Part of our guide to licensing cartoons for publishing (coming soon)
Do you need world English, regional or worldwide all-language rights for a cartoon? None of those, as such. At CartoonStock, territory rights for publishing come in two options: worldwide, or everywhere outside the US and Canada. One question decides which: will the title be sold or distributed in the US or Canada at any point? If the answer is yes, or might be yes, choose worldwide.
Why Territory Rights for Publishing Cartoons Are Simpler
Rights teams are used to detailed territory language: world English, open market, exclusive regions, all languages. Our licenses don’t carve territory up that way. There are two territories to choose from, and price depends on whether you publish in the US.
That keeps one decision simple. A publisher producing only for a European or Asian market doesn’t pay for North American reach it will never use. A publisher selling everywhere licenses once for worldwide.
Territory then sits alongside your print run band and your formats. A worldwide license at 5,001–50,000 covers that print run anywhere in the world.
“At Any Point” Does the Work
Territory is usually decided early, while distribution is still open. Plans change after that. A domestic title picks up a North American distributor. A co-edition partner takes on a market nobody planned for. An ebook goes on sale on a platform that sells everywhere by default.
Where any of that looks possible, choose worldwide at the start. Where a title is genuinely fixed to one market, such as a course book written for one national curriculum outside North America, choose outside the US and Canada.
If distribution changes after you’ve licensed, tell us before the book reaches the new market.
Ebooks Are Where Territory Slips
A print edition stays where you ship it. An ebook on an international platform usually doesn’t.
Your print license covers the ebook when it carries the same content in the same context. So if the ebook is available to buyers in the US or Canada, the license needs worldwide territory, whatever the print edition does. The same goes for courseware and other electronic-only publications.
Language Isn’t a Territory
Our territories are geographic. There’s no separate world English right and no all-language right to buy.
A translation follows the same rule. A different-language version published in the same territory is part of your existing license, and its copies count toward your print run band. A translated edition for a new territory usually needs a new license, at 50% off for cartoons already licensed for the title. Licensing cartoons for translations and co-editions (coming soon) covers both cases.
The caption is rarely a problem. Most cartoons come with the caption already translated into six languages, and we translate others free of charge where the joke allows. Relicensing images for a new edition or reprint (coming soon) explains how the new edition discount works.
How Territory Varies by Sector
Some sectors lean one way. Titles written for a single school curriculum can often stay outside the US and Canada. Higher education and trade titles usually sell internationally and need worldwide. How cartoon licensing differs across publishing sectors (coming soon) covers each sector in turn.
The Bottom Line
Territory rights for publishing a CartoonStock cartoon come in two options: worldwide, or everywhere outside the US and Canada. Choose worldwide if the title or its ebook will reach buyers in the US or Canada at any point. Language isn’t a territory: a translation in the same territory is covered by your license, and a new territory usually needs a new one. CartoonStock licenses internationally and works with publishers worldwide, and every license pays the cartoonist.
Licensing cartoons for publishing · Request custom terms
Q&A: Territory Rights for Cartoons
Q: Our distributor sells into the US without our involvement. Does that count?
A: Yes. If copies reach buyers in the US or Canada, the title needs worldwide territory.
Q: We only sell in one country. Can we license for that country alone?
A: A single-country license isn’t one of the two standard options. If your project needs something the standard options don’t cover, ask us.
Q: Does territory affect which print run band we need?
A: No. They’re separate choices. Choose the band for your total copies and the territory for where they’ll be sold. If you publish in more than one language in the same territory, count every language toward the one band.
Keep Reading
Licensing several cartoons for one project (coming soon)
Related Posts
-
- Briefing picture researchers and sourcing agencies on cartoon licensing (coming soon)
-
- Using cartoons in a self-published book (coming soon)