Not unusual for those passionate about their work and with limited business experience to just want to get on with doing what they're good at and not get bogged down in the contractual stuff.
I've had acquaintances who've wanted to do work for me try to skip that. Best thing you can do for them is be diligent (in a sense on their behalf) and make them go through the paperwork before commencing the project (certainly before getting too deep in).
There's a reason those conversations can be tough, as they surface details the parties diverge on. Dealing with them early keeps them from festering. Some people experience a great deal of anxiety when it comes to negotiation, and I often find everyone feels better once that stage is behind us and we've achieved a mutual understanding of the expectations, remuneration, etc.
I think part of the beef here was he felt he never agreed to what ensued (indeed in negotiations he was shy to express what he felt was fair - which must have drove Carl nuts). If they'd arrived at and signed a contract, even if in retrospect it turned out to be the steal of the century for the company and a huge ripoff for him, at least he'd have been able to say "well, I agreed to it" and gotten some closure from that.
All that said, I can't help but cheer the underdog here. The company was presumably more experienced and shared a responsibility to get their i's dotted and T's crossed. Yes, the guy was a pain in the ass. But just because a contract is so-called "standard" doesn't mean you should expect the other party is blindly willing to consent to it, or be angry at them for rejecting terms they find onerous.
I see that happening all too often today with heavy-handed ToS's websites are foisting on users who can't be bothered to read them. The lawyers are all copying verbiage off each other and it's a race to the bottom where one side has all the rights, the other has none whatsoever, and then regulators need to step in as referees thus deteriorating free markets.
If the IP really does remain his (which I'm not convinced is cut and dry), then good for him for standing his ground, fending his principles and gifting this beautiful work of art to the world.
I've had acquaintances who've wanted to do work for me try to skip that. Best thing you can do for them is be diligent (in a sense on their behalf) and make them go through the paperwork before commencing the project (certainly before getting too deep in).
There's a reason those conversations can be tough, as they surface details the parties diverge on. Dealing with them early keeps them from festering. Some people experience a great deal of anxiety when it comes to negotiation, and I often find everyone feels better once that stage is behind us and we've achieved a mutual understanding of the expectations, remuneration, etc.
I think part of the beef here was he felt he never agreed to what ensued (indeed in negotiations he was shy to express what he felt was fair - which must have drove Carl nuts). If they'd arrived at and signed a contract, even if in retrospect it turned out to be the steal of the century for the company and a huge ripoff for him, at least he'd have been able to say "well, I agreed to it" and gotten some closure from that.
All that said, I can't help but cheer the underdog here. The company was presumably more experienced and shared a responsibility to get their i's dotted and T's crossed. Yes, the guy was a pain in the ass. But just because a contract is so-called "standard" doesn't mean you should expect the other party is blindly willing to consent to it, or be angry at them for rejecting terms they find onerous.
I see that happening all too often today with heavy-handed ToS's websites are foisting on users who can't be bothered to read them. The lawyers are all copying verbiage off each other and it's a race to the bottom where one side has all the rights, the other has none whatsoever, and then regulators need to step in as referees thus deteriorating free markets.
If the IP really does remain his (which I'm not convinced is cut and dry), then good for him for standing his ground, fending his principles and gifting this beautiful work of art to the world.