666 Park Avenue Starts With An Employment Law Lesson

The new television show, 666 Park Avenue, is a fun show about a luxury apartment building that has issues way beyond the normal plumbing problems. And the landlord? Well, as the Church Lady used to say on SNL, "Could it be Satan?" I think I had that landlord once.

The first show starts out with our hero couple finding the ideal job as managers of the building from hell. It all looks so nice, the tenants so happy. The new boss offers them more money than they imagined and a gorgeous apartment. He shoves a lengthy agreement in front of them. What's the worst that could happen?

Of course, our heroes sign without reading. And there's the big lesson for all employees: read what you sign. Your could be making a deal with the devil.

What could be in the agreement in this show makes me shudder to think. I'm sure we'll find out some of the worst provisions as the show progresses.

What could be in your employment agreement? There could be a noncompete provision saying you can't work for a competitor for a year or two. Or a nonsolicitation agreement, saying you can't solicit or communicate with clients, vendors and employees of the company for a year or two. I saw one that was so broad, my client couldn't talk to her bank about her own bank account if she signed. One would have barred my client from talking to his son for three years. You might have waived your right to a jury trial for any disputes against your employer, or have agreed to arbitrate, meaning you'll never get your day in court.

For writers, horror of horrors, there could be an intellectual property agreement saying that, if you thought of it or wrote it while you worked for them, even on their own time, they own it. That's right. Your blog, Twitter account, novel or nonfiction book about the workings of your industry might not be your own.

While you enjoy this fun new show, let it serve as a reminder to you: no matter how nice someone seems, read what you sign. You just might be making a deal with the devil.

USA's Suits Gets Dangerous Employment Clause for Writers Right

Yes, yes, I know. I’ve been away, not blogging. I was in Italy for 3 weeks, so sue me. But I’m back, and am starting to catch up on my American TV.

In the first episode of season 2 of the USA show Suits, our hero and fake lawyer Mike had to deal with representing a publishing company against a former employee. The employee sued, saying she had pitched a book idea to her boss, wrote up a proposal, and it was rejected. Shortly after that, her book showed up under her boss’s name.

As part of her employment contract, she signed an intellectual property clause saying, essentially, that if she wrote it, thought it or sketched it while she worked for the company, it belonged to the company.

At first, Mike does the thing I always hate in these legal shows: he started to act against the interest of his client. He even convinced them to pay her off to the tune of $30,000. She didn’t take the deal. She should have.

Fortunately, Mike finally read the contract. Not only that, but he came up with two prior books the company published with similar ideas. “There’s nothing new under the sun,” he said. She ended up with nothing.

That brings up two key points for writers:

1. You can’t copyright an idea. If you put your idea out there to someone, you have very little protection if they run with it. Copyright protects the written expression of an idea, not the idea itself. If you have the greatest book idea in the world, write the book. Don’t blab and let someone else run with it.

2. You are probably bound by your intellectual property agreement. Remember the Bratz dolls? They disappeared off the shelves for awhile because their founder used to work for Mattel. He did some preliminary sketches while he still worked there, albeit on his own time. It took years of litigation and millions of dollars, losing a court case and the entire Bratz franchise, then appealing, to take it back. Most writers don’t have the kind of financial wherewithal to fight when their employer takes credit for their work. 

The whole inability to copyright an idea bit is scary. I write nonfiction, and when you do nonfiction you don’t write the whole book. You write a proposal with a few chapters and a pitch for the rest. There’s very little protection if a publisher says, “Wow, what a great idea! Let’s get one of our regular writers on this.”

So what do you do? Write the best, most professional proposal you can. Show them you’re the right person to do the book. Have your platform polished and prove to them you can sell the book.

As to employment contracts, always have an employee-side employment lawyer look at yours, especially if you do anything creative. Whether you are writing a novel that has nothing to do with work or writing a nonfiction book in your area of expertise, make sure you have a clause exempting any work you want to own before you sign. Otherwise, your employer just might own it.