It is so sad to see people with obvious talents being ripped-off by crooks, charlatans, dodgy individuals and companies and other forms of low-life who prey on individual lack of legal knowledge and weaknesses in terms of contracts and so-called marketing practices that often amount to nothing more than theft and, in the more extreme cases, fraud.
I have just recently encountered an Australian case, and no doubt this will be a very familiar story to others, whereby an author wrote a book, a good one actually, was asked to sign a contract, paid large amounts of money to a publisher and virtually got nothing in return, the 'publishing company' for want of a better description in essence taking the author for a $11,000 ride to nowhere.
When I got hold of the details, with a little help from an Australian Government Department and an investigator within that department, we found that the contract was not worth the paper it was written on, that the publisher had mislead the author in terms of book sales, promotion, storage and other, including monitory, provisions that the publisher was supposed to have engaged in and that not even the very basic provision of a fairly basic, albeit suspect contract had not been kept.
When confronted with the facts, this particular publisher became extremely defensive as to hide his dirty deeds.
While this particular publisher will, at this point in time, not be named here as legal processes will be pending as well as the fact that various Australian Government departments are now investigating the conduct of this publisher, he will be 'blacklisted' on the various available websites.
No doubt, to authors, this story will be very familiar and no doubt, many author and other creative people have been ripped-off time and time again.
What next?
In Australia, representation will be made as to mandatory codes of conduct, either through legislation or through reputable representative organisations, of all agents and publishing houses and publishers. Those entities should and likely will be vetted as to their conduct and financial and ethical conduct in relation to authors and other artists and, in my view, any legislative provisions must include 'delisting' provisions.
In short though, those intending to acquire agents and publishing houses to do a job for them, should more than just briefly check the ethics and conduct of such entities in great detail.
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Sorcaress says on 2009-12-10 02:05:53 about Authors
Touche.
Henk says on 2009-12-09 11:03:22 about Authors
I agree with Joe that it is very easy for a journalist to hide behind the 'informed sources' excuse or to hide behind a 'Government Departments are investigating' statement and the points Joe raised are valid ones.
First of all, this journalist is of the old 'publish and be damned' school. I don't hide behind anything and I will publish without fear or favour, provided I have all the facts in front of me and provided any material is not based on fiction. In this case, the publisher will be named, and no doubt shamed, but we need to allow some proper legal processes to be followed as per legal requirements stipulated by legislation.
The plumber case is an interesting one indeed and that should certainly not be bound by the processes as Joe states. There are non-Government processes that can highlight such cases. The UFO case I know very little about so I might not comment on that.
In all though, Joe has a few very good points to make which are appreciated.
Joe Hepperle says on 2009-12-09 06:51:19 about Whiners that irritate
What about all those men who are enlisting as 'female' to avoid hazardous combat duty? There is a Government Office allowing this for 'connected' families. We won't name the Government Office, or the 'connected' families, "...as legal processes will be pending...", and "...various Government departments are now investigating...".
And then there is the large plumbing contractor that forces housewives to exchange sex for plumbing work. This plumbing contractor has been given an exclusive license to operate in their geographic area, so no play, no faucet fixing. Various Government officials go on "ride alongs" with the plumbers to get their own "payment" from the housewives. When husbands complain, they are routinely forced to fill out meaningless paperwork that no one ever reads. When they call on the status of their complaint, they are told that it is "in process", but nothing is ever done. To date, these plumbers and Government Officials have fathered 74 children by women not their wives-- and the cuckolded husbands have to raise and feed these children as 'their own'. We won't name the Government, the Government Officials, or the Plumbers. Neither will we name the geographic region where this is going on, "...as legal processes will be pending...", and "...various Government departments are now investigating...".
Did I mention the UFO's? One Government Department has a complete, working, UFO that was captured during a recent secret military operation. Certain Officials have been taken for rides in this UFO and have had its capabilities demonstrated to them. One capability is the miraculous cure of any disease or illness by just touching the outer skin of the UFO. Certain Government Officials are secretly bringing their chosen family members to the UFO to be cured of their expensive illnesses. No waiting in lines to get medical treatment. When are the rest of us going to be able to get cures for our maladies? Never. There is a Top Secret classified law, just recently passed, that makes it unlawful to know about, talk about, or touch this secret hidden UFO. We won't name the Government, the Government Office(s), or the cured families names, "...as legal processes will be pending...", and "...various Government departments are now investigating...".
See how easy it is to make stuff up and then avoid responsibility for what we say by claiming that we can't give specific details because "legal processes" are "pending"?
I have no doubt that there are one or more publishers that have cheated authors out of their profits and royalties. Nonetheless, if you are not prepared to name names, dates, and documents, you are just another of millions of whiners and complainers. If you aren't prepared to speak the complete truth and take responsibility for your words, then sit down and shut (TF) up.
HC/NZ says on 2009-12-05 14:37:58 about authors
Certainly, for those intending to write and publish a book or do anything else creative, it would be wise to get a lawyer, and a very good lawyer. I was under the impression that sharks only resided in the ocean. It now appears that they reside on land as well.
Soracress says on 2009-12-05 04:31:52 about Rip-off Publishers
Surely there must be someone out there who has been ripped off by a publisher? Leave your comments and let others know about your experiences,so other authors can be warned.
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