Our last column analyzed provisions customarily included in agreements between performing artists and managers. Several of the same concepts also apply to agreements between authors and literary representatives. Although literary representatives do not seek employment for their author clients, they frequently are referred to as agents, as we will here.
The Agency Clause
Not all literary agents enter into separate written agreements with authors. Instead, agents often wait for preparation of the publishing agreement. It will contain a provision (the agency clause) specifying at a minimum that the agent (or agency) is empowered to act on behalf of the author in all matters arising out of the agreement, to receive all payments due under the agreement, and to deduct its commission before sending the balance to the author. Although agents are not parties to publishing agreements, publishers ordinarily do not object to the practice of inserting an agency clause in the agreement.
