Publishing Multiple Author Book

[dreamingthought]

What is the name of your state? California

Okay, this may be a kind fo complex issue.

I've worked with some other writers on a story via the internet for almost 5 years now. Six authors have contributed their time and writing the story.

One of the members has pretty much taken over now and is writing the end of the story offline and is making plans to publish it. He is also editing the story with out talking to the others involved. He's been difficult to work with for some time, leaving people out and writing around everyone else. We had decided as a group to have a new author join, but he never allowed an opening for the new author and has now decided to finish the story with out him.

I'm one of the main organizers of this group and am against publishing it.

He hasn't talked with the other members yet. I'm fairly sure we will need to write up and have them sign contracts of some kind, right?

Even so, is it even likely a publisher would touch a copyright mess like this? I dont' think it's even publishable quality, but in case a publisher does consider it, what can I do to fight this?

I want the group to keep the full rights to the story and consider self-publishing after everyone has had a chance to review and edit their sections as well as aprove the story as a whole.

Does anyone have any advice for me on this?

I've had trouble figuring out how to deal with copyrights on this issue from the beginning.

 

[divgradcurl]

I've worked with some other writers on a story via the internet for almost 5 years now. Six authors have contributed their time and writing the story.

Most likely, all 6 authors now are co-authors for purposes of copyright, and each of the 6 authors is a co-owner of the copyright of the entire work.

I'm one of the main organizers of this group and am against publishing it.

Okay, but you very likely don't have the right to stop him from trying to publish the work.

He hasn't talked with the other members yet.

Nor does he have to.

I'm fairly sure we will need to write up and have them sign contracts of some kind, right?

Not necessarily.

Here's the thing -- you all contributed to the work so, under U.S. copyright law, you are all co-owners of the copyright for the whole work. You don't get individual copyrights over your pieces that you contributed -- there is only one copyright, and it is for the work as a whole, and anybody who contributed to the work is entitled to be a co-owner. Further, unless you have a contract to the contrary, each co-owner is an EQUAL co-owner, even if the amount of contribution is NOT equal.

Another thing -- each co-owner has an undivided interest in the ENTIRE work, which means that each of you essentially owns ALL of the work. What this means is that any one of the co-owners can sell, lease, license, etc., the entire work WITHOUT seeking permission from the others. There are a couple of limitations -- one co-owner can not create "waste" or otherwise destroy the commercial value of the work on his own, without compensating the other owners. Also, if one co-owner does end up licensing, selling, etc., the work, he must share the profits made from the license or sale with the other co-owners, either in equal shares or whatever is agreed to in a contract.

Even so, is it even likely a publisher would touch a copyright mess like this?

Hard to say. Chances are a publisher wouldn't want to get dragged into a fight over distribution of the profits, but you never know.

I dont' think it's even publishable quality, but in case a publisher does consider it, what can I do to fight this?

Chances are there isn't much you CAN do to fight this. You could hire a lawyer, but the fact is the other guys is an owner of the copyright, and has the right to make use of his copyright. I guess you could go to the publisher and threaten to make a stink if they publish, maybe they would refuse topublish rather than get dragged into a legal battle -- but if you do that, it's also potentially possible that the other author could sue YOU for interfering with a contract.

I want the group to keep the full rights to the story and consider self-publishing after everyone has had a chance to review and edit their sections as well as aprove the story as a whole.

The problem is, absent a contractual agreement that specifies that the copyright is owned by the "group," it's not -- it's co-owned by all of the individual authors, who can choose to work together or not. Each of the co-authors has rights in the work that are distinct from the rights of the other co-authors.

Does anyone have any advice for me on this?

You could try and buy the other guy off, see if he would be willing to forgo publishing (or maybe even sell you his rights in the work) for the right price. Otherwise, you can hire a lawyer and threaten to sue and send cease-and-desist letters, but there simply isn't that much you can legally if he decides to go ahead with the publishing. If he does, make sure that the publisher knows that there are co-authors, and maybe get a lawyer to make sure that each of you get your fair share of the profits.

Next time, if you decide to do something like this again, you might want to consider writing up a contract that grants all of the rights to the copyright to a partnership of the authors, or something similar, and then decisions as to the work are made by voting or whatever. In other words, you have a single copyright owned by a partnership, where each partner has an interest in the copyright, but does NOT have an undivided ownership interest in the copyright, which is the situation you find yourself in now. It's a subtle difference, but it's the difference between a single person being able to drive the project (as in your current situation) and being able to drive the project by committee.