The SFWA Legal Fund makes grants available to authors who must take a writing-related dispute to court. Grants are made on a case-by-case basis, after review by the Grievance Committee and the SFWA attorney.

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SFWA Legal Fund Guidelines

The SFWA Legal Fund does not seek to promote or prolong litigation, but rather seeks to assure that the outcome of cases involving major principles or practices is fair and favorable to writers. The fund is not intended to be used in cases where there are many decisions which support the writers’ position, but the fund may be used to help individual members who do not have the wherewithal to afford to take action even where the law is clearly on their side.

a. History – The SFWA Legal Fund makes grants available to authors who must take a writing-related dispute to court. Initially created in 1996, this program originally offered loans to affected
writers, but converted into a grant program as the organization evolved from a 501c6 non-profit trade organization to a charitable 501c3 public benefit corporation.

b. Eligibility – The Legal Fund is available to all writers who meet SFWA’s qualifications for Full or Associate membership. Writers do not need to be SFWA members to be considered for a grant from the Legal Fund.

c. Purpose – The legal fund may be used for the following:

i. To contribute to the funding of legal action in support of science fiction, fantasy, and related genre writers who have a publishing-related dispute, including for protection of intellectual
property and copyrights, contract mediation, and other writing-related disputes.

ii. To fund legal action in the name of SFWA that will benefit the greater community of professional science fiction, fantasy, and related-genre writers or the organization as a whole.

iii. To fund or contribute to the funding of court actions brought by other writing-related organizations or adjacent industry professionals for issues that are of importance to science fiction, fantasy, or related genre writers and the business of writing and which may help to raise SFWA’s profile as a proactive writers’ organization.

d. Administration of the Legal Fund – The Legal Fund will be administered by SFWA’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), as directed by the Board of Directors.

e. Formal requests for Legal Fund support will be made through the CFO via a confidential application process.

f. With the exception of any mandatory disclosures required by law, all requests and grants made will be held in the strictest confidence, unless permission is explicitly granted in writing by all
involved parties regarding SFWA’s support of the case.

g. The contents of a formal written request for Legal Fund aid must include:

i. An explanation of the nature of the grievance, including an outline of any and all claims and the relevance of these to the applicant’s or wider community’s professional writing career(s);

ii. A proposed course of action to resolve the matter;

iii. The total dollar amount of aid requested;

iv. A budget for any possible litigation, including projected court costs and attorney fees;

v. Verification that the applicant has already attempted to settle the dispute without success, and that the dispute remains unresolved.

vi. An agreement to provide SFWA with copies of all documentation related to the dispute, including copies of all related legal correspondence;

vii. Granting of a waiver of the attorney-client confidentiality privilege so that SFWA’s designated legal counsel can consult with any involved attorney and provide an accurate evaluation
of the dispute to the board of directors.

viii. If the applicant has not previously hired legal counsel, an agreement that SFWA will be permitted to assist in the choice of any attorney, and that SFWA may make a final attempt at
settling the matter before litigation proceeds.

ix. The understanding that the Board of Directors is the final arbiter of whether funds will be granted.

x. In the event that SFWA agrees to offer a grant, the recipient will sign a contract which outlines specific procedures that will be followed in pursuing the dispute and which gives SFWA a
lien on any recovery of attorney fees or other costs expended by SFWA in the action (in such cases that attorney fees are awarded by settlement or court order).

xi. If it is discovered that the grant recipient has misrepresented any details provided in the grant application or is shown to have adversely acted contrary to the advice of their attorney, the
grant may be rescinded. For this reason, before any funds are disbursed, the grant recipient will sign an agreement for repayment to the legal fund of any grants rescinded for misrepresentation. If
misrepresentation is discovered, SFWA will make every effort to recover any grant funds that have been awarded.

xii. The CFO will present all Legal Fund grant applications to the Board of Directors no later than two weeks after receipt so that the board may determine if the request should be reviewed by
SFWA legal counsel or if the request should be denied.

xiii. Only after an evaluation of the merits of the action has been made by SFWA’s designated legal counsel and any relevant subject matter experts, the Board of Directors may vote to fund the
request. The decision to fund such activities will be based on:

1. The nature of the grievance;

2. The precedent setting possibility of the action;

3. The potential benefit to science fiction, fantasy, and related genre writers and/or the entire community, or the potential damage should an action go unchallenged;

4. The potential short and long-term effects of involvement;

5. The financial state of the legal fund.

xiv. Limits – In order that the Legal Fund may be sustained for the benefit of writers who have need of it, award limits are established as follows:

1. All combined grants in any given year may not exceed more than 50% of the amount available in the fund as of December 31st of the previous year.

2. Grants to individuals in any given year will be limited to a maximum aggregate amount of 20% of the amount available in the fund as of December 31st of the previous year.

3. Grants made to individuals may only be used to pay for legal fees and costs, but cannot be used to pay damages or judgments in a case that they lose.

4. The decision to use the legal fund to support legal action in the name of SFWA or for a class action or representative action for the benefit of a group of multiple plaintiffs will be limited to 30% percent of the amount available in the fund as of December 31st of the previous year.

xv. Donations to the Legal Fund

1. Donations to the Legal Fund may be considered as charitable contributions and must be used for the express purposes of the Legal Fund.

2. Because the Legal Fund is sustained only by public support, grant recipients are encouraged to donate to the legal fund.