Comments on: Triskelion Contracts Are a Mass of Confusion

By: Lynne Connolly

Lynne Connolly — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:35:00 +0000

The trouble is, Emily, that when a company goes into bankruptcy, all its assets are frozen.
So contract expiry dates aren’t valid until the bankruptcy courts release the assets, which could be years after your contract expired.

By: veinglory

veinglory — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:30:05 +0000

The safest thing is just to know when your contract expires and wait til then. They ain’t got nothin’ on you after that.

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:29:11 +0000

I do believe there is a time limit on the court itself to resolve the issue of bankruptcy. At least I have been told that. Maybe someone here knows more about this. I’ve also been told that the time limit varies based on the type of bankruptcy proceeding filed. Anyone?

IIRC Chapter 11 filings (reorganization) have a 180 day to plan confirmation timeline, but I don’t know of an actual time limit on which the court can rule, especially because so much depends on the nature of the case and on the process the Trustee makes in administrating the estate, etc. Also, I think there are cases where even after a dissolution ruling litigation on the allowability of claims has occurred. There are definitely timeframes within the bankruptcy proceedings related to filing, perfecting of property interests, reach backs, cram downs, creditor claims, etc., but I haven’t heard anything about a limit on how long the court actually has to rule on dissolution. Someone else may know more, though.

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:54:52 +0000

The court doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing, with the wrong contracts listed and nobody who used to work for Triskelion contacted for their records.

It’s actually not the responsibility of the bankruptcy court to do this — it’s partly (at least initially) the responsibility of the debtor and by extension the debtor’s counsel (new bankruptcy laws have placed a much higher burden on attorneys in filing so as to cut down on cases that will eventually be reclassified or dismissed as abusive). And it’s also the responsibility of the creditors, which in this case includes Trisk authors, to make a claim against the estate. In the same way a criminal court isn’t responsible for gathering evidence, neither is the bankruptcy court responsible for gathering assets. The Trustee has some role in this (primarily to get as much out of the estate as possible asset-wise), but it’s not the Trustee’s job primarily, either. The court is simply adjudicating a matter initiated by Trisk — why would the court do the plaintiff’s work for them?

By: Ciar Cullen

Ciar Cullen — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:00:12 +0000

What a mess. Doesn’t surprise me in the least. That list sure as hell better not have a MacFarland on it, as I received my releases two years ago. I’ll bloody well go medieval. I’m so pissed for these authors.

By: Tess MacKall

Tess MacKall — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:34:13 +0000

I do believe there is a time limit on the court itself to resolve the issue of bankruptcy. At least I have been told that. Maybe someone here knows more about this. I’ve also been told that the time limit varies based on the type of bankruptcy proceeding filed. Anyone?

By: Lynne Connolly

Lynne Connolly — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:21:19 +0000

What every author really needs now is a clarification of the bankruptcy clause in an author’s book contract.
Triskelion’s was a fairly standard one and said in effect that if Triskelion closed or went into bankruptcy, the authors would get all rights back.
But this doesn’t seem to be the case.
Now if a big publishing house goes into liquidation (God forbid, but it’s always possible) it would take years to sort out the ramifications and all that time the authors would be stuck. So, IMO, it’s even more important for authors with big publishing houses to look into this matter. And agents, too.
As I understand it, the contracts are currently frozen by the courts as part of the proceedings. Once the bankruptcy case is done, Triskelion will cease to exist and all contracts will be void.
But nobody knows how long that will take. With a big house it could easily take years.
The court doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing, with the wrong contracts listed and nobody who used to work for Triskelion contacted for their records. But it’s too late now for that. If the bankruptcy clause in an author’s contract isn’t enforceable, that could mean the writer’s whole body of work disappearing for years.
There really needs to be some clarification by the legal system on this, so if there was ever a time to contact your professional bodies and organisations, this is it.

By: Leeann Burke

Leeann Burke — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:14:50 +0000

Oh dear. My heart goes out to those authors. It has to be so frustrating to be in lingo like this.

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:31:24 +0000

Updated Filings:

1. The Trustee intends to abandon the inventory of books (approximately 13,165) located at drop shipper, Aero Corporation, in Saline, Michigan unless an objection is filed

2. There is a hearing to be held on the issue of whether to extend the time to assume/reject author agreements has been rescheduled to November 20 at 10:00 am.

3. There is a ad hoc committee of authors whose contracts will not be sold in the November 15 auction and the trustee was to get a new list of authors who would be included. The ad hoc committee of authors (represented by counsel) are arguing that their contracts are not the property of Trisk and should not be subject to sale.

By: Shannon Stacey

Shannon Stacey — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:29:07 +0000

I was thinking about them this weekend while at Borders when I noticed the mass-market Trisk books were still on the shelves and was wondering whose job it is to recall them.

This leaves authors in limbo if a sale goes through on the 15th.

If the paperwork is missing and/or false, wouldn’t there be some kind of…injunction thing to halt the sale until it’s rectified? (Yeah, I watch too much TV.)