A Hollywood and a law question.
1. If rights are aquired to produce or publish something, can those rights be recinded?
2.
@jespah, I know I asked this either here or in one of the Stands groups - but if AP wanted to make a defense that W&S knew wouldn't fly, at what point are they ethically bound to say
no and step away?
1. Absolutely. An IP holder would be a dolt if s/he were to hand over rights in perpetuity unless they were sold or otherwise contracted for. For example, my publisher holds any number of rights in my novel. But per our contract, those rights will revert back to me after a while (3 years, IIRC) and then I am free to shop it around to another publisher or self-pub it if I think another edition or an improved edition will sell.
2. Attorneys are asked all the time to prepare wacky defenses. Sometimes those can fly or they can start to chip away at what seems to be granite-hard precedent. The attorneys begin to get into ethical trouble if they are lied to AND they repeat that lie AND they know it is a lie as a part of the defense.
For example, let's say I borrowed your car without permission and I went joyriding. I come back and leave it in your garage. But you notice there's less gas in the tank and there's a scratch on the fender. If I say I didn't do it, and I maintain that throughout my defense with my attorney, they are okay although I am probably committing perjury if I say this under oath. Things change if I tell my lawyer, "I did it, but you're going to tell them I didn't." My lawyer should (a) counsel me not to do this, (b) refuse to be complicit, (c ) offer an alternative defense whereby neither of us have to lie (say, a plea agreement, which isn't really a defense
per se, but is probably best for me anyway), and (d) threaten to quit if I want to go ahead.
Sometimes lawyers get this stuff sprung on them in the middle of trial, when they really can't ethically quit, so they are kind of between a rock and a hard place. Then, suddenly, their Aunt Mary is sick and they have to go and attend to her, and/or they sidebar with the judge and just heavily hint,
I have to say this but I don't really mean it. It's the passive-aggressive aspect of the law, at its finest.
For more on ethical dilemmas, I was given
this terrific book by my cousin Joel (also a lawyer) when I started law school. It is written in very approachable language and it's not too expensive (I don't believe it's in ebook form). It's a small hardcover in case anyone wants to read about lawyers and ethics. I cannot recommend it enough and, no, I don't have any commercial interest in its sales. If a sale through an Amazon link helps TrekBBS, then obviously I am all for that.
