Kate Morton VS Selwa Anthony lawsuit

Re: My thoughts on why Kate Morton didn't realize that agents are entitled to ongoing royalties (with all due R for MFW: she was writing books, not thinking about the details. She didn't think she was in the 'book industry' - she was a writer.She just cashed the cheques. I wonder if she's been paying taxes.

What astounds me is the apparent attitude of the agent, who is in the book industry, and has been for a good long while.
Doesn't she, of all people, realize that times like this are what contracts are for? Or, more exactly, a preventative against? Did she only just realize how much money she was losing? The whole thing sounds very strange.

Having contracts “actually on paper” are actually not standard across the board. My first agent never had a contract with me (and we never sold anything, lol)

Also in Australia, the little cottage industry of publishing means nobody will earn anywhere near $10K let alone $17 million. It’s just not discussed here. Selma Anthony did rep The Thorn Birds which has made at least ten times that figure, so she should have been a little more proactive in looking after/informing her author.

(Whispers) This is not an isolated incident according to my source.

I had some contact with Selwa Anthony several years ago and she's certainly a unique and eccentric character. She also just lost a major lawsuit challenging Colleen McCullough's will a few weeks ago, so perhaps she's just going through a litigious stage!

My agent is also my personal friend. She is also a professional. Damn sure we have a written and signed agreement!

It's Australia. Even publishing is upside down there.

There are a ton of reasons why stuff like this happens, and a ton of ways to prevent it from happening. Verbal contracts are perfectly enforceable, but written are clearer for the courts. To me, it's likely a lawsuit that gets tossed, or maybe settled cheaply, but I'm working from an understanding of US contract laws.

Jeff