e-book2013

LAW OF OBLIGATIONS

277

Publishing Contracts According to Turkish Code of

Obligations

Att. Pelin Baydar

Publishing contracts are regulated in Articles 487-501 of the Turkish

Code of Obligations (“TCO”). Pursuant to Article 487 of the TCO, a

publishing contract is a contract whereby the originator of a literary or

artistic work or his legal successor undertakes to entrust the work to a

publisher and the publisher undertakes to reproduce and distribute it.

A publishing contract shall be in written form.

Transfer of Copyright and Liability

Pursuant to Article 489 of the TCO, the originator’s rights to the work

are transferred to the publisher to the extent and for as long as required

for performance of the contract. The originator shall hold the right for

publication of the work at the time when the contract is concluded. Where

the work is subject to copyright protection the originator shall hold the

It is stipulated under Article 490 of TCO that unless the period of

time, designated in the contract, has expired or the customary period of

time required for exhaustion of the agreed number of editions has passed,

the originator may not make other arrangements regarding the work or

parts thereof to the publisher’s detriment. Short passages in periodicals

may be published elsewhere by the originator at any time.

Number of Editions, Reproduction and Distribution

The parties shall agree on the term of the contract or the number

of editions. Where no clause was agreed that stipulates the number of

editions, the publisher is entitled to produce only one.

Article 492 of TCO states that the publisher is obliged to reproduce the

work in an appropriate format without abridgment, addition or alteration;

Article of February 2013