Ellen Dean Foster was in her late 20s when George Lucas, a Millennium Falcon model, was standing in a warehouse in Southern California, discussing writing a novel adaptation of his upcoming film “Star Wars.”
The original contract called for a clear payment of $ 7,500, until Mr. Lucas threw a 0.5% royalty on the sale to Mr. Foster, who Mr. Foster, now 74 years old, says the initial payment has increased severalfold. He arrived several times a year as a record for the original 1977 blockbuster set-box fee, and his novel sold more than a million copies.
Then, in 2012, Walt Disney Co. bought Lucasfilm Ltd. – and the royalty check ceased.
Now, Mr. Foster and the other authors of the franchises bought by Disney are in heavy dispute with Hollywood’s largest empire, which they say refuses to pay royalties on the 4 4 billion Lucasfilm deal and other acquisitions contained in the book deal. The amount of money on the stake is less for a company the size of Disney but it is important for the writers who find it. While Disney has mined Lucasfilm for new films that have grossed a whopping billion 6 billion worldwide on office fees, the authors say the company has delayed processing their complaints and tightened them on checks that Rarely gets a few thousand rupees.
Since Mr. Foster’s controversy was made public by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association of America, other authors of books linked to projects ranging from Indiana Jones to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” have come up with similar stories of royalty checks after Disney’s care. Properties. In each case, Disney threatens to remove the vague but important template of franchises, as these novels help increase and maintain fan loyalty. Complications: The exact amount of money at stake is unknown, as the sales and royalties of the books involved fluctuate dramatically over time.
A Disney spokesman said: “We are carefully reviewing whether any royalty payments have been missed as a result of the acquisition consolidation and will take appropriate action if that is the case.”
Mr. Foster, who has long been known to Star Wars fans, says Disney Workday ignores players who help build international connections with favorite characters. Both he and his wife are in poor health, and he said earning royalties for medical expenses could come in handy.
“I’m not Steve Spielberg. I’m not Steve King. I don’t even have a name starting with Steve.”
The controversy began in the summer of 2019, when Mr. Foster’s literary agent, Von Hansen, first asked Disney why he had received a royalty check on three novels linked to the twentieth-century outer-space horror series “Alien”. Century Fox was bought by Studio Disney in 2019 as part of a 3 31.73 billion deal.
Mr. Foster and his agent later realized that the same thing happened with his royalties for two Star Wars books after Disney bought Lucasfilm.
In response to questions about the “Alien” investigation, Disney’s attorney told Mr. Foster that the company had acquired the rights to the books, but not the obligation to pay royalties. But in the case of the “alien,” Mrs. Hansen said, the rights to Mr. Foster’s novels were re-assigned several times before Disney bought Fox, with no disruption to the royalty investigation.
“Disney has got a house with a mortgage on it. They want to continue living in the house. They don’t want to pay the mortgage,” Mr Foster said.
The group of writers says a similar pattern has emerged in the wake of other Disney acquisitions. Mary Robinette Cowell, president of American Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers, said at least half a dozen authors of the Disney-owned property series said they were in the same boat.
Disney has begun reviewing the “Alien” case, but there’s a line of writers behind Mr. Foster waiting for a turn at the negotiating table. Overall, Ms. Hansen estimates that his client earned more than 000 50,000 in royalties on the original Star Wars novel alone before the check closed in 2012.
If Disney agrees to calculate the missing royalties, it faces the difficult task of selling for up to six years, and in Mr. Foster’s case alone, five novels published in dozens of international markets.
Donald Glut, author of the 1980 novel “The Empire Strikes Back,” and James Kahn, who acknowledged the original triangular third film, “Return to the JD,” both said they were also checking royalties.
If no resolution is reached, the Writers’ Association can take further action. Cowell said Disney was asked to avoid its members, including putting it on a list of publishers. The term given to such a designation: “The author beware.”
Write to Erich Schwartzel at [email protected]
.
