Literary Material & Copyrights

[wiretoggle]

Has anyone, writers for example, ever dealt with copyright ownership during a Chapter 7? I have several scripts and short stories which have no defined worth right now... but I'd like to continue looking for a company to publish or option them.

My 341 meeting is in a month. I would like to keep my property and try to develop it myself but can't find anyone who has went through a similar bankruptcy.

[daylate]

Copyrights

I would assume the trustee will not want your unpublished writings. I'm guessing they have little or no value to anyone other than you. As hard as it is for the author to get his or her stuff published, I can't believe a trustee would be interested. Now if you have published stuff before and had best sellers that could be a different story. (no pun intended) -

[HHM]

Have you ever made money from anything you have written to date?

If you want maximum protection and take the conservative approach, list the manuscripts as an asset on your BK schedules and list them with zero value. That way, no one can come back (in the event you actually get them self or published) and said you failed to disclose the item. I don't think you have anything to worry about. But you need to disclose the assets.

But yes, the trustees will evaluate the future value of a copyright and and do a net present value analysis to see if it is worth anything; unless the debtor is a published author with "real" representation (literary agent or the like), the trustees have no interest. Value is too uncertain.

[wiretoggle]

Thanks for the information. I did list them as assets and with no value. Wonder if a publisher decided to pick up one of the stories a few months after my 341 meeting and the additional passing of 60 days? Do you know if they could come back to claim anything and if so... would it only be up to the value of the past debt or could they take more?

[AngelinaCat]

Hi Wiretoggle, Welcome to the forum. I sent you a PM.

Meanwhile, I agree with HHM; your manuscripts have no value right now. It is the 'potential' value that may be questioned.

[despritfreya]

All of the above posts are correct and you should not attempt to increase the value of the asset until the Trustee has abandoned it (and "yes", publishing the manuscript increases its value). Abandonment happens when the case is closed (not the entry of the Discharge) unless the Trustee files a Notice to Abandon sooner than the time the case is closed.

Des.

[AngelinaCat]

Thanks Des, that was a very good answer.

Wiretoggle, Des is a bk attorney who is a member of our forum, and has helped immensely since joining.

I noted that you started multiple threads in numerous boards. That is against forum rules because it causes too much confusion amongst the members when trying to keep track of which thread they answered. Therefore I have merged your threads into one thread located in the Ch7 Board, since that is the Chapter under which you filed.

Thanks,
AC