Selling the printing rights of written works

Question

Question: Many authors and compilers either themselves (?) their work, or else sell their work to some institution; that institution then legally secures with the government all rights to it for itself, so that no legal room remains for another person to print it. And the registration has only one purpose: to keep benefiting from its income.

Answer

In “Fatawa Rashidiyya” (complete edition, Karachi), p. 427, it says: “(Question): Is it permissible to gift, sell or prohibit the authorship right of books, or not? (Answer): The authorship right is not property that can be gifted or sold; therefore this is batil (void). [ar]وَلَا يَجُوزُ الِاعْتِيَاضُ عَنِ الْحُقُوقِ الْمُجَرَّدَةِ. (أشباه)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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