The author of the The Witcher books, Andrzej Sapkowski, is seeking more money from CD Projekt Red after the success of their video game adaptations. Sapwkoski famously undersold the rights to the Polish studio in the early 2000s.
CD Projekt Red have publicly and outright rejected (which shouldn’t come as a surprise after they flatly refused to pay ransom that one time) the author’s demands for additional royalties, posting the following in an official statement:
“The Management Board of CD PROJEKT S.A. with a registered office in Warsaw, Jagiellońska 74, hereby announces that on 1 October 2018 the Company received an official demand for payment filed by plenipotentiaries of Mr. Andrzej Sapkowski.
The notice indicates that Mr. Andrzej Sapkowski expects payment of additional royalties beyond what had been contractually agreed upon between himself and the Company. The contents of the notice are attached to this report.
In the Company’s opinion the demands expressed in the notice are groundless with regard to their merit as well as the stipulated amount. The Company had legitimately and legally acquired copyright to Mr. Andrzej Sapkowski’s work, i.a. insofar as is required for its use in games developed by the Company. All liabilities payable by the Company in association therewith have been properly discharged.
It is the Company’s will to maintain good relations with authors of works which have inspired CD PROJEKT RED’s own creations. Consequently, the Board will go to great lengths to ensure amicable resolution of this dispute; however, any such resolution must be respectful of previously expressed intents of both parties, as well as existing contracts.
In the Company’s opinion receipt of the abovementioned demands meets the significance criterion due to the identity of the person submitting the demands.”
You can find Sapkowski’s demands here, but the long and short of it is that he wants an additional PLN 60m (£12.4m/$16.1m). He may have a hard time getting his money, especially as a fee was already paid by CDPR for the license and a contract was signed. Sapkowski wanted a lump sum payment instead of a percentage based on profits, believing that the adaptations would not be successful at all. Oh dear.
It’s certainly an interesting situation, especially with the upcoming Gwent standalone to consider — does that still technically fall under the licensing agreement? However, with the game gestating for a long time, you’d have to think that Sapkowski would have made a move before now.
Following CD Projekt Red’s public denial of the legitimacy of Sapkowksi’s demands, it’s now up to the author to make the next move. This could be settled in court after a protracted and messy affair, so watch this space.
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