[B5JMS] ATTN JMS: Sciography on DVDs

[b5jms-admin at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: warlock at es.co.nz (Matthew Vincent)
Date: 5 Jul 2002 20:07:19 -0700
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jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote: 

>>I don't suppose that all the material taped for the 
>>abandoned "Sciography" B5 episode for SciFi might be 
>>obtainable for the B5 DVDs?

>Doubtful since it was owned by SFC not WB.

It should all be owned by JMS! 

Matthew


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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 06 Jul 2002 03:58:55 GMT
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>>Doubtful since it was owned by SFC not WB.
>
>It should all be owned by JMS! 

Unfortunately none of it is owned by jms.  The ironic part of it is, I had my
attorney recently review the B5 contracts I'd signed some years ago, in
preparation for a possible audit, but he explained that under the terms of the
contract, which was my first such created-by contract, with an agent who had
not really done those kinds of agreements before, an audit really wouldn't make
any difference....

...because as it's phrased, I will never, ever see a dime in profits from B5. 
Writers residuals, sure, though those gradually decrease with time.  But not a
dime in profits.  Ever.

(And no, there's no point to litigation because that's only useful to find
hidden profits; the way the contract reads and the amount of overhead and
distribution costs that can be taken eats any and all possible profits.)

Which is often the case with first-time series deals, though this was a little
more onerous than others.

Such is life.  I didn't do it to create a sinecure, I did it to tell a story,
and I'd do it again under the same deal.

And my contracts since then have been quite different.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)