I’d be interested in seeing more copies of News Limited contracts so I can assess for myself their offer to newsagents. Fax: 03 9524 8099. Email: mark@towersystems.com.au. I’ll maintain confidentiality.
UPDATE (17:29 6/11): Thanks to everyone who has sent through contracts. I have a good selection to look over.
I feel the best way to handle these contracts is to write to the A.C.C.C. Regional Manager at P.O.Box 520 Melbourne 3001 with your concerns.
The more businesses like Newsagents that tell the A.C.C.C. of their concerns the more notice they will take.
The Contract as presented is of lesser business value compared with the 200 Yr contract and in my mind deminishes the Goodwill of our business due to the short term nature with little flexability.
Other inhibiting factors are the fact that HWT can change the contract at will in their comments ” vary,cancel or add to”
Other areas where the Publisher can exercise significant control in my business include: the witholding of supply to me, witholding or deducting commission earnt,changing of my performance requirements,use of information we collect and generate from OUR independant source and an ability to instruct me not to supply current customers.
Ask yourself who owns the customer ? Ask yourself if you have a customer established whereby they receive product other than HWT product then why should you suddebly inform HWT of all their details when they start a HWT product delivery. Do you have the customer permission to do that ? Is that legal to impart information about a customer to a third party when you created the source ?
Why is HWT dealing one on one and not through State or National bodies ?
Proactive Newsagent, it’s because newsagents are pushovers. History has shown publishers like News LTD rape their so-called ‘agents’ – because it’s easy.
I urge newsagents to seek advice from their state bodies before signing on and whinging til 2012 – or your bank balance goes into the negative – whichever comes first.
Now is the time we need to stand together and united. Times have changed. Newsagents need change.
Proactive. You make some very good points showing grave concerns and practises.
To try to answer your questions here on open forum is not such a good idea. Mainly, because most of the answers would be problematic rather than actual.
When people issue contracts that are seemingly one sided or ‘open ended’ the reason is so that they can execercise options as they occur. This usually means that there are a number of options that they (in this case News Ltd) are considering, especially aas they are focused on ALL of Australia’s distribution and not State by State mastheads.
This would or may indicate change not so much in terms or nit calues or one to one contracts but more to the whole distribution arrangement it clould also mean a new approach to the retailing of newsapapers.
Whatever, the new contracts give them all the options-
What does this mean to newsagents? this is the question, What can we do? The ACCC is limited when it comes to commecial contracts and Association s can get legal advice as to what the contracts mean 9we already know ehat they mean) however nobody can tell us what may transpire within the next few years.
We can however build scenarios of tyhe problematic versus the imaginable. Where will that get us? Will it pay off the mortgage? NO! it will not.
So, we are looking at a clearer understanding of where will we be if we sign on for another 2 years etc angainst what? where we will be if we DON’T sign?
Now there is the debate, let the discussion roll from here. It is probably not a good idea to discuss on an open forum ‘thoughts” without thinking them through for peole worry about (paranoia) what could happen especially wnen they are not in a position to do anything about it.
Murdoch is on notice that News Ltd is spending enourmous amounts on print media machinery etc. He says that the World economy is “fragile” to use his word. Time will tell.
I know it has been mentioned before but it has to be a concern legally, with us suppling our customers names, address and phone number without the customer agreeing in writting. The contract is stating that we must supply that information to them, which has to be breaking the privacy laws. But the only person at fault to the law is us.These days everyone is looking to sue anyone for a quick buck. It can not be a legal contract.