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Oct. 11th, 2009 10:43 amI need to start today again. Of all the things going wrong, the only one I can actually discuss (unless you need a breakdown of my viral symptoms) is me withdrawing an article from a rather nice publication.
What happened was that I got a reminder to sign something I hadn't sighted before: the agreement to use my work. It was the standard form that this particular publisher uses for encyclopedias, where the writer retains no rights. I've seen it before and I've signed it before - but only for encyclopedia entries. Simply, my writing is regarded as work for hire.
I'll do this for an encyclopedia article, because I get paid for them and because the copy I get as a contributor is often worth several hundred dollars. It means I get a good reference book for my shelves and a week's grocery money. And because the work is non-fiction, I'd have to rewrite the thing anyway two years after publication, because there's always new research to take into account.
This wasn't an encyclopedia. In fact, the story was one of those that I'm very likely to be asked for again and again and again. It's also one of those tales that have only a limited number of ways to rewrite. I would run into copyright troubles eventually, however much care I took, and my family would not be happy at me signing away the rights to this particular tale. It's that kind of story. There is a kind of moral ownership involved.
The compensation for me signing away the rights would have been a single copy of the book and a discount on others. Discounts aren't so very useful from the other side of the world. There was no money. I wouldn't have retained even the right to object to changes. No payment, no control: no good.
The big thing is the family issue. Giving away the rights to the particular way the family tells an important story is not something I would do lightly.
I have had to pull out of the volume. I apologised profusely. If I had seen the agreement earlier, it would have been much easier for the editor. Now it's nothing but a mess for all of us.
What happened was that I got a reminder to sign something I hadn't sighted before: the agreement to use my work. It was the standard form that this particular publisher uses for encyclopedias, where the writer retains no rights. I've seen it before and I've signed it before - but only for encyclopedia entries. Simply, my writing is regarded as work for hire.
I'll do this for an encyclopedia article, because I get paid for them and because the copy I get as a contributor is often worth several hundred dollars. It means I get a good reference book for my shelves and a week's grocery money. And because the work is non-fiction, I'd have to rewrite the thing anyway two years after publication, because there's always new research to take into account.
This wasn't an encyclopedia. In fact, the story was one of those that I'm very likely to be asked for again and again and again. It's also one of those tales that have only a limited number of ways to rewrite. I would run into copyright troubles eventually, however much care I took, and my family would not be happy at me signing away the rights to this particular tale. It's that kind of story. There is a kind of moral ownership involved.
The compensation for me signing away the rights would have been a single copy of the book and a discount on others. Discounts aren't so very useful from the other side of the world. There was no money. I wouldn't have retained even the right to object to changes. No payment, no control: no good.
The big thing is the family issue. Giving away the rights to the particular way the family tells an important story is not something I would do lightly.
I have had to pull out of the volume. I apologised profusely. If I had seen the agreement earlier, it would have been much easier for the editor. Now it's nothing but a mess for all of us.