One of Disney’s first moves after purchasing Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise was to officially axe the extended universe, which contained a wide array of books, comics, and alternate stories that took place within and beyond the scope of the original movies. By the time Disney came around it had become a mess to keep track of. So when they finalized the acquisition, Disney declared the whole thing non-canon and moved forward, but according to some authors, they also took the opportunity to start ignoring royalty payments.
Alan Dean Foster wrote one of the original novelizations for the first Star Wars film. His contract would supposedly grant him a $7,500 dollar up-front payment, with 0.5% royalties for every copy sold. Given the wild success of the IP, those payments have made much more for Alan Dean Foster than even the original cash payment.
When Disney closed the deal on Lucasfilm however, those checks apparently stopped coming in. Foster’s literary agent realized that Disney was the source of the issue when the company purchased 20th Century Fox, and suddenly royalties dried up for his Alien novels as well. He and several other authors now claim that Disney refuses to pay royalties on any of the book deals signed before the acquisition, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America association has taken up Foster’s case, seeking compensation for the years of missed payments.
The amount of money at stake isn’t much for a corporation like Disney, but could mean the world to the authors who relied on those royalties as a form of steady income. Several writers allege that the company has purposefully delayed dealing with their complaints and ignored their requests for payments as small as a couple thousand dollars.
It’s not just Star Wars. Writers from all over the Disney umbrella have come forward complaining about being ignored for royalties on everything from Indiana Jones adaptations to Buffy the Vampire Slayer projects. In response to questions about the Alien novels in particular, Disney claims they have purchased the rights, but not the obligation to provide royalties. However, Foster’s agent insists that the rights have changed hands several times with no interruption to royalty payments until Disney got involved.
Given the small amount of money at play and the comparative size of Disney, this could be seen as a bad look for the company. Hopefully, this really is just a misunderstanding, and Disney will begin paying the royalties these authors are owed, including back payments for the missed checks.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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