Tempe, AZ asked in Entertainment / Sports, Contracts and Intellectual Property

Q: My contract w/my agent exclusively binds me & my co-author to her. Are my solo projects also exclusively tied to her?

The wording of our agreement is vague on this. It's obvious that our joint project is the main focus, and clearly states that any work that my co-author and I do together are legally bound to her services.

But if I write my own solo books, on other topics, must I use her as my agent? The language is VERY fuzzy on this.

The agreement is only one page long, but my lawyer wants to charge me $500 to even look at it. I get that it's his hourly rate, but this is just a quickie question, and won't take an hour to answer. Five hundred dollars is way out of my budget's ballpark. Is there some way to hire a lawyer to just answer this one question?

1 Lawyer Answer

A: Yes, you can always shop around for a lawyer who is willing to work within your budget. I suggest trying to find a lawyer who will charge a flat fee rather than an hourly rate. Also find someone who can look over the contract during a free consultation. You might not get an answer during that consultation, but you should know what it will take to get the answer (i.e. what research/investigation).

The problem is that to get you a precise answer (a "real" answer), will likely require the lawyer to research and read some cases that are similar to your situation. So while it may seem like a "quickie question" to you, there's more to it than just glancing over the document. It's not just looking over your contract, it will likely require some additional time to ensure that the advice you get is correct.

Bottom line: if your contract is fuzzy, and you try to go behind your agent's back with solo work, you're asking for a lawsuit--especially if your solo project becomes successful. You certainly don't want to be risking potentially valuable intellectual property rights, so if your solo venture is something worth pursuing, ensuring you get good legal advice up front is a wise investment. Then, the attorney may even be able to help you negotiate a revision of the contract if there's a problem.

Good luck!

Griffin Klema

https://klemalaw.com

griffin@klemalaw.com

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