Medallion Press - Does anyone know where they've gone?

[Paradox 99]

I was about to contact Medallion Press who have published a number of my novels but someone alerted me to the fact that they seem to have vanished. Has anyone here heard anything about them?

 

[-K2-]

Try calling them on the phone during business hours. Web servers crash.

Hope it all works out!

K2

 

[Paradox 99]

A few other folks have already tried calling them. No answer apparently. A bit ominous.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

A few other folks have already tried calling them. No answer apparently. A bit ominous.

Contact Victoria Strauss and ask her to explore

 

[mosaix]

I was about to contact Medallion Press who have published a number of my novels but someone alerted me to the fact that they seem to have vanished. Has anyone here heard anything about them?

Long time no see.

 

[Bagpuss]

The have apparently filed for bankruptcy yesterday.

 

[mosaix]

The have apparently filed for bankruptcy yesterday.

Hard luck, Paradox.

 

[Paradox 99]

Yup, thanks Bagpuss (and Hi, Mosaix ) I just got word yesterday. I now have to wait for lawyers to get in touch. Will be interesting to see how this progresses since Medallion own the publishing rites to my novels. Seems I'm back to the fun and games of submissions and endless rejection letters, but at least it's an opportunity for something fresh.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Yup, thanks Bagpuss (and Hi, Mosaix ) I just got word yesterday. I now have to wait for lawyers to get in touch. Will be interesting to see how this progresses since Medallion own the publishing rites to my novels. Seems I'm back to the fun and games of submissions and endless rejection letters, but at least it's an opportunity for something fresh.

. Check your contract - it should have a rights reversion clause for this sort of thing. If it doesn’t, it’s more problematic

 

[Paradox 99]

Yes, all my contracts do have that clause, so it appears that all is good. (assuming that I have a sound address to write to!)

 

[Bagpuss]

Check your contract - it should have a rights reversion clause for this sort of thing. If it doesn’t, it’s more problematic

Yes, all my contracts do have that clause, so it appears that all is good. (assuming that I have a sound address to write to!)

I hate to rain on your parade, but it's not quite as simple as it appears to be.

Under US bankruptcy laws as they are currently written, then if an author has a contract with their publisher that states that the author's rights in their published works revert to the author once the publisher goes bankrupt (and that's not a rights-reversion clause but a termination clause), then that term in the contract is not necessarily enforceable after the publisher files for bankruptcy with a US court.

Section 541(c) of Title 11 of the US Code of Laws basically states that when a company files for bankruptcy all of the property the company owns at the time that it files for bankruptcy automatically becomes the property of the bankrupt company's "estate" and can be disposed of by the bankruptcy court and the company's bankruptcy administrator, regardless of any contractual provisions to the contrary.

The right to publish an author's work (which is granted under licence by the author) is "property" and therefore falls under section 541(c). There are some technical exceptions. But, in general, this means that when Medallion Publishing filed for bankruptcy the right to publish Paradox99's written books became a right that Medallion's administrator now owns.

Interestingly, Medallion has filed for a "no asset" bankruptcy, which means it's saying that its assets are exempt from being sold as part of the bankruptcy process. I don't know whether the court will agree to that or not. Equally, I don't quite see how Medallion can claim their IP rights have no value. I mean there are publishing corporations in the world whose sole valuation is based on the IP rights they own from authors. However, depending on how the court case works out Paradox99 may find that the right to publish their work does not revert to Paradox99 under the contract but is passed onto whatever legal entity survives the bankruptcy process and emerges phoenix-like from the ashes. What that looks like, I have no idea.

Paradox99 should, in all probability, look to get some independent legal advice about where they stand with the US court system and the bankruptcy proceedings.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Paradox should get in contact with Victoria Strauss at Writers Beware and see if they already know of this situational what is being advised to authors. She’s brilliant.

 

[Paradox 99]

Thanks so much, Bagpuss for the additional details. One of the other authors formerly with Medallion said something similar but not in as much detail, so I appreciate that.
And, Jo, thank you also. Victoria will be my next stop while I wait to see if the lawyers/administrators get in touch.

I imagine it'll be useful for others for me to keep this thread updated as to how things go, so I'll make sure I post updates as and when things happen (provided I'm not constrained by any legalities of course).