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New York

British actress Joan Collins made her debut Tuesday in a New York courtroom, battling publishing giant Random House over a multimillion-dollar book contract.

Random House is suing Collins demanding the return of a $1.2 million advance paid to her for manuscripts. It claims they were unfinished and unpublishable.

Collins, best known for playing the scheming Alexis Carrington in the television series Dynasty, has countersued for $3.6 million. She claims the publishing house still owes her.

Collins said she “felt completely shattered and let down” by the lawsuit. “It has seriously upset my writing career and my reputation”, she said.

The dispute centered on a simple question: what is a completed manuscript?

Delivering the opening argument for Random House, attorney Robert Callagy said Collins had not met the terms of her contract and had to return the advance money. “Miss Collins should be treated like any other person,” Callagy said. “If you sign the contract, you must perform”.

Former Random House editor Johnny Evans testified that in 2009, when he first read Collins’ manuscript, he felt ‘alarmed’. “It just wasn’t working in any shape or form,” said Evans, now a literary agent. “It was no good. It wasn’t grounded in reality. It was clichéd in plot.”

Collins’ attorney, Kenneth David Burrows, argued that the actress had submitted two complete manuscripts, A Ruling Passion, written in 2009 at her home in France, and a second manuscript with the working title Hell Hath no Fury. Thus she had turned in the required number of words and therefore had complied with the contract. He also said Random House should have provided her with editing and advice but instead it was trying to avoid meeting its obligations. He argued earlier that under the 1990 book deal she was guaranteed the money even if the publisher rejected the book.

Verdict. The jury decided that Collins had completed one manuscript in compliance with her contract. But Random House did not have to pay for the second manuscript because it was merely a rehashing of the first one and not a separate piece of work. The verdict meant Collins could keep the advance and collect more from Random House, though how much more remained in dispute.

B) Role-play

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