promotes payment to authors).
Of different reasons, inadequate government efforts need to be noted here in a bit detail. Indeed, there are various legal, policy-based and institutional efforts related to the publication of books in Bangladesh. Among the existing legislations on publication, the Copyright Act 2000, the Publication of Books (Regulation and Control) Ordinance 1965 and the Printing Presses and Publications (Declaration and Registration) Act 1973 are noteworthy. Along with the Jatiyo Grontho Kendra (early called, the National Book Center), a government body that works under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and is responsible for various book publication and promotion related activities and the Bangladesh Copyright Office, there are some other institutional arrangements related to the publication of books. But there is a lack of monitoring of various activities of book publications including the practice of making publishing agreements with and providing royalties to authors.
Of course, there are many negative impacts of such publication practices. Such practices limit the chance of developing a standard in book publication, reduce the chance of the development of professionalism in the publication industry, lead to low-quality publications, result in increased corrupt practices especially deception in book publications and bring other negative effects on the publishing sector. Of course, the book publishing industry has not developed much in Bangladesh. Only a few publishers produce quality books including, but not limited to, the Bangla Academy Press and the University Press Limited, most publishers do not produce quality books. Even if there are many reasons behind low-quality publication including inadequate investment, a lack of professional approach such as making no agreement between publishers and authors undeniably plays an important role here.
Thus, more needs to be done to end the above noted unacceptable practices in book publication. In this respect, increased regulatory efforts are needed with strengthened regulatory institutions. Of course, the implementation of relevant laws and policies and increased transparency and accountability among publishers are very important for securing publishing agreements and payment of royalties. In addition, some sorts of punitive efforts especially against those publishers who have a habitual practice of not making publishing agreements with and giving royalties to authors may be significantly helpful. Publishers also need to be made aware of the importance/issue of making publishing agreements and the payment of royalties. Along with government bodies, book publishing associations and book publishers also have some undeniable responsibilities for developing the publishing industry in Bangladesh through the development of professionalism among publishers and securing the deserving rights of authors.
No less important are the roles of book fairs in promoting good practices in book publications. The organizing authorities of book fairs may make book publishing agreements and paying royalties mandatory for publishers to participate in the fairs. Indeed, there are around forty national, divisions-wise, and district-wise book fairs including the Ekushey Book Fair and the Dhaka international book fair in Bangladesh. Notably, the Bangla Academy made it mandatory for publishers to provide proof of royalty before allocating stalls for the Ekushey Book Fair 2019. Of course, this initiative was made with an intention to end illegal practice amongst publishers who deceived the writers out of large sums of royalties for books sold. This approach can be implemented and continued across book fairs.
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