Rights talk at Bologna

BolognaBookPlus opened in Bologna on Sunday, April 12, with a seminar on options, shopping agreements and rights strategy before the fair’s main floor filled on April 13. (publishingperspectives.com) The session was part of BolognaBookPlus, the general-trade program inside the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, which runs April 13 to 16, 2026, alongside the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com, bolognachildrensbookfair.com) An option gives a producer or studio temporary exclusive access to develop a book for screen, while a shopping agreement lets them try to set up a project without buying the rights outright. Those deal terms were central enough to open this year’s professional training. (publishingperspectives.com, bolognachildrensbookfair.com) The fair is big enough that rights trading now sits next to illustration and books as a main business line. Organizers say the 2026 program includes more than 500 events, and BolognaBookPlus is in its sixth edition. (lanouvellevague.it, bolognachildrensbookfair.com) Bologna’s official site describes the four-day event as a “global hub for copyright exchange” across publishing, multimedia, licensing, illustration and animation. That wording matches the way the fair has expanded beyond book-to-book rights into cross-media dealmaking. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com) The scale helps explain the shift. Publishing Perspectives reported that the 2025 fair drew 33,318 professionals and 1,577 exhibitors from 95 countries, and this spring’s public-facing coverage says the 2026 edition has more than 1,500 exhibitors. (publishingperspectives.com, lanouvellevague.it) The rights infrastructure is now spread across several dedicated channels. Bologna’s own materials point to the Bologna Global Rights Exchange, a digital marketplace launched in 2020 that now lists about 22,000 titles and more than 200 properties. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com) Screen adaptation is also getting its own lane. The fair’s TV and Film Rights Centre says it started in 2024, hosted more than 400 matchmaking meetings in its first year, and topped 600 meetings in 2025. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com) The Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids adds another layer, focusing on brands and properties for children, teens and young adults. Publishing Perspectives said that side of the event includes about 800 brands, along with the TV and Film Rights Center and the Games Business Centre. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com, publishingperspectives.com) That leaves Bologna opening 2026 with a practical message: a children’s book fair still sells books, but the first conversation this year was about who controls the next adaptation window. (publishingperspectives.com, bolognachildrensbookfair.com)