Should I ask to be bought out now or should I wait hoping for a bigger payoff later?

[macselite]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I recently filmed some classes for a client that they taught. They are really good at what they do and I know they will be successful. It's just a matter of when they will be successful, because it's either all or nothing with them. They either want their own show, or they want nothing. They don't really want to work their way up, because they have already had their own show teaching the same thing before. Granted, it was on cable, but still.

Their goal is to have their own network TV show. They are also an actor and want their own sitcom, but for now, they are sticking with teaching.

They also seem to self-sabotage themselves sometimes, which is a hard habit to break without increasing your self-image, and they tend to have an attitude at times.

In any respect, we never had anything in writing, but we had a verbal agreement that we would create a product, market it online, and split any and all online proceeds 50/50. So I helped them A LOT, filmed 4 of their classes, consulted them on marketing for many hours, set up their Facebook fan page, set up two Twitter accounts for them, set up their YouTube channel, edited some videos adding banners to the videos with their website address along with a call to action for the viewers to join their email list so the viewers could buy their book, promoted their Twitter and YouTube accounts, as well as their Facebook fan page, on my accounts, and more.

I tallied up the values of everything, and came up with a total of $5400. I was thinking of a buyout price of $6000 before I tallied them up, and I'm still thinking that amount for the buyout price considering their economic situation. The buyout price includes compensation for everything that I did for them, as well as unlimited use of all of the raw footage that I shot, and the passwords to the Twitter and YouTube accounts that I set up for them.

They don't really have a lot of money, which is why I am pricing it accordingly.

My questions are the following:

1. Should I sell out at $6k and just be done with it, or should I hold out and ask for some money upfront, as well as require a percentage of any income/revenue that is generated from the use and/or submission of the videos? If the latter, then how much upfront would you suggest, and what percentage of any income/revenue?

Keep in mind that they are in their mid forties, so who knows how much longer it will take for them to hit it big. And I could use the money right now to invest in my own business, however there is no guarantee that they will pay that either. They may just opt to film everything all over again.

Please advise.

 

[army judge]

Be advised, if it isn't in writing, when the conflict arises; the stories will always be different. Never do anything without a proper contract.

Alas, you have no such written contract. There are thousands of people who seek stardom, fame, and riches. However, only a few dozen ever achieve it.

What should you do? That is entirely up to you. You said these people have limited funds.

You're thinking about asking for $6,000 as a buyout. Could they even pay you? Would they? Remember, you did everything without a signed, legal contract. If I were making the decision, I'd take any money I could get!

 

[macselite]

Ok. Thanks for the advice.

By the way, there are some things that I neglected to mention. *First, I still have the videos of the classes that I filmed. *They do not have copies of the videos. *

I was going to edit them soon after we filmed them, and upload them to their YouTube channel that I created for them, but we had a bit of a falling out before that happened, because they were not patient enough to wait for me to send my original proposal to them. *So they asked for the videos of the classes that I had filmed so they could have someone else work on them, and they were not offering any compensation for all that I did for them. *In essence, they were cutting me out of the deal that I helped create.

So, I did not respond. *I wanted time to think of a strategy that would allow me to be compensated for the time I put into the project, and for the marketing advice and strategies I gave them for their business. *

But, as often happens to many of us, I got busy with life and did not get around to coming up with a proposal to square things away business-wise. *It was on my mind of things to do. *I just had other priorities at the time.

Then, recently a producer that is working on getting this person their own network TV show called me asking for the videos. *They said that they would "give me credit."

I'm not interested in credit at this point, because who knows if they will be successful in getting this person's work out there. *The producer had not even checked out the YouTube channel I set up to see what kind of videos they were and/or the quality of them.

However, one thing I will say is that this person who I helped does hustle, and manifests things in their life. *Recently they managed to have one of the major TV networks ask them for some content to put on the network's blog. *And that is the very same network where they would like to have their show.

Also, when I was working with them, *a personal assistant of a famous celebrity approached them for a possible business relationship, and I consulted with them on how to handle the meeting so they could maximize their business relationship with that celebrity. *I'm not sure what came of that relationship, because soon after, we had a falling out.

So they definitely have the talent and potential, and they have also been doing this for years. *So they have the experience as well.

In any respect, bottom line is I have the videos, they want them, and I want to either be compensated for my time & ideas, and for waiving my rights to any future earnings that these videos and my ideas may produce, either directly or indirectly, OR be compensated somewhat now, and then a great deal more in the future in ongoing residuals.

Hope that gives you a better picture of the situation.

 

[army judge]

You're asking all the right questions now. You're saying all the right things now. But, you had no contract back then.

Its hard to overcome the absence of a written contract today.

You might never get a dime. If I were making the decision, I'd just release the recordings.

If you were paid everything you desired, we're only talking $6,000. Be the bigger person, give him his materials.

If he pays you, great. If not, you now know to do nothing until you have a contract.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Army Judge has hit on all the right points - you are asking the right questions and trying to do something now. If you can, a contractual arrangement would be of paramount importance if you are going to ask for more money later instead of selling them now.

Here is a thought - if you want, you can sell them and include a clause that you have a right to the proceeds of any use of the materials first, until you are paid in full for the materials. This way if there are royalty payments while you haven't been paid, you can demand a right to those payments as a primary creditor. I think that an agreement for you to get credits for the work might not be unreasonable and be beneficial (not as sole compensation.) But that's a business question, not a legal issue.

Should you just take $6,000? What do you think it's worth? You said it is a good and fair price. The goal was not for you to ride off of this person's ability to make money later. You are being paid a little bit of an extra premium, so it seems. Now I can't make business decisions for you but, if you want to have a long term relationship with this person, perhaps you should consider it in whatever you firmly agree upon.

 

[macselite]

I am now thinking it is best to just collect as much money as I can and sever ties with this person. I do not do business with people with whom I do not trust, and I no longer trust this person after they quickly tried to cut me out of a deal that I helped create because they were impatient and were just thinking about themselves. They did not even consider all of the work that I had done for them without compensation (which blows me away, by the way). Accepting a lower amount with future residuals is the last resort, as I do not know if this person will make it because of their habit to self-sabotage, and their need to either get their whole dream or nothing. They do not seem to be willing to work their way up, which is how 99% of successful people make it. Also, I would always be questioning whether the residual checks were accurate since I no longer trust them, although I could probably set it up to get paid by their employer directly (am I right in assuming this?). Get paid, cut ties, and move on is the goal. The energy thinking about it is draining, and it takes my focus away from my main business goals.