The other organizations in the task force include the Authors Guild; Horror Writers Association; National Writers Union; Novelists, Inc.; Romance Writers of America; and Sisters In Crime. Four more authors have also signed on, including Neil Gaiman, Tess Gerritsen, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Chuck Wendig. The group has now created its own website at www.writersmustbepaid.org.
The task force has created a list of demands for their talks, including:
- honor the contracts of all authors writing in prose, comics, or graphic novel formats for its properties
- provide royalties and royalty statements to its authors
- update its licensing page with information for authors who are inquiring about missing royalties and statements
- be transparent in providing a contact person or point for its authors
- cooperate with professional writers’ organizations providing support to authors and agents
“SFWA wishes to create a cooperative relationship with Disney, but the corporation flatly refuses to work with us,” said author Mary Kowal, who is also the SFWA president. “They say they are committed to paying the authors, but their actions make it clear that Disney is placing the onus to be paid on the authors, while at the same time attempting to isolate the authors from receiving counsel from their professional author organization.
“Writers must be paid or given missing royalty statements; these contracts must be honored. We urge all authors to review their statements to make certain they are in order.”
The SFWA also says Foster’s dispute with Disney has been resolved, but it is now representing a dozen more writers who say they are missing royalty payments going back a number of years from a variety of companies now owned by Disney, including 20th Century Fox, Boom! Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Disney Publishing Worldwide, LucasFilm, Marvel Worldwide, and MGM.