Can I continue writing my book without my original partner?

[BookCollabConcern]

California

A year ago I came up with a concept for a book.

I invited someone (we'll call them B) to join me on the project because I had worked with B on things before.

B has threatened legal action against me (in a different matter, unrelated entirely to the book project) and I no longer feel comfortable continuing the project with B involved.

I have documentation that I created the concept, own the domain names, and have done 95% of the writing/work thus far. B's contributions could be easily removed and replaced with something else entirely (or nothing at all, frankly), with the book suffering very little for it.

No money has been made thus far (as the book is not yet published), but B did put some time/money into research for their portion of writing.

What should I be aware of moving forward? Should I consider the project lost entirely? In order to save it, do I need to offer to buy B out? Can I simply remove their contributions and press forward?

Thank you in advance for any help!

 

[Zigner]

This depends entirely on the agreement between the two of you.

 

[BookCollabConcern]

We had a verbal agreement to write the book together, but had not settled on publishing methods, payments, or anything beyond the writing.

 

[adjusterjack]

B did put some time/money into research for their portion of writing.

That's a problem, even if you don't use his contribution.

Understand that nothing you do prevents B from filing a lawsuit against you, which is more likely to occur after you publish and start making money on it.

In order to save it, do I need to offer to buy B out? Can I simply remove their contributions and press forward?

Those do seem to be your obvious choices.

Probably safer to buy his signature on a release. Otherwise you take your chances.

 

[BookCollabConcern]

Understand that nothing you do prevents B from filing a lawsuit against you, which is more likely to occur after you publish and start making money on it.

Yeah, that is definitely true. I'll start looking into how to write a release statement of some sort.

 

[quincy]

If your former partner contributed to the writing - and you want to use this writing - you will want an assignment, which transfers (all or some) copyrights in the work. It needs to be a written agreement signed and dated by your former partner and this transfer agreement should be recorded with the US Copyright Office.

An assignment is an unconditional transfer of rights.

Whether you want to compensate the former partner for any time he put into research for the work is up to you. You do not need a release to use information that is available to everyone. Authors, however, often credit those who helped with research.

Without a written and signed transfer of rights agreement, your former partner can claim coauthorship of the work and will be legally presumed to share equally in the work.

Good luck.

 

[xylene]

What can the OP do that is not contingent on the strenous agreement of B, who is already his adversary in an unrelated lawsuit?

 

[quincy]

BookCollabConcern would be smartest to get a transfer agreement but s/he can also not use anything previously contributed by the former partner - and perhaps reimburse the former partner for any money he spent on research.

If there is no written and signed transfer of rights agreement and the former partner is a litigious sort, however, BookCollabConcern might have some problem with the partner later.

Concepts (ideas) are not protectable under copyright laws so the only (potentially successful) challenge I can see would be over any writing contributed by the partner.

 

[BookCollabConcern]

... but s/he can also not use anything previously contributed by the former partner - and perhaps reimburse the former partner for any money he spent on research.

If there is no written and signed transfer of rights agreement and the former partner is a litigious sort, however, BookCollabConcern might have some problem with the partner later.

While B's contributions can easily be removed, I do worry about that latter statement. Though reimbursement may be the easiest option here.

 

[quincy]

While B's contributions can easily be removed, I do worry about that latter statement. Though reimbursement may be the easiest option here.

If you decide to reimburse your former partner for the time he invested in research for your book, you should still have an agreement signed by the partner that states exactly what the payment is for and that additionally says the partner no longer has any remaining claim relating to the book.

When you are dealing with individuals who like to sue, it becomes even more important to have everything in writing.

 

[adjusterjack]

When you are dealing with individuals who like to sue, it becomes even more important to have everything in writing.

Which means consult an attorney and make sure it gets done right.

 

[quincy]

That is generally the best route to take.