SOP06 | Organise existing publication, licence and rights records

English translation produced by the platform. It has not been reviewed by a native speaker and is not a certified translation. The Chinese version is the source.

Version 0.1 | 2026-09-24 | draft walkthrough. Goal: preserve the rights relationships that already existed, without fabricating contracts or paying for a registration first.

Read this first

Start from what already exists: contracts, publication pages, licences and registrations you already have. Do not create a new document today and present it as something from back then.

Not having a contract does not mean you have no rights, and having one does not settle who owns what. Where terms are unclear, keep the original wording and mark it for explanation rather than writing your own conclusion.

Time, cost and tools

Plan 15–30 minutes, not counting time spent finding old emails. This is an estimate, not a measured figure.

• Your system file manager, a notes app or the writing software you already use: nothing new to pay for; save to the device itself where possible; if cloud sync is already switched on, files may end up in your cloud account.

Before you start

• Do not crop original files or screenshots, do not repair them with AI, and do not fabricate metadata.
• Record who actually did the work if someone helps you. Never give a helper your password or a verification code.

Step by step

Step 1 | Write down your relationship to the work

Where to click: Open the "Rights and licence record" template at the foot of this page and choose author, co-author, employee, commissioned creator, assignee, representative, or don't know. List other people who may hold rights — but do not register on anyone else's behalf.

What you should see: At minimum, you know which relationships still need checking.

If you can't: If ownership is unclear, describe what actually happened. Do not guess at "100% mine".

Step 2 | Find the contracts, orders or emails you already have

Where to click: Search your own files and mailbox by the name of the work and by the client or publisher's name. Only use material you are entitled to access. Keep existing attachments and the surrounding correspondence.

What you should see: The original wording is preserved, not just the clauses that suit you.

If you can't: With no copy, record who holds it and roughly when it was signed, and request it later through an appropriate route. This walkthrough does not send email for you.

Step 3 | List the scope that was actually granted

Where to click: From the material you have, record who was licensed, for how long, in what territory, for what purpose, whether it was exclusive, and whether sub-licensing or assignment was allowed. Keep clauses you do not understand exactly as written and mark them for explanation.

What you should see: The extracted facts are kept apart from any legal interpretation.

If you can't: A contract that does not mention training does not automatically mean training is covered, or that it is excluded. Leave that to a specific interpretation.

Step 4 | Save the publication page and version information

Where to click: For a page you can view, screenshot it as in SOP02 and record the full URL, the credit line, the displayed date and the version. For a book, photograph the cover, the copyright page and the ISBN if there is one.

What you should see: The work can be connected to a real published version.

If you can't: If the page no longer exists, keep old emails, proofs, your own back-office records or the paper copy. Note whether it came from a third-party cache, and the date you obtained it.

Step 5 | Keep the terms as they were then, not only today's

Where to click: If you have the contract attachment from the time, a consent email, a history of back-office settings or an old screenshot, keep all of it. Record the current web page separately as "the version obtained today". Where there is no historical version, write don't know.

What you should see: Every set of terms has a version, a time it was obtained, and the period it can speak to.

If you can't: If you cannot obtain a historical page, do not reason backwards to what it must have said. Do not alter a site's dates or recreate a refusal that you cannot evidence.

Step 6 | Where it applies, gather any opt-out or reservation of rights

Where to click: In the rights record, note whether training was expressly refused at the time, on which page or setting, who set it, and when it took effect. If you have a machine-readable configuration, keep the file and its history. If you do not know how, just record the facts.

What you should see: Settings that existed then and settings you are making now are recorded separately.

If you can't: Having none, or not knowing, is not a failure to register. Do not change the only live evidence just to capture it, and do not claim a particular robots configuration is globally effective.

Step 7 | Keep any registration you already have — do not pay to fill a gap first

Where to click: If you have a registration certificate, an application receipt or a refusal, save it and copy the exact dates and numbers. If you have not registered, write "not registered / don't know".

What you should see: A lawyer can later tell whether a particular procedural condition is engaged.

If you can't: The registration question for suing in the United States is dealt with separately under US03. It is not a reason to tell everyone in the world to buy a US registration.

Step 8 | Add actual losses or contact records if you have them

Where to click: Copy existing licence quotes, sales reports, a client's cancellation note, and complaints and replies into your private folder, noting the source and the period. Do not generate a hypothetical loss model and offer it as evidence.

What you should see: Checkable facts are kept apart from estimates.

If you can't: Not having calculated anything, not having contacted anyone, or having no financial loss material at all does not stop you taking part.

Step 9 | Record only the territorial connections you actually know

Where to click: Write your country or region of residence, where the work was created, where it was first published, where it may have been used, and what you are basing that on. Fill in procedural details only if there is a court in prospect or a live case. Do not collect home addresses or passports.

What you should see: Territorial facts are kept apart from "which law should apply".

If you can't: If you do not know which server something happened on, leave it unknown. Where you are registered or resident does not by itself decide every applicable law.

Step 10 | Save and check permissions as in SOP05

Where to click: Back up the file inventory and the notes. Contracts, client lists and bank details are private by default and are not published to a front page.

What you should see: The material can be found when a lawyer needs to check it, without exposing all your private records.

If you can't: If a contract has a confidentiality clause, check what may be shared first. Providing only a description of the relationship is also acceptable.

Check when done

• Today's terms and historical terms are clearly distinguished.
• You can take part without a registration or proof of loss.
• No co-author has been counted automatically on their behalf.

What you end up keeping

• The rights and licence record
• Existing contracts, publication, licence and registration material
• Loss and communication records, where they exist

If something is missing

• No contract: record who holds it, roughly when it was signed, and what still needs to be obtained.
• Paper only: photograph it clearly and keep the physical item.
• Terms you cannot interpret: keep the original wording and do not generate a confident legal conclusion.

Where your data goes, and sharing

Files on your device are not uploaded by this process. Your photo library, iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive or your editor may already be syncing, so check where something is saved before you save it. An account export communicates with the original service. A full account export is not handed to this project by default.

Keep originals somewhere private. Make a separate copy before sending anything to anyone outside, and check it first for unrelated personal material and for contract restrictions. Share only when the recipient, the purpose and the scope are clear. Nothing is sent automatically in this phase.

When to get professional help

If evidence is about to disappear, if you have received court papers or a deadline, if the chain of rights is unclear, if trade secrets or a minor is involved, or if a formal certificate is required, have a qualified professional in the relevant place check it promptly rather than waiting for this research to finish.

Basis and testing status

Source identifiers: S01, S02, S04, S06, S10, S11, S14, S15, S17. Official URLs and locators are listed on the law pages. The actions in this walkthrough are preservation suggestions, not a claim that the law requires every person to complete every step.

Document checks have been done. Real-device testing on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, testing with five non-technical users, and lawyer sign-off have not.

Rights and licence record

Record facts only. Where something is unknown, do not guess.

• Work number and your role
• Co-authors, employer, commissioning party, publisher, assignee (private)
• File names of existing contracts, orders or emails
• Contract signature date, and the basis for it
• Who was licensed, for what purpose, territory, duration, exclusivity, sub-licensing (leave blank if unclear)
• First publication version, date, URL, ISBN if any
• Existing registration certificate, application or refusal — country, number, date
• Historical platform terms and their versions
• Terms obtained today (kept separate from the historical ones)
• Was training already refused, or rights reserved, at the time: yes / no / unknown
• Where that was stated, in machine-readable or another form, who set it, when it took effect and on what basis
• Anything added only today (must not be presented as historical)
• Existing sales, licences or client cancellations — amount, currency and period (may be blank)
• Existing contacts, complaints or replies (may be blank)
• Country or region of residence, creation, first publication and possible use (do not guess)
• Intended court or live case (write not_started if none)
• Material still to be obtained, and who holds it