Oubiliette makes a good point makes a good point. Instead of having a "you stole my book" discussion you might want to turn this into "please keep selling my book, just remember to send me my royalty checks." Sounds like you'll need a new contract, and hopefully you have the right lawyer.
Any fellow writer's or copyright lawyer's on here?
by Newly Enlightened 22 Replies latest jw experiences
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Incognito
How many copies were sold by the Canadian publisher? The wide range you were quoted suggestes that a fine maybe based on the number sold or profits from the sale of the book.
As your Attorney is not suggesting a settlement amount leads me to wonder if he/she wants the other side to first suggest an offer.
Remember that the fines you were quoted is the outcome of litigation between the parties. Litigation usually consumes considerable time and substantial monitary resources.
Any offer or counter-offer should take into consideration the time and monitary cost the other side would need to spend in fighting a settlement.
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Newly Enlightened
Good points all of you. I will keep you posted. I feel like my life is a big circus with Clowns [Elders], Pirates [Publishers] and one disaster after another.
The end of May to the 1 st week of June is usually bad.
Yeah, the president of the publishing co. called me himself and apologized and he was supposed to find out how many digital copies they sold and get back to me, but I haven't heard anything.
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hamsterbait
Offering to settle out of court can sometimes bring a decent compensation.
If the publisher doesnt want to fight in court, they at least have some idea of how much it could cost if it goes that far, and make a settlement, which will save them cash.
HB
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Oubliette
It all depends on whether they sold 4 copies or 400,000.
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Newly Enlightened
i know it. They'll probably just tell me "Oh we didn't sell any".
That's the story of my life.
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Oubliette
You have the right to demand an accounting. Don't let them tell you otherwise.
I had an issue with one of my publishers that failed to account. Fortunately I knew it was enough to justify hiring an attorney. Still, I hated having to pay a few thousand dollars to an attorney just to bully my recalcitrant publisher because they weren't doing their job.
When I finally got my royalty checks it was worth it. It took several years and a lot of sleepless nights.
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Band on the Run
Your lawyer should give you a rough idea. Not discussing fees is not ethical. Of course, it may be settled with a simple legal letter. Many times I reverse bad decisions by simply citing some basic legal jargon. On the other hand, you might decide to litigate. If the lawyer wants to see what a letter will do before jumping into high fee work, you are fortunate.
Let us hope that a letter works. If the action was inadvertent, you might get some going away money.
It would be prudent to keep your discussions confidential. They should be ocnfidential and privilege. Third party knowledge breaks privilege.
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Hortensia
If you're a writer, please fix your thread title. It's "writers," not "writer's."
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mP
Hortensia
Repeat for >laywers<.