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CD Projekt RED Will Pay Andrzej Sapkowski Additional Royalties For The Witcher - Report
- Thread starter Deleted member 249
- Start date
Don't know why you seem so angry in your posts, thinking everyone is so naive.
Maybe it's CDPR that was a bit naive or ignorant of some laws in thinking that the first contract could last a lifetime, especially in case of great success. Or maybe they knew that sometimes they will have to pay more and that's it.
Don't know how all of this work in Poland but some clauses even signed can be void. For instance i don't know if it's possible to buy the right to use a franchise indefintely.
The thing is though, Sapkowski asking for more royalties isn't even something that is underhanded in the law's mind. He has every right to sue and I'm pretty sure that's why CDPR finally gave into his request. They didn't just give it over out of the kindness of their heart.
The runner analogy doesn't work either. As a better you have had no influence on the runner, it's purely just a chance bet; whereas the Witcher wouldn't exist without Sapkowski. It's his world and characters for the most part CDPR have used and profited from. Yes he declined royalties earlier on, but again the law usually recognises this and still favours the original creator to get money from it.
And you may react the same but I can wholeheartedly assure you that if this was, like another posts said, EA - people would be demanding they pay Sapkowski. It being CDPR is the reason people are upset 99% of the time because they've become the corporation darling of the gaming community for a lot of people.
Why do you think they ended up paying him? He obviously had a very good chance at winning a lawsuit so they settled it out of court. They 100% didn't do it to be nice or friendly. That's not how life works.
...which noone would have known about in the west if it wasn't for the games
He certainly isn't. He's collaborating witht the TV series as far as I know.
And the games would have no basis if it weren't for his books.
And the books were already being translated before the first game.
Im not going to lie. I hate the precedent this sets. I really do. Its not right in my eyes.
I see why they feel its a bad look to not have a relationship with the creator... but stand by your fucking word. I absolutely hate that. Makes me sick. Would be different if he were misled or something but... man..
I see why they feel its a bad look to not have a relationship with the creator... but stand by your fucking word. I absolutely hate that. Makes me sick. Would be different if he were misled or something but... man..
Just think how great an upcoming mid to late-gen Witcher game would be. I'm glad things have worked out this way.
I think this is a smart decision from CDPR.
It is quite likely he would have been successful had the matter gone to court and this has just saved everybody a lot of time and expensive legal fees, whilst hopefully bringing the matter to an amicable conclusion.
People on here keep saying he doesn't deserve it as he signed away the rights - well that's fair enough but in Poland there is specific legislation that protects artists if the amount of money generated grossly exceeds what they were initially paid.
Ultimately he had the law on his side, so you can't really blame him.
It is quite likely he would have been successful had the matter gone to court and this has just saved everybody a lot of time and expensive legal fees, whilst hopefully bringing the matter to an amicable conclusion.
People on here keep saying he doesn't deserve it as he signed away the rights - well that's fair enough but in Poland there is specific legislation that protects artists if the amount of money generated grossly exceeds what they were initially paid.
Ultimately he had the law on his side, so you can't really blame him.
Disappointing. They offered him then and they turned down that's his fault.
He's still gonna complain about it anyways. Cdpr should have stuck to their ground.
Andrej is very lucky here but I'm sure we'll hear another news article about him complaining about the games in 3...2...1..
He's still gonna complain about it anyways. Cdpr should have stuck to their ground.
Andrej is very lucky here but I'm sure we'll hear another news article about him complaining about the games in 3...2...1..
I've always understood it that artists should be paid what they're due.
10k on a series that has earned millions is NOT proper compensation by any barometer. It's understandable that initially, that was the best they could offer, but now the series is a success thanks to the symbiotic relationship between his written work and the game company.
Writing up a whole world with lore and characters isn't easy. They've been using all that creative content that he spent countless hours on, spanning books.
He could be a decrepit sack of sentient bones that thinks gaming is satanic, and he STILL deserves to be compensated properly for his work.
That anyone can gleefully enjoy The Witcher game series, and then come here and say it's okay that he got paid out the equivalent of what a minimum wage American makes in a year is...idk, weird.
And it seems Polish Law agrees that he should be able to renegotiate the terms of the contract. And CDPR also agreed to a settlement.
10k on a series that has earned millions is NOT proper compensation by any barometer. It's understandable that initially, that was the best they could offer, but now the series is a success thanks to the symbiotic relationship between his written work and the game company.
Writing up a whole world with lore and characters isn't easy. They've been using all that creative content that he spent countless hours on, spanning books.
He could be a decrepit sack of sentient bones that thinks gaming is satanic, and he STILL deserves to be compensated properly for his work.
That anyone can gleefully enjoy The Witcher game series, and then come here and say it's okay that he got paid out the equivalent of what a minimum wage American makes in a year is...idk, weird.
And it seems Polish Law agrees that he should be able to renegotiate the terms of the contract. And CDPR also agreed to a settlement.
But this also means there is inherent unfairness in our society when it comes to gaming. He gets to shit on gaming medium AND profit from it because gaming is still silly and has no principles. He basically shouldered his way into compensation.
But I agree, he should get rewarded for his work. He just went about it in a very wrong, litiguous way it rubbed the fans and CDPR the wrong way.
I'll give this another shot.
THERE IS NO DEAL YET. The original Puls Biznesu article is based on off-the-record statements by "people close to the case." It says that hopefully an agreement can be reached by the end of February and the general takeaway is that while an amicable solution is likely, it is still not certain. The article does mention additional royalties and "a special form of recognition" for Sapkowski but merely as speculation on what he might get in the end according to an unnamed source whose relation to the case is not established within the text.
So again, no agreement has been reached yet.
THERE IS NO DEAL YET. The original Puls Biznesu article is based on off-the-record statements by "people close to the case." It says that hopefully an agreement can be reached by the end of February and the general takeaway is that while an amicable solution is likely, it is still not certain. The article does mention additional royalties and "a special form of recognition" for Sapkowski but merely as speculation on what he might get in the end according to an unnamed source whose relation to the case is not established within the text.
So again, no agreement has been reached yet.
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And the series was starting to be published in several countries before the games started.
I don't have any feelings for CDPR or The Witcher, but the author knew what he was getting into when they offered him royalties and he wanted a flat sum amount. You guys act like he's not made money off his books in the first place, or the popularity of them after the games became hits, or the fact that there's a Netflix show coming out where he got paid for that.
Nice of them. Like many others I don't think he deserves it (even though I love his books and the IP) , however this is a good move by CDPR.
20 years ago, this same concept of a game created in a God-forsaken country at the end of the Europe selling millions was also unknown to us, polish people. The first Witcher came in 2007, but it was only the third game that everyone can say had a mayor success. When the license was sold, he decided to take the money that was the equivalent of a 12 months of regular salary here instead of some future-distant royalties, because he thought that he will never get enough money from royalties.
So you hire a legal advisor to help understand. It was his screw up and his alone. I pay for my mistakes, why can't he pay for his? Of, right. I'm not suing a multi million dollar company and I have the balls to say to myself, I lost money because of my mistake and I can't demand more money for something I already got paid.
They gambled on taking a well known IP in Poland and made it into a game.
Adding to that, I wonder if Netflix would ever consider buying the license from Sapkowski to create a TV-series if it wasn't for hard work of CDPR making the brand familiar around the world . Tv-series that, anecdotally, Sapkowski doesn't want to take part in (second time already ;D ).
It's fun to see you post this twice. Because apperantly this doesn't matter, all is set in stone and legally binding now accordkng to ERA.
Thank you for posting it and binging common sense though.
They were hugely popular in large swathes of Europe years before the first game even came out.
Sure, the games probably helped him a lot to break through on English-speaking markets, but it's extremely unfair to say he owes his success to the games.
I said this before: I expected CDPR to throw him a bone for recognition instead of just laughing at his demands, and perhaps to offer him a little bit more so that he could supervise /add content to future Witcher games (they mentioned they'd do another one in the future).
Its so weird seeing people saying this is a nice gesture from CDPR and shitting on the creator and at the same time somehow acting as if Sapowski is responsible for CDPR employees not getting paid.
Firstly its a settlement not a gesture. Secondly it doesnt matter if he likes video games, he is the creator of the IP. Thirdly CDPR need to pay their employees.
Firstly its a settlement not a gesture. Secondly it doesnt matter if he likes video games, he is the creator of the IP. Thirdly CDPR need to pay their employees.
He was the one doing the screwing. CDPR wanted to give him a royalty deal at first but he demanded a hefty one time price for it. Dudes a douchebag. He was fine with screwing them until they became big.
