Ken Caillat Sues HarperCollins For Breach of Contract

[vivfox]

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Ken Caillat is best known in the music business as the man who produced Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album Rumours, one of the best-selling rock records of all time.
That credential in turn garnered him a $555,000 advance from HarperCollins' It Books imprint to write Starting Rumours, an oral history of the making of that record, which the publisher won at auction from Caillat's agent Peter McGuigan of Foundry Media. But last month, Caillat filed suit against the publisher in Ventura County Superior Court alleging that he was rightfully owed his entire advance, and that HarperCollins had breached their contract by not paying him for a manuscript they rejected, and did not sufficiently explain why they rejected it.

The original proposal promised Caillat would obtain new interviews with all the Fleetwood Mac members, as well as with associated studio executives, friends, lovers, roadies and other people who would have been involved with the making of 'Rumours.' As such the original contract draft language said the book would be "based on original interviews with band members."
According to the complaint, "after some doubt arose as to whether the Fleetwod Mac bandmembers would agree to new interviews for the book," the final contract was changed to allow for "some previously published interviews" with band members. Caillat received $138,750, or one-quarter of the total advance, after the contract was executed.

According to the complaint, the first signs of trouble emerged in January 2010, approximately one month before the full manuscript was due to It Books. Caillat submitted "a draft which was approximately one half of the planned manuscript," only for it to be rejected. Caillat reworked the manuscript and submitted a completed draft in May. That, too, was rejected, as It Books is said to have admitted the manuscript "was not even read before the rejection...[which] was based solely on the fact that there were no new interviews from the band, despite the fact that it was not required by the contract." What's more, It Books wanted Caillat to pay back the portion of the advance they had paid him.

Caillat, naturally, thought otherwise, and states HarperCollins violated the terms of their own contract, which said the company "shall give the author a detailed letter requesting specific changes and revisions" if the manuscript delivered was not acceptable. Instead, It Books "did not provide [Caillat] with a letter...as required by the contract, and provided no information as to desired revisions."

Caillat seeks to recover the full balance of the advance as well as $500,000 in punitive damages spurred by "having to incur attorney's fees to defend his rights" and to defend against HarperCollins' claim that he owed them the first quarter of the advance. A spokesperson for HarperCollins had not yet responded to requests for comment; Caillat's editor, Kate Hamill, is no longer with the company. -- S.W.

http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com...ucer-sues.html

[vivfox]

Well it looks like we won't be getting this book. Few promises ever pan out in the Fleetwood Mac Universe.

[louielouie2000]

Over half a million for a book advance?! I might have expected that figure for a key band member, but not a co-producer who was only involved in 3 of Fleetwood Mac's studio albums.

I figured there was trouble behind the scenes... we first heard about Ken writing this book quite some time ago now. I tend to agree with Viv... this book is almost certainly dead in the water now .

[Dodfather]

I had wondered how things were progressing with this. Publishers are notorious for this kind of behaviour. Several authors have sued them for unexplained rejection of manuscripts and for issues reharding the advance. The most famous example is when Joan Collins sued Random House in I think the early 90s for exactly this - rejecting a manuscript and giving little or no explanation - and she won.

If It Books did seemingly admit that the menuscript wasn't read then Ken has a good case. There will be a lot of wrangling but it's oddly fitting for a book about Rumours! I'm hopeful that after all of this the book will be snapped up by another publisher. It's mostly written after all.

A friend of mine is having similar issues with a publisher regarding an academic book he's written, they stipulated certain arguments be made and they are querying them. He's having to gather a load of outside professional opinion to prove the validity of his content. It's ridiculous!

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Viv... this book is almost certainly dead in the water now .

I thought I'd feel dissapointed.. but actually I don't. More Rumours journals? More of the same? We alredy read detailed tales of the Rumours sessions thru Mick, Carol Ann, Brunning, VH1, etc...

I'd feel more expectation for a Tango book, a Mirage book, mentioned before on those books but not so detailed.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I thought I'd feel dissapointed.. but actually I don't. More Rumours journals? More of the same? We alredy read detailed tales of the Rumours sessions thru Mick, Carol Ann, Brunning, VH1, etc...

I'd feel more expectation for a Tango book, a Mirage book, mentioned before on those books but not so detailed.

You're definitely onto something there. I am betting far crazier stuff went down during the Tango period than Rumours could ever dream of. What began during the Rumours era came to a head by the time Tango rolled around, and then imploded dramatically. We already know some stuff, such as the physical fight between Lindsey and Stevie that lead to Lindsey's leaving the band... but I bet that's only the tip of the sordid iceberg.

[markolas]

I remember when he came on here asking questions and thought it was kind of odd. I never paid much attention to it because the Rumours horse has been beaten to death several times now. What else is there to say about it that hasn't been said over & over again?

[Dodfather]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I'd feel more expectation for a Tango book, a Mirage book, mentioned before on those books but not so detailed.

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

You're definitely onto something there. I am betting far crazier stuff went down during the Tango period than Rumours could ever dream of. What began during the Rumours era came to a head by the time Tango rolled around, and then imploded dramatically. We already know some stuff, such as the physical fight between Lindsey and Stevie that lead to Lindsey's leaving the band... but I bet that's only the tip of the sordid iceberg.

Agree with both of you - this book is what we're waiting for and would fill in a lot of the blanks and perhaps help "define" FM outwith Rumours for once.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

You're definitely onto something there. I am betting far crazier stuff went down during the Tango period than Rumours could ever dream of. What began during the Rumours era came to a head by the time Tango rolled around, and then imploded dramatically. We already know some stuff, such as the physical fight between Lindsey and Stevie that lead to Lindsey's leaving the band... but I bet that's only the tip of the sordid iceberg.

SORDID ICEBURG! If I ever form a formal band, that will a strong contender for a name. Great term!

I could care less about the Rumours book. I know enough already. Had the band members conceded to the interviews, does anyone here think they would provide us with anything revelatory? They would likely stay close to the script and talking points they have regurgitated for the last twenty-something years.

So much has been said, so many published stories about Rumours, another book would just perpetuate the redundancies. You are spot on (as usual!) about the untold drama that was Tango in the Night. We've gotten the generalities of what went down, but I suspect there are many entertaining unspoken words and stories about that messy saga.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

You're definitely onto something there. I am betting far crazier stuff went down during the Tango period than Rumours could ever dream of. What began during the Rumours era came to a head by the time Tango rolled around, and then imploded dramatically. We already know some stuff, such as the physical fight between Lindsey and Stevie that lead to Lindsey's leaving the band... but I bet that's only the tip of the sordid iceberg.

This is what PISSED me off about Fleetwood Mac's so called Remastered Behind The Music series. They (VH1) just glossed, or better yet steam-rolled right through the Mirage to Tango In The Night era's. And specifically, TITN was FM's 2nd most successful album worldwide!?! And that album had major drama, though not incestuous, albeit equally toxic! With both Stevie and Mick coming off major drug benders, and Stevie showing up, or rather not showing up so tranquilized that tensions were at an all time high, especially since by then she had leveraged immense power in the band due to her big bad solo career. Major mind scratcher that they understated that whole decade in lieu of even more Rumours smorgasbord.

So yeah, I wasn't waiting for Ken's book with any enthusiasm whatsoever.
And the fact that he did not procure any new interviews from FM speaks volumes.

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Well it looks like we won't be getting this book. Few promises ever pan out in the Fleetwood Mac Universe.

Pretty much. I'm still disappointed they canned the remastered albums.

[HejiraNYC]

I think the first sign of trouble for me was when he came to the Ledge to ask for anonymous people's opinions about Rumours. My first reaction at the time was, "wow, he must be hard up for material." It is a shame and a bit of a surprise that he was not able to obtain any new interviews with the band. I thought they were all on good terms, especially when it came to Christine. But then again, do you think there would have been any shocking new revelations? We've heard plenty about the drama and the drugs. And the really juicy tidbits will either remain a secret eternally or will end up in someone else's autobiography ten years from now. And we saw/heard a good bit about the recording on the Classic Albums - Rumours DVD.

If I were Ken's editor, I would have probably asked him for his own biography, with an emphasis on the 1977 - 1979 era that transformed the musical landscape forever. I would have been fascinated to read about his responsibilities as a producer and the daily grind of working in the studio. Where did he draw inspiration? How did he know when a song was finished? How much money did he make? Did he bang Sweet Connie? Admittedly, such a book would not have warranted a half million-dollar advance, but it would have definitely appealed to a very select group of people.

[Gailh]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

It is a shame and a bit of a surprise that he was not able to obtain any new interviews with the band. I thought they were all on good terms, especially when it came to Christine.

I thought he and Christine had a bit of a tiff after In The Meantime? Apparently he didn't like the final mix.

She didn't return his call about his book is what I read

Gail

[mezzoforte]

Originally Posted by Gailh

I thought he and Christine had a bit of a tiff after In The Meantime? Apparently he didn't like the final mix.

She didn't return his call about his book is what I read

Gail

Yup. I'm too lazy to look up the thread, but he sounded pretty negative about Christine and especially the time they spent working on In the Meantime. There was definitely an implication about her drinking--something about getting sloshed and screaming, "I'm not too old to tour; just too rich!" I was pretty surprised he shared that...
He mentioned the huge egos of Chris, Stevie and Lindsey and siad he doesn't really talk them.
Still adored Mick and John though--I wonder if they gave him interviews? The article sounds like he couldn't get any new ones.