Your Co-Author Role Do You Need A Legal Agreement

I’ve been working with my co-author for several months. It has been fun and, as the months passed, we have become friends. We brainstorm about speaking “gigs” and giving Power Point talks. In the coming months I expect our friendship to grow stronger. Yet both of us have expressed concern about our partnership.
Do we need a legal agreement? After some discussion, we decided the answer was “yes.”
Earlier in my career I had a publications lawyer. Though I haven’t used her services for some time, I have an understanding of what should be in a legal agreement. Our author is a law school professor and the collaboration agreement is being finalized now. If you are a co-author you may need an agreement too. Even if you trust your co-author completely, having an agreement is a wise decision.
Adler & Robin Brooks, Inc. posted a legal article, “Always Have an Agreement,” on its website. There are three good reasons for a legal agreement. Reason one: A collaboration agreement spells out details. Reason two: The agreement “keeps the book alive if something goes wrong between you and your co-author.” Reason three: Your publisher will insist on it.
You may be co-authoring a book now. What should your agreement include?
1. Legal title. Our agreement is titled “Collaboration Agreement” and this title is at the top of the page. My co-author and I are cited by name and qualifications. I’m described as a published author with expertise in publishing, editing, and book marketing.
2. Definitions. Section one of our agreement deals with definitions and there are four of them: book project, derivative product(s), net revenue, and translation. You may wish to add movie, television and radio rights to your agreement.
3. Individual responsibilities. My co-author the final say on content and I have the final say on editing. As our book grows longer, however, I’m doing more creative writing, so I asked for this point to be added to the agreement. Legally and financially, I am considered “work for hire.”
4. Expenses and royalties. This is the most important part of the agreement. We are splitting our royalties 50-50 and I think this is fair. Though the idea for the book came from my co-author, I am providing original writing, editing, and marketing ideas for related products.
5. Termination. Like other author contracts, ours has a termination clause. If one of us decides to back out, she has to give the co-author 30-days written notice. I think this is fair.
6. General provisions. This is a large category and comes at the end. One important provision is that there are no third party beneficiaries.