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 | |  | A word of warning |  |  08-20-2010 | #1 | | Sebastian T Sweet Prodco Sable is offline Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 105 |  A word of warning
I suppose if I mention names, etc. I might get into trouble, especially posting on a public forum so I'm going to try and keep this a little circumspect. I've already discussed it with Jack in a fair amount of detail.
I recently was privy to a series of negotiations for an audio company that started out as a straight distribution licensing deal and quickly (can you say lightening speed) morphed into the distribution company trying to buy out the audio company.
There were many aspects of the deal that were, forgive the cliche, hair raising but for me, as a writer this is what scared the beegeezus out of me. They wanted to buy the copyrights to ALL the person's work. Everything. Audio, script,novels, anything he'd ever done "past, present, future, in perpetuity." That included the CHARACTERS the person had created. Yup, the writer wouldn't own his own characters and these guys could have change him any way they wanted. All under the guise of "preserving his legacy.' Like he didn't have a family.
Now, before you start telling me that's the norm in contracts, I'm not a newbie in this business, nor in the film business. At 62 I've knocked about a bit and I've had my share of contracts and agents and lawyers and I know, especially with film, that when you sell a script you sell (unless you've got a brilliant agent/manager or have a series character) the character.
This was not a Hollywood deal. This was a company that wanted to OWN absolutely everything except the left over hamburger in the fridge, but they'd take the fridge.
They were told no. And talks went back to straight distribution, and little by little they asked for more and more and more and... stopped negotiating, then came back with yet ANOTHER "we want it all" proposal essentially offering a smaller amount and less operating money than it takes to run the company. Again under the guise of "preserving" someone's legacy.
In addition, they were unhappy to find out the company had agreements with other people for different things...
So... my warning.... if someone comes to you with what sounds like a good deal, check them out, go on line and ask people about them, GET A LAWYER, this audio company has a hell of a good one and were happy they did, read read read those contracts. That whole "owning the characters "in perpetuity" was buried under a lot of fancy "oh we just love you to death" rhetoric.
Believe me, I could go on.
Sebastian T Sweet Productions will never deal with these people. I'd rather burn everything I have than sell them a scrap of toilet paper.
Sable |  |  |  | | 08-20-2010 | #2 | | Moderator Jack J Ward is offline Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia Posts: 1,914 |
Thanks for giving me the information. I have to throw my voice in there. I trust Sable completely on this folks.
Always ALWAYS get a lawyer to run through any contracts regarding your works.
J | | | | | 08-20-2010 | #3 | | Barbarian in need of Ale Bill Hollweg is offline Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 10,995 |
I second what Jack Said! | | | | | 08-20-2010 | #4 | | Barbarian in need of Ale Bill Hollweg is offline Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 10,995 |
Being a graphic artist by day for an Advertising Firm, I believe in ART- whether you make it for free or for sale. But the ART is close to my heart. After reading this- Keep your copyrights close and the Lawyer defending you and your friends closer <and on speed dial> so VULTURES will not pick you and your works <and friends works> clean by nefarious methods... CPI again comes to my mind <and a certain cimmerian in PUBLIC DOMAIN> who are not even an american company... Norway or Sweeden I believe is their port of call- but I digress... Fight the good fight! | | | | | | 08-20-2010 | #5 | | Moderator Jack J Ward is offline Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia Posts: 1,914 |
| Quote: | |  | | | Being a graphic artist by day for an Advertising Firm, I believe in ART- whether you make it for free or for sale. But the ART is close to my heart.
After reading this-
Keep your copyrights close and the Lawyer defending you and your friends closer <and on speed dial> so VULTURES will not pick you and your works <and friends works> clean by nefarious methods... CPI again comes to my mind <and a certain cimmerian in PUBLIC DOMAIN> who are not even an american company... Norway or Sweeden I believe is their port of call- but I digress...
Fight the good fight! | | | | | You know with CPI going belly up.. that kind of leaves room for a certain Conan Audio Drama to START THE HELL UP AGAIN.. ~cough cough~.. | | | | | 08-20-2010 | #6 | | Audiofile frankenstein1887 is offline Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 186 |
What! CPI is dead. LONG LIVE CONAN! __________________ Mama delivered me herself. She took me from between her legs, bloody little mess. Just about to feed me to the chickens, and Daddy said, “Maybe we could use a boy, Lottie." And that’s how I came into the world. - Charlie (Elisha Cook Jr.) Messiah of Evil 1973 http://theflashingdial.forumwise.com/ | | | | | 08-20-2010 | #7 | | Barbarian in need of Ale Bill Hollweg is offline Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 10,995 |
All hail frankenstein! | | | | | 08-20-2010 | #8 | | Barbarian in need of Ale Bill Hollweg is offline Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 10,995 |
if one searches the internet archive..One might find a certain Cimmerian has never left. I love our Aussi fans and their posting ways. http://www.archive.org/details/Conan...dFullCastAudio Oops.. Did I just put that link? Bad Bill...  | | | | | 08-20-2010 | #9 | | Texas Radio Theatre Co. Rich Frohlich is offline Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Arlington, Texas Posts: 440 |
"in perpetuity"
I love that phrase... so juicy... so ripe... so nasty if you get hit upside the head with it.
Good info from Sable, to be sure. | | | | | | | | 08-20-2010 | #10 | | Sebastian T Sweet Prodco Sable is offline Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 105 |
A little extra about what Jack said about always getting a lawyer. I have a great one. I'd trust him, literally, with my life. And this is one of the things he always says.... it's not just what's said in contracts that you have to watch out for, it's what's NOT said. In these recent dealings the person, when he saw the words "all copyrights" the first time, thought that it meant just the audio stuff. I had to talk long, loud and eventually swearing a blue streak to explain that in a contract, "all" MEANS "ALL" everything, write a note on a napkin and it means that.
I gleaned this information from an article I wrote years ago for Script Magazine about "what's a script worth" and in it I looked at the worth of a script from a lot of different people's angles, the writer, an insurance company (if there's a fire) a production company and.... A DIVORCE LAWYER. One writer, in a nasty divorce had notes on dinner napkins tagged by her ex.
during my divorce my ex didn't want anything to do with my writing (thank you whoever) but... my attorney would not accept the words of my ex's attorney "what's your's is your's and what's mine is mine". My attorney listed EVERYTHING that my ex was giving up even to go into ALL NEW ELECTRONIC media etc. etc. etc.
So... people, make sure you read between those lines because therein lie the traps, big time.
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