STANDING UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS

If the contract is breached, and the publisher is not willing to remedy their breach, it usually means it's time to get your rights back. Certainly time to speak to a lawyer who knows about intellectual property (specifically, publishing).

Good luck! (also, see if the publisher is listed in the BR&BC. Perhaps you could save someone else making the same mistake.)

Alexx Starnes said:

As an author should you stand up to the publisher who has breached your contracts, or Should you just bury your head in the sand and wait out the length of the contract to get your rights back? Multiple breaches are of an incurable nature. One author I spoke to suggested letting it go until the contract runs. I know what I think would like some additional feedback

Click to expand...

Sure. I think the best way to start is writing them an e-mail outlining specifically where the contract was breached and suggesting solutions. That should open up a dialogue between you. If that doesn't work, try a certified letter. If that doesn't work, you may want to try the lawyer route, but that is expensive with most (US) attorneys charging @$300 an hour.

That being said, if the contract runs out in a decent amount of time (i.e. six months after not reaching XX books sold), it might be easier to wait them out.

Also, it would depend on where they're breaching the contract. For example, if they said they would pay monthly royalties/statements and you haven't seen anything in 3 months, that's a high priority issue and depending on your units sold, it may need judicial action.

Good luck!

Sometimes what we consider a breach of contract is not a breach based on how the contract is actually written and not what we think it says.

Have you had a literary lawyer look at the contract carefully?

Have you searched for the publisher if B&BC thread?

Is this Publish America by any chance?

If so, things seem to run a bit differently than with any other publisher. Here at Absolute Write there is a separate section all its own for PA, and it could be helpful to introduce yourself there if this is your particular area of interest.

Alexx Starnes said:

As an author should you stand up to the publisher who has breached your contracts, or Should you just bury your head in the sand and wait out the length of the contract to get your rights back? Multiple breaches are of an incurable nature.

Click to expand...

Certainly, a complaining letter is in order. Multiple breaches and a refusal to remedy them in a timely fashion indicates 'bad faith', which means entering into a contract with no intention of honoring the terms. This is grounds for punitive damages and even lawyer fees. But it's risky, difficult to prosecute, and very expensive.

To put it in perspective, our lawsuit against an insurance company for breach of contract, where the evidence was clear and uncomplicated and the company's actions definitely in bad faith, took four years and $22,000 to fight. We won in settlement eventually, which meant that we only got part of what we were owed. But by then, we were exhausted and alarmed at the vast cost of the lawsuit. If it had gone to court, it would have cost much more.

The legal system lets people like you and I use it, but it's really meant for large companies to fight one another and to squeeze little people like you and I.

On the other hand, you can do a lot with formal letters and phone calls, and it doesn't cost much to get a lawyer to send an appropriate letter on legal stationery, even if you have no intention of actually suing.

There is no automatic should or shouldn't here. Such things are always on a case by case basis. Sometimes you need to take a stand, and sometimes it simply isn't worth the money, time, and effort.