quoted from
http://www.conlanpress.com/youcanhelp/Since 2004, London-based Granada Media (a multibillion-dollar entertainment and news conglomerate) has sold over six hundred thousand DVDs and videotapes of THE LAST UNICORN. They've also made cable broadcast deals for it in several different countries, and they sold the live action remake rights for a quarter of a million dollars.
The film is based on Peter S. Beagle's famous book. He also wrote the screenplay. The film is as good as it is because he put everything he had into it.
And you know what? Granada Media refuses to pay Peter what they owe him. They've made millions on his creativity. They owe him hundreds of thousands of dollars. But they won't pay up.
---ALSO---
In 1978, Peter wrote the screenplay for the animated LORD OF THE RINGS. It took draft after draft written under ferocious deadline pressure to make everything work. Producer Saul Zaentz made a lot of promises to Peter in order to get him to do that work in return for no money beyond his original "consulting fee" of only $5,000 -- promises that Zaentz almost immediately reneged on.
The animated movie was only a moderate success at the box office, but the power of Peter's script helped the film work magic on a young Peter Jackson, inspiring him to go read Tolkien's books. (Hear Jackson say so for himself at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, on February 6th, 2004.) Where that led...well, we all know where that led.
But we don't all know that Saul Zaentz has been paid nearly two hundred million dollars out of the earnings of Peter Jackson's films, as payment for Zaentz's Tolkien rights. And we don't all know that the Saul Zaentz Company refuses to use any of their huge income to finally make good on the promises that Zaentz made to Peter, even though (a) they could easily afford to do so, and (b) without Peter's hard work they never would have earned any of that money.
Adding insult to injury, when asked to do the right thing they claim they've never profited from owning the Tolkien rights.
