Witcher author wants more money? Does he deserve it legally?

[loyalyolayal]

He's asking for $16 million.






Yongyea's take which pretty much everyone agree on.

CD Projekt Red got the rights to Witcher games fair and square under terms both parties agreed upon. This last minute demand and legal threat from the author seems opportunistic and desperate. And it's not as if his novels didn't benefit from the global popularization of the franchise.

He probably never thought of the game being a commercial success. Welp.

 

[Hitman81]

He basically admits he fucked up. No he doesn't deserve any more than he agreed to.

 

[Fraz]

That quote is baffling, how can he think he's right to sue them yet realizes he fucked up and keeps calling himself stupid lol

 

[lts5025]

Never take a lump sum

 

[loyalyolayal]

Hey, how many polish authors does it take...

 

[method115]

This is obviously just a money grab. He's hoping they will just settle for some sort of amount. He should have agreed to a large up front cost and the a small fee from profits like 1% or something.

Even though he's an idiot I do hope CD gives him something small like 500,000 and that's it. I wouldn't mind if they told him to fuck off and take him to court though.

 

[God_Emperor_Of_Mankind]

He could have a case, that article 44 might save him . That being said I don't think he should get 16 million He will get at least some money though .

 

[loyalyolayal]

He could have a case, that article 44 might save him . That being said I don't think he should get 16 million He will get at least some money though .

Wouldn't Article 43 and his statement of declining Projekt Red's offer of percentages of the profit destroy Article 44? It's not like Projekt Red tried to bamboozle him.

 

[SaiWa]

he shouldn't get SHIAAAT!...

Projeckt Red offered and he declined. Should be end of story.

Now if PR wants to extend an olive branch and offer a small percentage for any follow-on efforts then maybe.. I wouldn't though... it'd be a good lesson learned for all future authors.

 

[Swing]

Outside of the common sense outlook that he agreed to the deal, I think CDPR has done more interesting things with the universe. The books are fun, but I think they're forgettable. I'll remember these characters because of the games.

 

[milliniar]

He basically laughed at them said there would be no profits and asked for the lump sum. I imagine they will offer a couple million. I'm sure they can afford it due to GOG, without having to get a loan.
If it goes to court I'm sure CDPR will look to a correlation of his book sales increasing after each of the games, to say he already made more money due to the games.

 

[TribalDrumz]

this guy has a creative mind that's for dam sure I love the Witcher Universe way more than Skyrim and stuff.

 

[ThulsaDooom]

Fuck him. They offered him a percent not once but TWICE and he still turned them down. Short sighted, arrogant fool.

 

[God_Emperor_Of_Mankind]

Apparently the other author called him 'an arrogant mother fucker' . He hates that younger fans come up to him with the notion that his books are derived from the games and not the other way around . Lol if not for the games I'm sure most people wouldn't know about the series . In that way the games would have actually boosted sales of his books

 

[ookii]

Its his own fault and its not like they tried to cheat him in the first place. He also came off arrogant when he refused the percent profit. He should at least be happy that Netflix is adapting his book into a series so he still gets paid

 

[blaseblah]

He doesn't deserve any more. He was offered a share in the profits and turned it down. If anything he owes them for making his books more popular.

What sucks about this is it probably dissuades CD Projekt from making any more Witcher games.

 

[Snubnoze707]

Sellers remorse. That's his fault and his problem.

Let's be real though, the game made the series and exposed it to the masses not him.

 

[method115]

Apparently the other author called him 'an arrogant mother fucker' . He hates that younger fans come up to him with the notion that his books are derived from the games and not the other way around . Lol if not for the games I'm sure most people wouldn't know about the series . In that way the games would have actually boosted sales of his books

Just reading the guys explanation of the situation you know he's arrogant as fuck.

 

[Rygu]

I bet he has shitty sleeps these days. What an idiot.

 

[BjPenn2017]

I thought any kind of common sense person would take royalties, you just never know what might come of something, in this case the game was bigger than probably anyone imagined, not anyones fault but his own.

Not to mention this guy is super ignorant and arrogant towards video games in general, he doesn't see them as a good way to make money or good story telling.

He didn't even believe in his own work when it came down to it, and literally paid the price. Fuck the guy, lesson learned not just for him but for future authors everywhere, believe in your work because you never know just how big it might get one day.