I, MARK LE FANU, of the Society of Authors, 84 Drayton Gardens, London SW10 MAKE OATH AND SAY as follows:-
1. I am an independent expert witness in this action and I make this affidavit in relation to Mr Malcolm's appeal against the Order of Deputy Judge Gavin Lightman Q.C. made on 16th March 1990. I am herein deposing as to facts within my own knowledge.
2. I qualified as a solicitor in 1976 and practised for two years with the firm McKenna & Co. I joined the Society of Authors in 1979 and became General Secretary at the beginning of 1982.
3. In my experience it is rare for publishers' formal memoranda of agreement to specify the print run (or minimum print run) of a commissioned book. Publishers are reluctant to give a specific commitment as plans can vary considerably between the book being commissioned and printed.
4. Formal memoranda of agreement sometimes specify specifically whether the book is to be published in hardback, paperback or both. However, usually format is left to the publisher's discretion.
5. A fair royalty for a book such as Mr Malcolm's (an introduction to philosophy for a general readership) published as a hardback would normally be around 10% of the retail price.
6. The normal trade practice when publishing such a book would be to print initially a short run in hardback (perhaps 1,500 - 2,000 copies) and then, if it were reasonably successful, to print a substantially larger number in paperback.
SWORN BY MARK LE FANU, 21st September 1990.
Go to the similar affidavit of Giles Gordon (1) and then to the Court of Appeal judgment.
Go to Malcolm's Statement of Claim, to the Case History, to the Affidavits: Ivon Asquith (1); Asquith (2); Henry Hardy; William Shaw (solicitor) (1); Sir Roger Elliott (1); Margaret Goodall; to the Witness Statements: Elliott; Hardy; Richard Charkin; Nicola Bion; Goodall, to the courtroom testimony of the Oxford Six, 14/3/1990: Elliott; Goodall; Bion; Asquith; Charkin; Hardy, to the testimony of Andrew Malcolm 13/3/1990, to the CHANCERY COURT JUDGMENT, to the Cambridge package and the Adrasteia package, to the publishing contract affidavits: Giles Gordon (1); Mark Le Fanu, to the APPEAL COURT JUDGMENT, to the damages affidavits: Alan Ryan; Asquith (3); Jeremy Mynott; Giles Gordon (2); Fred Nolan; Roy Edgley, to McGregor on Royalties (transcript), to the DAMAGES FINDINGS, and to the Settlement agreement.
Return to the Malcolm vs. Oxford I (1984-92) Index, to the Malcolm vs. Oxford II (2001-02) Index, to the blurb for Making Names, to its reviews, to The Remedy, or to the SITE INDEX.