Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Alabama
Internet fraud by online publisher?
I signed a contract in Jan. 2002 with an online publisher from Toney, Alabama to publish my book, and never received a signed copy of the contract. They published my book, releasing it August 2002. They claimed they registered my copyright, but I never received my certificate. They secured an ISBN and advertised my book for sale on their website and with online retailers. My first copies were full of mistakes. The publisher promised to rescind the bad copies, make amends with customers, and send their outsourced printing company the correct proof. They have not. Some customers still have not received their book.. In Dec. 2002, I received my first royalty check, which BOUNCED! After complaining, their response was to drop me as a client. Yet they continue to sell my book and reap profit from its sales on their website/retailers. They still have not made good on my check. I have royalties coming due for 4th quarter 2002 and 1st quarter 2003 as well. They ignore me now. I want to take my book to another publisher, but have been told I need an ''intent to sever'' letter from my old publisher. Does the e-mail they sent dropping me as one of their authors count? How can I get my royalty money?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Internet fraud by online publisher?
You have asked a very complicated question filled with interlaced facts that gets you the standard �it depends� response. Much depends on what you had in writing. I hope that you have kept a copy of the contract, because many of the questions will be answered by this document. Even though they did not send you back a fully executed version, this may not matter. I�m sure that they will claim that it was signed, just never sent. Thus, this document controls many of your questions.
Understand that rights in a copyright cannot be transferred without a signed writing, but rights can be licensed in some case without a writing. thus, all of the communications that you�ve had will also impact upon your ability to recover.
You do need to get to a good intellectual properties attorney. However, there are a couple of things that you can check first, just to get a fuller picture of where you stand. Go to www.loc.gov and check the copyright database to see if a filing has been made. This will give you a better understanding of what they are claiming is their position and interests.
The bottom line is that you do need counsel to pursue this.
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