Book Opener

he or she has the option of holding either the agent or the principal liableshould the contract not be performed.Example 8. Janet Moffet, a famous entertainer, hired a real estateagent, Fred Patterson, to search for a home for her. Fred wasdirected not to reveal the identity of the person he was representing.Imagine that Fred found a house and told the seller, MaryTeicholz, that he represented a buyer who wished to conceal heridentity. After a contract was entered, however, Janet defaultedand refused to buy the house. If the seller, Mary Teicholz, wereto uncover Janet Moffet’s identity, she could sue Moffet for breachof contract. If not, Mary could bring the breach of contract suitagainst the agent, Fred Patterson. If Fred were to lose the suitand be forced to pay damages out of his own resources, however,Janet Moffet would have to indemnify him for the money paid outto satisfy the award.Sometimes agents have instructions to not reveal the existence ofan agency relationship. They are then said to be working on behalf ofan undisclosed principal. If you were a third party, you would have noidea that the person you were dealing with was really acting for someoneelse. Should there be a breach, you would have a cause of actionagainst the agent. However, as long as the agent has fulfilled his or herresponsibilities, the principal is bound to the contract despite your lackof knowledge of the principal’s identity.Author Agents in a Digital WorldAuthors’agents have a duty to battle with publishers over the rights to selldigital versions of printed books. Recent lawsuits highlight the struggle authorsand agents have with publishers over this issue. One issue involves who ownsthe electronic rights for books. Authors and their agents argue that digitalrights belong to the author, unless the publishing contract says otherwise.Publishers argue that the print publisher automatically owns the digital rightsto a book. The other main issue is money. Authors and agents must negotiatewith publishers over how much authors are paid for digital sales of their books.(Source: New York Times, February 28, 2001, p. C5)Connect Visit the Web site of an online bookseller. Find out who publisheselectronic books. See if a different publisher publishes the print version of anyof those books.422 Unit 4: Being an Agent and Getting a Job