Asked by Anonymous on 27-04-2023 14:40:36
Question posted in the Intellectual Property Law category relating to KwaZulu-Natal
I am in the process of writing a novel.
I have been working on this novel for the last 6 years (various rewrites and delays) and I started writing with the help of a co-author who helped come up with various characters, story beats and plot points.
She has in recent years become distant and despite my various attempts to keep her involved in the project, she continues to show a consistent lack of interest, even being so careless as to lose her copy of the whole second draft.
I have done all of the work on it for the last 4 years, beginning the fourth draft and her last words to me on the subject were: "I'm too busy, do whatever you want with it."
Regardless, she still insists on having her name attached to it and getting a share of any proceeds and threatened me with legal action if I tried to remove her name from it.
Am I morally obligated to keep her name as co-author?
If so, what would a reasonable share percentage for her be?
Considering her lack of interest, lack of work contributed and seeming carelessness about the project, my instinct says 20% is more than reasonable, but I am not a lawyer.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Sincerest thanks, James Collett.
If you would like to view the entire answer, you will need to either login or register a FREE account.
Disclaimer
DISCLAIMER: Advice or answers from Lawyers on South African Legal Advice are not substitutes for the proper advice of an Lawyer. South African Legal Advice is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Lawyer who assists with your question is not your Lawyer, and the response above is not to be considered to be legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains. The responses above are from individual Lawyers, not South African Legal Advice. The site and services are provided “as is”. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service.