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Production customs

Customs of the trade for the production of periodicals

Although many origination houses and suppliers have detailed contracts with periodical publishers, their work is often also based on the standard conditions of contract issued by the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF). However, such conditions do not fully cover all aspects of periodical production and the purpose of these guidelines is to clarify the customs of the periodical trade on all relevant points.

It should be noted that the customs recommended can be varied by agreement between parties to a contract and that they provide a suitable basis for the settlement in the event of a dispute.

'Customs of the trade for the production of periodicals' was formulated by a PPA working party after consultation with the BPIF (020 7242 6904) and has been registered at the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

Liability for error

Origination from manuscript or digital file
The supplier has no editorial responsibility other than to follow the publisher's instructions on style, to set accurately from the manuscript and to correct their own errors without charge when these are marked on the proof.

After proofs have been passed by the publisher, the supplier is not liable for any error in origination, although errors introduced after the return of such passed proofs are the responsibility of the supplier. It should be established at the outset whether the supplier is responsible for reading and marking first proofs that will be corrected before despatch to the publisher.

Offset printing ordered separately from origination
In the case of offset printing ordered separately from origination, the supplier's responsibility is limited to reproducing the image supplied by the publisher. Any technical or other defect noticed by the supplier in the material supplied by the publisher for reproduction should be brought to the publisher's attention.

Claims
In the event of a claim from the publisher for a defect, the supplier's liability is normally limited to the production value of the work and materials used in respect of the defective area. However, in certain circumstances, it may be necessary to negotiate between the publisher and supplier.

Force majeure

Either party should be excused from performance of its obligations if and to the extent that such performance is hindered or prevented (directly or indirectly) by reason of any strike, lockout, labour disturbance, Government action, riot, armed conflict, fire, flood, drought, failure of power supply, unavailability or breakdown of normal means of transport, inability to procure materials required for the performance of the contract, act of God or any other matter whatsoever beyond the party's reasonable control ('force majeure event'), provided always that the party uses its best endeavours to limit the effect of the force majeure event.

In the event that performance by either publisher or the supplier is prevented by any force majeure event, then either party may give the other written notice to terminate the contract and pay for work done and materials used, as mutually agreed, subject to accepting performance of the contract when reasonably practicable.

Confidentiality

Each party to a contract is entitled to expect the confidentiality of the details of the agreement, and the business of information supplied by the other party.

Illegal matter

The supplier shall not be required to print any matter which in their opinion is or may be of an obscene, illegal or libellous nature or is an infringement of the proprietary or personal rights of any third party. The supplier must immediately inform the publisher if these circumstances arise.

The supplier is entitled to seek indemnifiction in writing by the publisher in respect of any claims, costs and expenses arising out of any libellous matter, or any infringement of copyright, patent, design or any proprietary or personal rights contained in any material originated or printed for the publisher.

The indemnity may extend to any amounts paid on a lawyer's advice in settlement of any claim.

Law

An agreement should specify the law under which it is governed and in the UK this is usually English Law.

Liability

The supplier is not liable for any loss to the publisher arising from delay in transit not caused by the supplier or the supplier's sub-contractor.

Disputes

Independent arbitration services are available to both parties if necessary. The British Print Industries Federation (BPIF) will assist if its members are involved, offering a service that will appoint an independent arbitrator. PIRA is an alternative and the Institute of Printing maintains a list of accredited consultants.

Some contracts include agreed procedures to be followed in the case of disputes.

Notice period and insolvency

A contract for the printing of a periodical may not be terminated by either party unless 13 weeks' notice in writing is given, in the case of periodicals that are produced monthly or more frequently, and with 26 weeks' notice in writing in the case of bi-monthlies, quarterlies and annuals, unless the title is closed, where other arrangements may need to be made between publisher and supplier. Notice may be given at any time but wherever possible should be given after work on any one issue is completed.

Either party may terminate a contract immediately should the other be in breach of the agreement. Both parties should note that this includes non-payment of sums due.

Both parties should ensure that there is provision in the terms and condition for losses caused by the default of either party through default for reasons of insolvency or change of ownership. Legal advice should be sought in these circumstances.

Insurance

Publishers and supplier are each normally responsible for the insurance of their own property, including property in transit, but see the section on paper. The publisher's responsibility for the insurance of work done is either from the time the work is:

• delivered to his nominated supplier;
• payment is made by the publisher, whichever is the earlier.

In this way the publishing company ensures the work from the moment it has an insurable interest in it. The publisher is responsible for the insurance of material stored by the supplier at the publisher's request in whatever form, unless agreed specifically otherwise in writing.

Value for insurance purposes should cover the cost of replacement to the same stage as when lost. Suppliers do not normally cover any liability for the publisher's consequential loss.

The agreement should clarify what materials or data are covered by the respective insurance arrangements of publisher and supplier, including the position with regard to the materials supplied by other parties (inserts etc). Publisher's property on the supplier's premises which should be insured is all material supplied by the publisher such as disks manuscripts, artwork, photographs, transparencies, programming tapes, camera-ready copy, film, paper and printed sheets owned by the publisher or supplied form other suppliers (inserts etc).

Where modern equipment is dedicated to a publisher or specific periodical, agreement is needed on insurance against total failure and disaster recovery and third party misconduct.

Origination material and material supplied by the publisher

Origination material
Regardless of ownership, origination material supplied by a publisher should not be destroyed without written, but the publisher should not expect the supplier to store items indefinitely. A storage period, usually 13 months, should be agreed.

Publisher's property (and the property of third parties supplied by the publisher) is normally held and worked on by the supplier at the publisher's risk. The supplier should exercise reasonable care in handling and storing such property.

Film, digital and origination materials produced by the supplier or origination house remain the property of the printer or origination house unless otherwise agreed. It is recommended that arrangements are made for such materials to become the property of the publisher when payment has been made in full.

There should be an arrangement for loss or damage liability of transparencies from picture libraries. The supplier may need to break the seal, using all reasonable care, on photo library pictures in order to scan them, in which case the publisher would be liable for any damage to the material involved in so doing.

Paying for the faulty output of corrupted modems or disks is the publisher's liability. Also, if charges for modems or the use of fax are to be incurred as an extra, prior agreement is needed in respect of the basis of these charges, including a clear understanding of who is responsible for the maintenance and support of hardware and software. The same principle applies to messenger services.

Lithographic plates made by the supplier are normally the property of the supplier and may be destroyed when printing is completed, unless the publisher has made a specific request to the contrary in writing.

Materials supplied by or on behalf of the publisher
Estimates usually provide that materials, when supplied by the publisher are suitable for their purpose. Provided the publisher has adequate forewarning of the cost, the supplier may charge for additional work incurred when materials are found during production to be inconsistent with the standard on which the estimate was based.

Standards for colour origination: PPA and the periodical printers section of the BPIF endorse the specification for offset printing produced by the International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP). Copies of the latest version of this publication are available from PPA on 020 7404 4166.

Sheets, reels and other goods provided by, or on behalf of, the publisher are not normally counted or checked when received, but a routine should be agreed (as part of the BS5750 or ISO9000 standard for example) for handling documentary evidence of delivery. The supplier should advise the publisher of any apparent shortages or damage.

It is the responsibility of the supplier that despatches the goods to ensure that accurate documentation is sent with them.

Inserts as supplied to an agreed specification by a third party and delivered to the supplier should be clearly marked with the quantity, the title and issue for which they are intended, and details of overs and should be accompanied by written notification from the publisher for reference purposes. Adequate notification from the publisher on all inserts should be sent to the supplier.

Outwork

It is not acceptable for the supplier to sub-contract the publisher's work unless this has been agreed in advance. If there is outwork, the supplier retains sole responsibility for quality and quantity, for the completion of the work according to schedule and for insurance.

Terms of payment

Terms of payment, including such special arrangements as stage payments, are normally agreed between supplier and customer before the order is placed. In the absence of such prior agreement, payment is due 30 days from the date the printed work is delivered. It is in the interests of both parties that invoices are rendered as promptly as possible following delivery. The following are examples of current practice:

• Where pre-press material is ordered separately, an invoice may be rendered on completion of this part of the contract.
• Where a single supplier is responsible for composition and machining and binding, the invoice may be rendered on completion of machining.
• Interim payments may be negotiated for unusually large, slow or complex orders for pre-press work, machining or binding.
• Except where covered by a prior agreement, an invoice for pre-press work may be rendered 60 days after completion of a proofing stage if the proofs have not been returned to the supplier.

Proofing

Verification
Pre-press has used digital imaging methods for a number of years and publishers are familiar with off-press proof formats as well as ink on paper proofs. Digital equivalents of off-press proofs are available.

The aim of proofs is to verify the following:

• content;
• layout;
• appearance.

Proofs may be:

• Soft - on a computer display. This includes PDF files.
• Hard - tangible images on a carrier. These may be analogue, (from film, using pre-press or printed) or digital (from data files).

Either may be:

• local - in the operating area or
• distributed - to other sites.

The quality requirement of proofs is dependent on their use and the definition of the proof's objective is of critical importance. The position and timing of proofs in the agreed workflow and the expectation of their value should be agreed prior to production and a verification procedure established.

The signed off or 'contract' proof will be a close replica of the final result and is the vital element for colour fidelity. It is rigidly defined by the output requirements and the colour management system (CMS) employed. Proofing results will be vastly more reliable if the printer informs the publisher and pre-press supplier of the correct specification at the earliest stage.

In the initial stages of implementing a digital workflow, a hard proof should be supplied with the digital file. This is particularly important for contract proofs. When confidence is achieved this requirement may be negated by agreement.

Schedules and delays

A production schedule for all work should be submitted and agreed in advance, in writing, and should be based on a realistic assessment of the circumstances at the time. Any delay on either side should be notified to the other parties concerned as soon as it is foreseen, and the remainder of the schedule re-negotiated along with any relevant costs.

Variations from quotation

The following are examples of current practice (the expression 'supplier' here includes the origination house).

• Suppliers quote and charge for handling copy as received. Charges for additional work, and any additional charge that may arise from illegible or unclear copy not previously seen, should be agreed. It is the responsibility of the supplier to ensure that the final output matches the final approved proof, subject to normal tolerances.
• Where stale or layout is left to the supplier's judgement, charges made by the publisher may incur an extra charge.
• The charges for authors' corrections should be agreed between the publisher and the supplier.
• The publisher should agree with the supplier the number of proofs required and be charged accordingly. Publisher and supplier should be clear as to what type of proof is acceptable: dry colour (eg Cromalin or Matchprint), inkjet, dye sublimation or any other form.
• All extra work undertaken for the publisher may be charged at the rate agreed subject to prior authorisation, where practical. Causes of extra work include requests for additional proofs, alterations to proofs, extra planning, specimen pages, press delays and extra planning incurred by the late arrival of editorial material and delay in gaining approval.

Additional experimental work carried out at the publisher's request (on sketches, artwork, positives, plates, press-work, binding, and so on) may also be charged at an agreed rate:

• Costs arising from work which the publisher and the supplier agree is additional to that covered by the quotation or scale of prices may be charged for at a reasonable rate.
• Overmatter produced but not used will be charged at the current rates.

Customs checklist

The following list is not comprehensive but will be a starting point for printer and publisher to agree how each magazine will be generated.

• Is the paper specified?
• Are the inks specified for: colour, sequence, control target, values, measurement method, UCR required, GCR required?
• Is characterisation and profile data provided for: colour management?
• Are trapping requirements for image overlap defined?
• What is the feedback procedure when there is deviation from the required standard of materials?
• Are job tickets completed to maintain records?
• Are proof requirements objectively described in order to achieve a satisfactory result?
• Are compression requirements defined? These will be based on the quality required.
• What are the acceptable files, formats and transport media for the data received?
• Which imposition method is used for both pages and / or image elements?