Star Wars Novelists and Others Are in a Dispute with Disney Over Missing Royalty Payments

Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. back in 2012, we’ve seen a multitude of Star Wars projects announced and released including Episode VII — The Force Awakens, Episode VIII — The Last Jedi, Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Mandalorian, and more.

And while feature films, hit TV shows, and collecting merch is great, many Star Wars fans also enjoy reading Star Wars novels, whether they’re based on the original series or other aspects of the universe. But, some Star Wars novelists and writers from other Disney-owned franchises are now claiming there has been an issue with some royalty checks they’re owed.

According to MarketWatch, several writers who have composed Star Wars or other novels tied to Disney-owned franchises claim they are owed royalties that Disney has failed to pay after acquiring Lucasfilm or other properties which these books are tied to.

One such writer is Alan Dean Foster, who was in his late 20s when George Lucas met with him to talk about making a novel adaptation of Star Wars. MarketWatch notes that Lucas agreed to provide Foster with a 0.5% royalty on sales of the book, and a check for those royalties arrived several times a year as his novelization went to sell more than 1 million copies. But, in 2012, when Disney acquired Lucasfilm, Foster says the royalty checks stopped. 

Foster’s dispute with Disney began in 2019 when Foster’s literary agent asked Disney why he hadn’t received royalties for 3 books he had written related to Alien (produced by 20th Century Fox). Foster’s agent then reportedly noticed a similar thing had occurred for 2 Star Wars books Foster had written.

MarketWatch reports that a Disney attorney once told Foster that the company had acquired the rights to the books when it acquired the other companies, but did not acquire the obligations to pay out royalties. But, Foster’s literary agent says the rights to the books had been reassigned in the past without causing an interruption in the royalty checks. Disney has reportedly begun reviewing Foster’s complaints regarding the Alien novel. 

Other authors (at least a half dozen) who have written books tied to Disney-owned franchises like Indiana Jones and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are also raising concerns. The authors claim Disney refuses to pay royalties on some book contracts it absorbed when it purchased Lucasfilm and other studios. MarketWatch notes that the writers say that the checks “rarely total a few thousand bucks apiece”

One complication, however, is that it appears the exact amount of money owed is unknown since sales and royalties can fluctuate a lot over time.

One Disney spokesperson said, “We are carefully reviewing whether any royalty payments may have been missed as a result of acquisition integration and will take appropriate remedial steps if that is the case.”

Mary Robinette Kowal, president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, notes that if a resolution isn’t reached, the writer’s association could take other action like putting Disney on a list of publishers it advises its members to avoid.

We’re continuing to monitor this situation and see if we spot any further news about it. Stay tuned for more updates.