Protecting authors in publishing contracts

Despite its powerful legal framework, the publishing contract still gives cause for concern. Like many agreements, publishing contracts place the contracting parties in a position of relative inequality. The stronger party is obviously the publisher, in his professional capacity, vis-à-vis the author, who is naturally the weaker party to the contract. The latter is not only weak because of his dependence on his publisher, but also for many other reasons. These include the author's presumed lack of knowledge and experience in the publishing field, or his or her almost desperate desire to be published by a professional in the field, which may result in the publisher acting in bad faith, manifesting itself through certain abusive maneuvers, with the sole aim of benefiting exclusively and as much as possible from the patrimonial advantages relating to the author's work. It is these considerations that lead us to examine the protection of authors in publishing contracts under Ivorian law.