‘Disney Must Pay’: Writer Alan Dean Foster Says Company Owes Him Big

The Walt Disney Company (DIS) is under fire after a writer claimed that its sister companies owe him royalties for the novelizations of “Alien” and “Star Wars.”

In a letter to the entertainment company, Alan Dean Foster said when Disney purchased Lucasfilm it also acquired the rights to his book “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye,” which was a novelization of “Star Wars.” Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012.

Foster went on to say that Disney when purchased 20^th Century Fox, the deal included the rights to his novelizations of “Alien,” “Aliens,” and “Aliens 3.” Again, Foster alleged that royalties were never paid on these books. Disney acquired 20^th Century Fox in 2019, now calling it 20th Century Studios.

“All these books are all still very much in print. They still earn money. For you,” Foster wrote. “When one company buys another, they acquire its liabilities as well as its assets. You’re certainly reaping the benefits of the assets. I’d very much like my minuscule (though it’s not small to me) share.”

To try to move the negotiations with Disney forward, Foster, 74, enlisted the help of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), which uses a Grievance Committee to help writers receive unpaid royalties. The organization also held a press conference on Foster’s behalf.

“If you are doing this to Alan Dean Foster, one of the great science fiction writers of our time, then what are they doing to the younger writers who do not know that a contract is a contract?” Mary Robinette Kowal, president of SFWA, said in a letter to Disney in support of Foster.

Foster claims that Disney wants him to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the company before they will discuss negotiations with him, which he said is a “bewilderment.”

Further complicating matters for Foster is the “serious medical issues” of his wife and his own 2016 advanced cancer diagnosis that puts them in need of the money he claims he is owed.

“You continue to ignore requests from my agents,” Foster continued in the letter. “You continue to ignore queries from SFWA... You continue to ignore my legal representatives.

I know this is what gargantuan corporations often do. Ignore requests and inquiries hoping the petitioner will simply go away. Or possibly die. But I’m still here, and I am still entitled to what you owe me. Including not to be ignored, just because I’m only one lone writer. How many other writers and artists out there are you similarly ignoring?”

The accusations against Disney, caused the hashtag #DisneyMustPay to trend on Twitter on Thursday, with users of the social media site to call for justice for Foster.

One Twitter user called out Disney by saying, “It’s always the biggest companies that don’t play fair.”

Another user said Disney should, “Pay up,” while a seperate person said, “this is horrifying!”

Shares of Disney were trading at $143.33 as of premarket open on Thursday, down 57 cents of 0.40%.