Hi, I've written a number of small scale but successful books for a publisher. The publisher has become insolvent but surprise surprise the same person has set up immediately under a new name, having bought all the assets of the business, including book stocks, from the receiver in one of the new "pre pack" deals where they get everything for a lump sum without offering the business to a wider audience of buyers.
Currently my books are widely offered for sale with my images on websites of all the usual bookshops but as it stands I guess I am unlikely to receive anything. I was in a bookshop only this week and the staff were telling me both how well its selling and also how they only just had the publishers rep round heavily pushing it.
I spent a lot of time and money writing and photographing the books so am not at all happy at seeing a whole food chain of people making money from them while I get nothing at all. Any advice?
I assume that your contract allowed you to retain copyright in the event of the publisher not paying. What you need is a very quick legal response. You probably have the right to seize all unsold copies. You should have acted the moment the liquidation occurred.
I know someone who got a letter written by a lawyer in the morning, hired a truck, rounded up some mates from his rugby club, drove to the publishers warehouse and seized the copies the same day the receivers were called in.
Bob
I think most of us have been on the receiving end of this sort of short straw. You might want to ask a lawyer if your contract allows this. If the previous company never paid for the rights, they remain the property of the owner (you) rather than an asset that can be sold by liquidators. If so, the publisher is now infringing your copyright. In theory, at least, this looks worth exploring. Ask one of the specialist lawyers in the Links Legal section for help.
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