Initially housed at the now-deactivated writersmustbepaid.org, the following information outlines key details from the #DisneyMustPay campaign, which launched in April 2021 in the wake of a problem flagged in November 2020.

We hope that these process notes will help SFF creators and advocates when trying to navigate similar challenges in the industry today. Please review our Grievance Committee (Griefcom) and Writer Beware® pages for more information about how SFWA engages in writer advocacy and defense.

The Challenge

Alan Dean Foster came to Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s Grievance Committee because he had written novels and was not being paid the royalties that were specified in his contract. During investigation, SFWA discovered that Disney was now the rights holder and contacted them. The initial contact refused to pay.

Disney’s argument was that they have purchased the rights but not the obligations of the contract. SFWA was forced to take the matter public in order to get a resolution. SFWA suspected that other authors, and other creators such as illustrators, would be similarly affected.

While we are pleased to report that the matter of missing royalties for Mr. Foster’s novelizations was resolved, about a dozen additional authors contacted SFWA with a request for assistance, including the authors of Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones, and multiple other properties. SFWA has provided Disney with the names of authors who are similarly missing royalty statements and payment going back years.

It should be noted that while in talks for Mr. Foster’s Alien novels, Disney was told that he was also missing statements and royalties for his Star Wars novelizations. They would not begin the process nor resume royalty statements until Mr. Foster contacted them with a formal claim.

During the initial #DisneyMustPay campaign, SFWA proposed a hypothetical situation based on Disney’s position that they had purchased the rights but not the obligations to Mr. Foster’s work. In this scenario, Company A might sell a property to their sister company B to get out of paying royalties.

This situation is no longer hypothetical. Fox had licensed the comics rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Dark Horse. After Disney purchased Fox, they withdrew those rights from Dark Horse and granted them to Boom! Comics. When one Buffy author contacted Boom! about missing royalties they were told that “royalties don’t transfer.”

Disney is one of the owners of Boom! Comics.

The committee identified the following areas to be addressed. Disney needed to:

1. Honor contracts now held by Disney and its subsidiaries.
2. Provide royalty payments and statements to all affected creators.
3. Update their licensing page with an FAQ for creators about how to handle missing royalties.
4. Create a clear, easy-to-find contact person or point for affected creators.
5. Cooperate with author organizations who are providing support to creators and agents.

How Creators Helped

Because Disney was not willing to work with the task force to identify creators and correct missing payments, we needed your help to alert any creators who may be affected. These were some of the social media posts used during the campaign:

• #DisneyMustPay all creators what they’re owed. It shouldn’t matter how many fans they have. They held up their end of the contract, why can’t Disney?

• #DisneyMustPay. That’s it. That’s the Tweet.

• #DisneyMustPay by honoring creators’ contracts for the properties they’ve purchased. Pay royalties owed, provide statements, notify when works are reprinted. A contract isn’t just a wish your heart makes.

• #DisneyMustPay by creating an FAQ on their licensing page so all creators know how to ask for their missing royalties and/or statements. It’s not rocketeer science! It’s business basics.

• #DisneyMustPay by establishing a point of contact for writers who have not been paid their back royalties for properties now owned by Disney. Make that contact and the process for claiming royalties transparent—these are the bare necessities.

• #DisneyMustPay by working with creators’ organizations who can advocate for and support authors and their agents that may not feel secure enough to go it alone. It’s why we exist—let us help. You’ve got a friend in us.

#DisneyMustPay by notifying creators when their work is reprinted and paying them what they’re contractually owed. A new publication should be a point of pride, not of surprise.

Other advice given to concerned parties included:​

• Do not boycott, as this will disproportionately affect those creators who are being paid.
• Do purchase the works of affected creators for which they are currently receiving royalties.

Who Was Involved?

The #Disney Must Pay Joint Task Force was formed to identify and guide creators who might be owed money due to the discontinuance of royalties and statements for media tie-in creative works. The Task Force is comprised of the following associations and nonprofits that advocate for writers, though all creators are welcome to ask us for support: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., (SFWA), the Author’s Guild, Horror Writers Association (HWA), International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW), International Thriller Writers (ITW), Mystery Writers of America (MWA), National Writers Union (NWU), Novelists, Inc. (NINC), Romance Writers of America (RWA), Sisters in Crime (SinC), Writers Guild of America West (WGA West), and Writers Guild of America, East (WGA East). Task force members include representatives from each of its member organizations, including Neil Gaiman, Tess Gerritsen, Lee Goldberg, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Chuck Wendig.

What Did the Campaign Achieve?

The #DisneyMustPay task force at SFWA was able to secure payment for writers due to their tireless advocacy.

Alan Dean Foster, James Kahn, and Donald F. Glut, the novelization authors of the original Star Wars trilogy, have resolved their royalties’ issues and will be paid by Disney.

“Since we launched the Task Force, progress has been made; we are pleased that a few writers have been paid,” said SFWA’s president at the time, Mary Robinette Kowal. “However, we do notice the difference in how the lower profile writers are being treated. We should not still be having the discussion about honoring their contracts.”

The content below preserves the open letters that started the campaign.

The Opening Letters

At the beginning of the campaign, then SFWA President Mary Robinette Kowal wrote the following introduction:

Last year, a member came to SFWA’s Grievance Committee with a problem, which on the surface sounds simple and resolvable. He had written novels and was not being paid the royalties that were specified in his contract. The Grievance Committee is designed to resolve contract disputes like this. As part of our negotiating toolbox, we guarantee anonymity for both the writer and the publisher if the grievance is resolved.

When it is working, as president, I never hear from them.

When talks break down, the president of SFWA is asked to step in. We do this for any member.

In this case, the member is Alan Dean Foster. The publisher is Disney.

Here are his words.

Dear Mickey,

We have a lot in common, you and I.  We share a birthday: November 18.  My dad’s nickname was Mickey.  There’s more.

When you purchased Lucasfilm you acquired the rights to some books I wrote.  STAR WARS, the novelization of the very first film.  SPLINTER OF THE MIND’S EYE, the first sequel novel.  You owe me royalties on these books.  You stopped paying them.

When you purchased 20th Century Fox, you eventually acquired the rights to other books I had written.  The novelizations of ALIEN, ALIENS, and ALIEN 3.  You’ve never paid royalties on any of these, or even issued royalty statements for them.

All these books are all still very much in print.  They still earn money.  For you.  When one company buys another, they acquire its liabilities as well as its assets.  You’re certainly reaping the benefits of the assets.  I’d very much like my miniscule (though it’s not small to me) share.

You want me to sign an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) before even talking.  I’ve signed a lot of NDAs in my 50-year career.  Never once did anyone ever ask me to sign one prior to negotiations.  For the obvious reason that once you sign, you can no longer talk about the matter at hand.  Every one of my representatives in this matter, with many, many decades of experience in such business, echo my bewilderment.

You continue to ignore requests from my agents.  You continue to ignore queries from SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.  You continue to ignore my legal representatives.  I know this is what gargantuan corporations often do.  Ignore requests and inquiries hoping the petitioner will simply go away.  Or possibly die.  But I’m still here, and I am still entitled to what you owe me.  Including not to be ignored, just because I’m only one lone writer.  How many other writers and artists out there are you similarly ignoring?

My wife has serious medical issues and in 2016 I was diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer.  We could use the money.  Not charity: just what I’m owed.  I’ve always loved Disney.  The films, the parks, growing up with the Disneyland TV show.  I don’t think Unca Walt would approve of how you are currently treating me.  Maybe someone in the right position just hasn’t received the word, though after all these months of ignored requests and queries, that’s hard to countenance.  Or as a guy named Bob Iger said….

“The way you do anything is the way you do everything.”

I’m not feeling it.

Alan Dean Foster

Prescott, AZ

Mary Robinette Kowal adds:

In my decade with the organization, the fact that we are forced to present this publicly is unprecedented. So too, are the problems. The simple problem is that we have a writer who is not being paid.

The larger problem has the potential to affect every writer. Disney’s argument is that they have purchased the rights but not the obligations of the contract. In other words, they believe they have the right to publish work, but are not obligated to pay the writer no matter what the contract says. If we let this stand, it could set precedent to fundamentally alter the way copyright and contracts operate in the United States. All a publisher would have to do to break a contract would be to sell it to a sibling company.

If they are doing this to Alan Dean Foster, one of the great science fiction writers of our time, then what are they doing to the younger writers who do not know that a contract is a contract?

To resolve the immediate issue regarding their breach of contract with Alan Dean Foster, Disney has three choices:

1. Pay Alan Dean Foster all back royalties as well as any future royalties.
2. Publication ceases until new contract(s) are signed, and pay all back royalties to Alan Dean Foster as well as any future royalties.
3. Publication ceases and pay all back royalties to Alan Dean Foster.

This starts with a conversation. You have our contact information and offer to sit down with a Disney representative, Alan’s agent Vaughne Lee Hansen, and a SFWA representative.

Regardless of choice, Disney must pay Alan Dean Foster.

If you’re a fan of Alan Dean Foster or believe that a writer’s work has value, please let Disney know.

If you are a writer experiencing similar problems with Disney or another company, please report your circumstances to us here.

#DearMickey #DisneyMustPay

 

A later open letter followed up:

Dear Disney,

Walt Disney said, “When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way.” We believe all authors must be paid. The #DisneyMustPay campaign started in November 2020 with a press conference and an open letter to Mickey Mouse.

We remind you: it’s been well over a year.

You’ve paid some authors what you owed them. But there are other creators that you don’t want to talk about. And, because you did not take our advice, new creators are coming forward who are owed money, too.

You still refuse to recognize your obligations to lesser-known authors who wrote media tie-in works for Marvel, for Star Wars, for Aliens, for Predator, for Buffy: TVS, and more, universes that you’ve bought the rights to, along with the obligations to those creators. You’ve re-published their works but have failed to do even the bare necessities of contract and talent management. You’ve failed to pay these writers royalties they’re legally owed and have not given them the courtesy of royalty statements and reprint notices.

These pandemic years have been hard on creators. Surveys by the Authors Guild and the Society of Authors have shown 71.4% of writers’ incomes in the USA and 57% in the UK have declined since it began. Inflation is growing, bills still need to be paid. Honor the contracts.

#DisneyMustPay all writers what they’re owed. Put up an FAQ, create a point of contact, send out royalty statements, make payments in a timely manner, and let creators know when you’ve republished their works.

It’s time to honor your agreements. It’s time all creators were paid what they’re owed.

Signed,

The #DisneyMustPay Task Force

Neil Gaiman

Tess Gerritsen

Lee Goldberg

Mary Robinette Kowal

Chuck Wendig

Media about the Campaign

Aug 30 Disney Must Pay Scarlett Johansson
Aug 19 Release: WGA West and WGA East Join the Task Force
12 August 2021-Task Force Creators Press Release
May 19 Release: BOOM! Studios
Wall Street Journal (behind paywall)
May 11 Release: More Author Groups Join the Task Force
Polygon
New York Post
Clownfish
Newsweek
Publishers Weekly
The Guardian
Gizmodo
Sci Fi 4 Me
Good E Reader
Clownfish (second post)
The Hollywood Reporter

The Legacy of #DisneyMustPay