[Culture] Can this be true? I wouldn’t doubt it.

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I wouldn’t doubt it. Artists are always being screwed. Especially those without much business savy. Here’s a nod to you Peter. Loved the book. Loved the movie. Loved the soundtrack (even if that wasn’t you…) Even danced to it at my wedding. I’m quoting the entire original newspost rather than snipping it down. Sorry if it makes my post longer.

Last Unicorn author ripped off by filmmaker, struggling and penniless

Cory Doctorow: A couple days ago, I blogged about the unabridged author-reading of Peter S Beagle’s classic novel "The Last Unicorn." Now, Connor Cochran, Beagle’s business manager, writes in with this grim news about Beagle being ripped off by the British company that adapted his novel for animation, and Beagle’s difficulty in fighting back due to his general pennilessness: London-based Granada Media has sold more than 600,000 DVDs and videotapes of THE LAST UNICORN worldwide, made multiple cable and satellite deals for same, and sold the live action remake rights for a quarter of a million dollars. Yet despite this great success, they refuse to pay Peter what he is owed under his contract. After two years of trying to reach an amicable settlement, with no progress, it is clear that Peter will only get what he is due by going to court. Unfortunately, there is no way for Peter to do so without outside support. Just about everything he earns right now goes to take care of his 100 year-old mother.

Anyway, right now he has nothing with which to hire the attorneys and accountants he will need to either beat Granada in court or force them to negotiate. So we need to get the word out to as many professionals and fans as possible, to generate public support, contributions to the legal fund, letter-writing campaigns to Granada execs, etc. (We’ve just gotten started, but so far both Christopher Lee and Rene Auberjenois, two of the voiceover actors from THE LAST UNICORN, have agreed to help. That’s exciting.)

Beagle’s written a limited-edition sequel to The Last Unicorn that you can buy here. Link

[Listening to: Guinnevere – Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young – ]
Current Mood: (annoyed) annoyed

9 Replies to “[Culture] Can this be true? I wouldn’t doubt it.”

  2. That soooo sucks!!! I love the movie-I have it on DVD and probably watch it about once a month or so.
    And I have to ask-which song from the movie did you dance to at your wedding?

  3. Beagle wrote the book that got me involved in the SCA – Folk of the Air. I’m very disappointed to hear this news.

  4. We actually danced to the song “The Last Unicorn”. Alot of people think its a song about dispair when they first hear it. But when you really listen to it, you realize it’s a song about hope, and the future. It’s a song about life and about the magic within it.

  5. Beagle wrote the book that got me involved in the SCA – Folk of the Air. I’m very disappointed to hear this news.

    I went to the site and looked around a little. Gotta be careful with ’causes’ like this, as sometimes they are fan based and not entirely accurate. In this case, it appears to be something directly from a viable source.

  6. Just wanted to drop in and (a) thank everyone for spreading the word; (b) say that I wish I could attend a wedding where people danced to “The Last Unicorn,” because that would be really really cool; and (c) mention that detailed FAQs and specific directions for possible action are going up on the http://www.conlanpress.com/youcanhelp page starting tomorrow, October 6th.

    Peter definitely appreciates all the kind words and support during a very difficult time!

    — Connor Cochran
    Business Manager for Peter S. Beagle

  7. Thanks for stopping by Connor. I’ll mention it again up front so that people know about it.

    I’m interested to know how you fell across this blog. I don’t use Technorati or anything, so its really only been a personal space without much promotion. Maybe a trackback somewhere?

  8. Well, I’m not entirely up on the inner workings of these things, but I found you by simply going to Technorati and entering the search term “Peter S. Beagle.” Glad I did!

    Connor

  9. Wow. I must be tied into Technorati and I didn’t even know it. In fact, I just did that same search and saw my followup post there too. Hrm. Very interesting. I wonder if because someone else linked to me, most likely a friend on Blogger, then T just has me linked for updates now. Could be my cross-posts to LiveJournal. In any case, it’s like I said in the post, once you blog something it’s out there for the world…Very interesting..

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