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| CONTRACTS WATCH Issue 98 (vol. 14, #6): published by The American Society Of Journalists and Authors May 3, 2007 Free subscription instructions at the end. Please remember that we are not lawyers and that this is not legal advice, but business advice.
Contents: * Comic Book Author Seeks Damages
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We've mentioned before how U.S. copyright law allows an author to end a copyright deal 35 years after originally making it. A growing number of writers or their estates are taking advantage of the law - and one of them is Gary Friedrich, who created the Ghost Rider character. In 1968 he created the character and 3 years later published it through what would become Marvel Entertainment. The contract signed copyright on the comics to the company, but it allegedly never registered the work. So in 2001, Friedrich did the paperwork and regained the copyright. And then in 2006, Marvel licensed the concept[1] to Sony Pictures Entertainment, which turned it into a picture that grossed an estimated $214.6 million. That's a lot of change to make if none of the parties involved owned or licensed the copyright. The moral is take care of copyright business and read your contracts. Your publishers might not - or, who knows?, might not care - and what seems so dead in the water might, many years later, become valuable. *******************************
We have once before, with Scripps Networks[1], seen a company that wanted to retain ownership of a work made for hire if it rejected the work and paid only a kill fee to the writer (though, to be fair, we don't know if the company still does). Now we've seen a second example of this ridiculous practice in Dulcinea Media. Here is the key phrase: "If, after you revise it, it still does not meet Dulcinea Media's standards, then, in its sole discretion, Dulcinea Media shall have the right to reject publication of the Work, while maintaining ownership, and pay a 25% kill fee." Occasionally we give a company the benefit of the doubt, thinking that the people involved either don't understand publishing or have no sense of what is reasonable in legal contracts. But in this case, the CEO and executive editor is Ari Kaplan[2] - a lawyer and columnist for Law.com. From what we can see, the company is a start-up and doesn't yet appear to have a Web site in place (though there is a placeholder[3]), which seems pretty odd for an Internet start-up head by someone who is supposedly writing a book on creative marketing for lawyers. Here's hoping that either Mr. Kaplan gets significantly more creative in finding decent ways of dealing with writers or that Dulcinea Media remains another association with Don Quixote: an impossible dream. *******************************
A writer on Freelance Success heard of a tool called CopyScape[1]. You can provide the URL for a web site and search for copies. The writer tried the URL of her own page and found that someone - a writer, so the person claimed - had copied nearly the entire site without giving her credit. There's no charge to use it, so why not? *******************************
The managers of Beyonce Knowles's record label are pulling[1] the deluxe edition of her newest release from the shelves because British singer Des'ree is suing her for copyright infringement. The latter had set strict conditions for using her song Kissing You, and apparently Beyonce didn't like the restrictions. Unfortunately, even wtihout signed permission, she included the song on her record anyway. Des'ree is suing for $150,000 - and that's potentially letting her off easily, as there are also criminal provisions, at least under U.S. law, for willfully infringing someone's copyright. There are good reasons for registering your material in a timely manner and for knowing the law - and you don't necessarily have to be a major recording artist to make them work for you. *******************************
Blog syndicator BlogBurst.com, owned by Pluck, makes an interesting offer - sign up and let it get your work, along with a byline and a link back, up on major web sites. But there are some problems. One is that while Pluck presumably makes money off the syndication, only its top moving 100 blogs get anything. Then there is the license agreement[1]. Pluck can give its customers the right to make further use of any work, selling it and enabled others, in turn, to sell it. So the may you make - or probably don't make - only covers that first use. There's no clear guarantee that these further sales will give you a byline or link back to your site. And, while there are other problems, the indemnification is a major one, as you have to indemnify in case anyone alleges (no court proof required) that you've done them wrong. Pluck yourself out of trouble before it happens and make sure that your haste to make money off your work can't cost you much more as a result. *******************************
People have predicted the death of newspapers for years - at least the print portion. Once editors said that their web sites were experimental money losers and wouldnt' draw enough traffic for a long time. But this study[1] done by Nielsen//NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America suggests that some day may be close. In the first quarter of 2007, over a third of active Internet users visited newspaper web sites, creating a collective 3 billion page views a month. "These record-setting numbers underscore newspapers' success in capturing online audiences and the importance of newspaper Web sites to the growing newspaper footprint," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. So when you hear how practically unimportant the web is to papers, let them know their own news - and negotiate accordingly. *******************************
Need a Writer, Editor, or Editorial Project Manager? ASJA Freelance Writer Search, a service of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, connects those who need writers with more than 1,200 writers who have met exacting standards of professional achievement. Use Freelance Writer Search to locate writers for a wide range of editorial projects including books, articles, newsletters, corporate communications, ghostwriting, web copy, scriptwriting, speechwriting, and much more. Listings are free. For more information, visit http://www.freelancewritersearch.com. *******************************
The ASJA Contract Committee has speakers available on the subject of contracts. Because we are all volunteers, there is no guarantee that we can satisfy each request, but we do try. So if you'd like someone to come speak to your group, let us know. *******************************
Got a question or a contract? Fax questions or contracts to 415-532-1324, including your email address for a response. To send an email, go to http://www.asja.org/contact.php and use our Web form. (Sorry, but the email was getting clogged with spam.) We do have three requirements to review a contract. First, you must name the publisher, as it helps us aid others in the future. Second, it must be a commercial publisher and not a vanity publishing house that makes its money off you. Third, you must read through the contract yourself and explain your concerns. We'll look through the whole document anyway, but things go better if you are really involved in the process. The American Society of Journalists and Authors encourages reproduction and distribution of this document for the benefit of freelance writers and photographers, and other publishing content creators. Reprint or post as many items as you wish, but please credit ASJA for the information and don't change the content. Contracts Committee ASJA
ASJA Home Page: http://www.asja.org
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