Importing rights holders
Bulk import or update rights holders using a CSV template, with tips for avoiding spreadsheet formatting issues.
Rights holders can be imported in bulk using the CSV upload feature — ideal when onboarding multiple authors, illustrators, or other rights holders at once.
If you only need to add one or two rights holders, you may prefer to add them individually via the user interface.
Download the CSV template
A CSV template is available to download from the rights holders import page:
- Go to the main menu, top left, and click Rights Holders.
- On the Rights Holders listing page, click the Import Rights Holders button.
- Click ‘Download rights holders template file’.
- The CSV file template will be downloaded to your device.
Export existing rights holders
You can also export all existing rights holders from the same import page. This is useful if you want to update rights holder data in bulk — export, amend the data in your spreadsheet software, then re-import.
Prepare your rights holders data
Open the CSV template (or your exported file) in your spreadsheet software — we recommend Google Sheets over Excel.
Required fields
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First name | Yes | — |
| Last name | Yes | — |
| Email address | Conditional | Required if no rights holder code is provided. Must be unique. |
| Rights holder code | Conditional | Required if no email address is provided. Must be unique. |
Each rights holder must have at least one of email address or rights holder code.
Rights holder codes
We highly recommend using rights holder codes for all rights holders. A rights holder code is a unique identifier you assign for internal use — for example, “RH001” or “SMITH-J”.
Rights holder codes are required where a rights holder has no email address. Even where an email address exists, codes are valuable for consistent identification across imports and systems.
All other fields
All other fields in the template are optional. Blank fields will not overwrite existing data when updating.
Beware of spreadsheet auto-formatting
Excel and other spreadsheet software can be aggressively “helpful” by auto-formatting your data in ways that corrupt it. Common problems include:
- Long numbers (e.g. phone numbers, account numbers) silently converted to scientific notation like “1.23E+10”
- Dates reformatted or reinterpreted — e.g. “01-02” becomes “1 February” or “2 January” depending on your locale
- Leading zeros stripped from codes or reference numbers
Tip: Format all cells as text before entering or pasting data. If Excel asks to convert your numbers or dates — say no! For detailed instructions on formatting cells as text, see Introduction to importing.
We recommend using Google Sheets instead of Excel — it has fewer of these auto-formatting issues.
Upload your rights holders CSV
When you’ve double-checked your data, save the file as a CSV. In Google Sheets, this is File > Download > CSV.
- Go to the main menu, top left, and click Rights Holders.
- On the Rights Holders listing page, click the Import Rights Holders button.
- Under ‘Choose your file’ click ‘Browse’ and navigate to your CSV file.
- Click ‘Next’.
- The file will be uploaded and validated (checked for problems). You will see the results on a preview page.
- If the results look good, click ‘Continue’ and the rights holders will be imported (or, if the preview step highlights problems, you will need to fix the data — read the error message and check the requirements above).
Update rights holders in bulk
You can also use the above process to update existing rights holders in bulk.
The CSV import will match existing rights holders on email address or rights holder code. Blank fields will be ignored — these will not overwrite existing data.