unglue.it FAQ

De Gruyter to work with Unglue.it: Wish for your favorites!

unglue (v. t.) 1. To pay an author or publisher in full, up front, for publishing a Creative Commons ebook.

unglue (v. t.) 2. To make a digital book free to read and use, worldwide.

unglue (v. t.) 3. To make it clearly legal for a digital book to be used, distributed, archived and preserved by libraries.

unglue (v. t.) 4. For an author or publisher, to accept a fixed amount of money from the public for its unlimited use of an ebook.

unglue (v. t.) 5. To give your favorite books to everyone on earth.

unglue (v. t.) 6. To reward authors and publishers for sharing books with the world.

Learn more

We all have books we love so much, we'd like to give them to the world. We want to share them, but also reward their creators. With digital books, it can be hard to do both.

Unglue.it offers a win-win solution: Crowdfunding. We run pledge campaigns for books; you chip in. When, together, we've reached the goal, we'll reward the book's creators and issue an unglued ebook.

Creative Commons licensing means everyone, everywhere can read and share the unglued book - freely and legally. You've given your favorite book to the world.

Still have questions? We've got answers.

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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Help! My question isn't covered in the FAQs!: Please email us at support@gluejar.com. We want to make sure everything on the site runs as smoothly as possible. Thanks for helping us do that.

For Rights Holders

Rights

If I am an author with my book still in print, can I still start a campaign to unglue it?: This depends entirely on your original contract with your publisher. You should seek independent advice about your royalty clauses and the "Subsidiary Rights" clauses of your contract. The Authors' Guild provides guidance for its members.
If I am an author do I have to talk to my publisher or agent first?: It is your responsibility to get advice on the current status of any contracts you may have ever had for the right to publish your work, whether or not a book is in print now. Creative Commons licenses are media neutral and worldwide (English). You may need waivers from other parties who have exclusive licenses for this book.
If I am a publisher, but I do not have an ebook royalty in my contract, can I sign your Platform Services Agreement?: We can't interpret your particular contract regarding subsidiary rights and your ability to use a Creative Commons license. Please seek qualified independent advice regarding the terms of your contract. In any event, you will also want the author to cooperate with you on a successful fundraising campaign, and you can work together to meet the warranties of the PSA.
Are the copyright holder, and the rights holder who is eligible to start an Unglue.it campaign, the same person?: Not necessarily. If you are the author and copyright holder but have a contract with a publisher, the publisher may be the authorized Rights Holder with respect to commercial rights, and they may be able to sign a licensing agreement on your behalf. Again, you must get advice about your individual contract, especially subsidiary rights clauses and exclusivity.
Can I offer a book to be unglued even if I cannot include all the illustrations from the print edition?: Yes. If permission to reprint cannot not be obtained for items such as photographs, drawings, color plates, as well as quotations from lyrics and poetry, we can produce an unglued edition which leaves them out. You must indicate the difference between the editions on your Campaign page.
What impact does ungluing a book have on the rights status of my other editions?: The Creative Commons licenses are non-exclusive. They will apply only to the unglued edition, not to the print, audio, or any other editions. They does not affect the rights status of those other editions. If you use the no-derivative, noncommercial license (CC BY-NC-ND), no one else may sell your book or make derivatives unless you give them permission to do so.
Can an unglued ebook be issued only in the US?: No. An unglued ebook is released to the world. It uses a Creative Commons license which is territory-neutral. That is, the unglued ebook can be read by anyone, anywhere in the world, subject always to the limitations of the license.