"The Newspaper Strips Vol. 1" hardcover book (oct.2012)

[jefferiestubes8]

Idw publishing

Ran starting in 1979

These rare and hard-to-find strips ran seven days a week, and picked up after the events of the first Star Trek film. Daily strips were printed in black and white, while the Sundays were provided in color. For STAR TREK: THE NEWSPAPER STRIPS, VOL. 1, all strips have been lovingly restored by the Library of American Comics. Star Trek expert Rich Handley provides an in-depth introduction, giving a history of the strip.

STAR TREK: THE NEWSPAPER STRIPS, VOL. 1, licensed by CBS Consumer Products, will be presented in an 8.5” x 11” hardcover book priced at $49.99.

*

STAR TREK: THE NEWSPAPER STRIPS, VOL. 1 ($49.99, 264 pages, partial color) will be available in October 2012. Diamond order code: AUG12 0371. ISBN 978-1-61377-494-6.

http://www.theouthousers.com/index.p...hardcover.html

[BillJ]

Are the original creators being paid?

[King Daniel into Darkness]

Are these the ones that used to be available for free at www.hasleinbooks.com?

[Therin of Andor]

KingDaniel wrote:

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Are these the ones that used to be available for free...

http://www.hassleinbooks.com/

Yes. Rich Handley finally found a publisher willing to plough through (gloss over?) the contractual minefield caused, IIRC, by no one at LA Times Syndicate or Paramount keeping accurate records of the original deals.

BillJ wrote:

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Are the original creators being paid?

Who knows. Past IDW archival reprints supposedly haven't supplied creator payment.

[Fer]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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Who knows. Past IDW archival reprints supposedly haven't supplied creator payment.

That could be based on the contracts. Peter David once commented that he doesn't get paid for trade paperback collections of his comic book work on Incredible Hulk.

[Daddy Todd]

Fer wrote:

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Peter David once commented that he doesn't get paid for trade paperback collections of his comic book work on Incredible Hulk.

I think what you really mean is "he doesn't get paid AGAIN for trade paperback collections..."

He was compensated -- probably handsomely -- when he did the work originally, in a contract that likely stipulates that the publisher gets to reprint/republish the work without additional compensation. There is no legal requirement to pay him again for work he did years ago; why do some suppose there's a MORAL requirement?

I work designing computer systems. My employer (a bank) pays me for my designs, and then pays developers to write code, QA guys to test, DBAs to make sure they keep running, etc. When a user logs onto "my" system years later, should I (and everyone else who worked on the system) expect to get paid again? No; we did our work and got paid for it way back then.

I'd like to know if the Trek book writers get (or expect) additional payment (above and beyond the standard royalty) when one of their books gets picked up by the SFBC? I suspect not, because they sold all rights to their work ("work for hire") to the rights-holder when they did the work.

I see it this way: the publisher/rights-holder takes a risk and buys a "work for hire" outright. It may sell really well, and have a long afterlife. Or, it may bomb. If the creator isn't expected to give the money back for a stiff, how can s/he expect additional compensation if it is a glorious, mega-selling success? The risk is all on the publisher; the creators get paid the same either way (unless there's a royalty in place.)

So, it all depends on the contract signed when the work was created. If that contract doesn't stipulate additional payment for reprints/trades/whatever, then there doesn't seem to be any legal or moral obligation to pay them. The creators didn't actually create the property, after all.

[Therin of Andor]

Daddy Todd wrote:

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why do some suppose there's a MORAL requirement?

Probably because there was an angry protest by a few authors when those first IDW omnibus reprints of DC and Marvel material came out. I think they had been paid for the old DC trade reprints but not the IDW reprints.

But yes, it all hinges on the wording of the original contracts and John Ordover discovered, IIRC, that neither LA Times Syndicate nor Paramount had file copies of all the contracts signed by the many writers and illustrators of the post-TMP comic strips - and neither most of the creators. A red tape nightmare.

[Daddy Todd]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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But yes, it all hinges on the wording of the original contracts and John Ordover discovered, IIRC, that neither LA Times Syndicate nor Paramount had file copies of all the contracts signed by the many writers and illustrators of the post-TMP comic strips - and neither most of the creators. A red tape nightmare.

So, either someone was able to find the original contracts, or IDW's just taking a bit of a risk and assuming they were fairly standard WFH contracts from the era.

Or maybe they negotiated with the creators (and/or their heirs) and will be paying them something.

It's all speculation at this point. Judging by the high price point ($10 more than IDW's typical price for archival volumes) there was some extra expense somewhere in the deal -- either to CBS or to the creators (or both).

No doubt we'll hear about it if the creators (or their heirs) come forward with a lawsuit claiming damages.

[Therin of Andor]

Daddy Todd wrote:

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So, either someone was able to find the original contracts, or IDW's just taking a bit of a risk and assuming they were fairly standard WFH contracts from the era.

I think I read somewhere (Rich's Facebook page?) that the new publication style of this reprint collection falls into an "archival" rather than "commercial" format, similar to that CD-ROM collection from GIT, which also did not compensate the original creative teams.

[Daddy Todd]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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I think I read somewhere (Rich's Facebook page?) that the new publication style of this reprint collection falls into an "archival" rather than "commercial" format, similar to that CD-ROM collection from GIT, which also did not compensate the original creative teams.

That's kind of funny. IDW is basing it's legality on the fact that nobody's gonna buy it. Well, since nobody bought it's other "archival" reprints ("Star Trek Archives" and "Star Trek Classics") this should work out fine.

[Therin of Andor]

Daddy Todd wrote:

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That's kind of funny. IDW is basing it's legality on the fact that nobody's gonna buy it. Well, since nobody bought it's other "archival" reprints ("Star Trek Archives" and "Star Trek Classics") this should work out fine.

But those weren't in the "archival" format.

This one is perhaps more like IDW's "Bloom County: The Complete Library" collections, although I'm sure that Berke Breathed's contracts stipulate very clearly how profits are to be shared.
https://shop.idwpublishing.com/books...om-county.html

[Fer]

Daddy Todd wrote:

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I think what you really mean is "he doesn't get paid AGAIN for trade paperback collections..."

He was compensated -- probably handsomely -- when he did the work originally, in a contract that likely stipulates that the publisher gets to reprint/republish the work without additional compensation.

You're right, that's exactly what I meant. By specifying trade paperback collections, I meant that he got paid for doing the initial monthly comic book, but does not receive any residuals for any additional reprints.

[Daddy Todd]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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This one is perhaps more like IDW's "Bloom County: The Complete Library" collections, although I'm sure that Berke Breathed's contracts stipulate very clearly how profits are to be shared.

Oh yeah, I have all 6 of those (The Outland collection just came out in June) so I understand the format pretty well, although it looks like the Star Trek volume will be formatted differently -- judging by the shape of the released cover art, it will be more "portrait" than the "landscape" orientation of the Bloom County books. But maybe the art released so far isn't the format the finished book will take. We'll know in a couple months.

I was trying to make a little joke about my perception of the "success" of IDW's other reprint efforts. Extremely little, apparently.

Incidentally, Breathed owns his strips, so he gets all the money. He negotiated ownership of all rights to Bloom County during a contract renegotiation when the strip was at the height of its popularity. Most strips (at lease back then) were owned by the syndicator, despite being the creation of the artist. Not unlike comic books.

So, again, it all depends on how the work is contracted.

If the Trek volume is the same format as the Bloom County books, then someone (CBS?) must be taking an extra chunk of royalty, because it's $10 more than the Bloom County series. Or maybe the higher price point is to defer additional costs associated with cleaning up the artwork (reprinting based on old strips clipped from yellowing newspapers, rather than from the pristine original boards, as in the case of Bloom County). Publishing is still precarious enough that I don't think it's just the usual annual publishing price hikes we grew used to back in the '70's - 90's.

[Fer]

I just received an e-mail from Amazon telling me this book has been pushed back to December 11, 2012.

Now I've already waited years for this book so another month doesn't really bother me. What does worry me, however, is this is the third e-mail I've received from them telling me this. When I first placed my order, the street date was November 13; then it was Nov. 20, then Nov 27, and now December 11.

I'll wait as long as it takes, but considering this project has been a hard one to get off the ground in the first place the delays are making me nervous.

Everyone is welcome to reassure me this is perfectly normal for a project of this magnitude and I have nothing to fear.

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

This is a perfectly normal delay for IDW. Their reprint collections are habitually late. Absolutely no cause for concern.

I share your sentiment -- we've waited this long: what's a few more weeks? (Of course, as I write this, Amazon is probably sending out a revised release date of mid-2013)