eMail's Binding Power In Publishing Deals

publishersweekly.com:

In February the New York Times ran a story warning real estate brokers and property owners to pay close attention to the e-mails they send, after a ruling in Manhattan Supreme Court stipulated that e-mail messages carry just as much sway as written documents in negotiations.

Read the whole story: publishersweekly.com

Comments

[SF TKF]

02:11 PM on 03/23/2011

How could they when they don’t contain all of the nitty-gritty details. That’s like saying you can’t back out of buying a house after putting in an offer, no matter what turns up during the inspection. Saying yes to the monetary offer is only the first step in a long process of negotiations, all of which cumulate in a WRITTEN contract.

[markdf]

11:42 AM on 03/07/2011

Here's a solution: produce a contract in a reasonable and timely basis. Finalized publishing contracts take a ridiculous amount of time to get in hand---a fault that lies squarely with the publishers. Publishers produce the contracts. Most contracts are standardized in one way or another, yet I've had contracts take months to appear. The fastest I've had a fully signed contract in hand is something like three months. It shouldn't take a week, but it's a low priority inhouse.

No sympathy.