Commentaries: Art. 381

The author’s rights to the work are transferred to the publisher to the extent and for as long as required for performance of the contract.
The originator must give warranty to the publisher that he had the right to make the work available for publication at the time the contract was concluded and, where it is subject to copyright protection, that he holds the copyright.
Where all or part of the work has already been made available for publication to a third party or the originator is aware that it has already been published, he must inform the publisher before entering into the contract.