Authority file
Who controls the work, who may approve a license, and which existing agreements affect movement.
Rights Desk
Rights clarity before edition momentum.
MAQUINE treats rights as the commercial architecture of every project: who controls the work, where it may travel, which formats are open, and how partners approve, receive, publish, and report each edition.
Command View
A rights desk should make risk visible before ambition gets expensive.
This is the operating surface behind every serious conversation: authority, boundaries, materials, approval, delivery, and reporting.
01
Authority
Control and representative authority confirmed before outreach.
06
Boundaries
Language, territory, format, term, approval, and reporting mapped.
12+
Materials
Rights sheets, samples, metadata, notes, and delivery records prepared.
Rights Matrix
Every opportunity is reviewed through concrete licensing boundaries.
The goal is not to slow down promising projects. It is to make momentum safer, clearer, and more useful for every partner involved.
| Boundary | Controls | Review question | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Which languages may be licensed or developed. | Are translation rights open, reserved, co-agented, or already placed? | Language availability note and inquiry path. |
| Territory | Where an edition may be sold, distributed, promoted, and reported. | Are territories global, regional, country-specific, exclusive, or restricted? | Territory schedule and distribution boundary. |
| Format | Print, ebook, audio, digital, serial, adaptation, and derivative uses. | Which formats are included, reserved, or subject to separate approval? | Format rights table with restrictions. |
| Term | How long permission lasts and what triggers renewal or reversion. | What term, sales thresholds, reporting cadence, and reversion events apply? | Term and reversion summary. |
| Approval | Who approves text, cover, metadata, marketing copy, and final files. | Which parties must review the edition package before release? | Approval workflow and responsible contacts. |
| Reporting | How sales, royalties, sublicenses, and delivery obligations are tracked. | What reporting schedule, currency, statement format, and audit rights apply? | Reporting standard and partner memo. |
Workflow
From authority review to publication reporting.
A rights desk is most useful when the sequence is visible. MAQUINE separates permission, materials, partner review, edition development, delivery, and reporting.
01
Authority review
Confirm rightsholder, agent authority, contract boundaries, third-party material, and any reserved formats.
02
Market and materials brief
Prepare title positioning, audience signal, comparable titles, metadata, sample material, and edition opportunity notes.
03
Partner conversation
Frame the opportunity for publishers, agents, platforms, or co-publishing partners with clear decision points.
04
Edition development
Coordinate editorial production, adaptation, design inputs, QA, metadata, approval, delivery, and launch readiness.
05
Publication and reporting
Track final files, release status, sales channels, royalty reporting, partner obligations, and next-market learning.
Rights-Chain Required
No rights clarity, no production.
- Written authority before a protected work is translated, adapted, published, distributed, or promoted.
- Language, territory, format, term, reporting, reuse, and reversion boundaries documented before production.
- Rights sheets and partner notes prepared for publishers, agents, platforms, and rightsholders.
- Third-party material, image schedules, excerpts, archives, and technology-use or reuse restrictions reviewed early.
Territory schedule
Where an edition may be sold, distributed, promoted, sublicensed, and reported.
Format boundary
Print, ebook, audio, serial, adaptation, digital, and reuse rights separated before production.
Partner memo
A concise decision packet for publishers, agents, platforms, and rightsholders.
Partner Standard