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Steffens' response to Chen
published: Tuesday | October 28, 2008
Roger Steffens
The Editor, Sir:While I have always respected both Wayne Chen and Michael Lee Chin's wishes that the dollar amounts involved in the potential purchase of my arc-hives remain private between us, The Gleaner story, 'Roadblock!', October 7, prompts me to correct the misimpressions it contains.
In my initial discussions with the Institute of Jamaica in June of 2001, I requested US$2 million (not "more than" as was reported) for my entire archive. This would include the very valuable copyrights to all of the photographs I have taken over the past 35 years, as well as the thousands of hours of radio and television broadcasts and interviews I have created.
The institute indicated its willingness to do a deal based on that figure and to locate funding for the purchase.
Negotiate
Nothing happened for the next three years, when Mr Chen kindly volunteered to negotiate a sale to his brother, Mr Lee Chin. An initial appraisal was made, which was woefully underpriced, and would have set a very low precedent for everyone else in the future, which made it unacceptable.
A second appraisal of the 10,000-plus hours of tapes was made, bringing the total valuation to US$1.8 million, after which Mr Lee Chin offered me that sum, to be paid in three instalments over a three-year period.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The fact is I would net only 50 per cent of the purchase price after severe state and federal taxes, lawyer and accountants' fees, etc. I felt a net sum that fell below US$1 million for the three decades of my life's work was unacceptable. This is in light of the huge expenses involved in forming the collection, not to mention the untold thousands of hours of unpaid labour in organising it all so it is instantly accessible by researchers.</span>
Valuable collection
Still, over all these years I have kept to the US$2 million request in the hope that something could be worked out, but all subsequent attempts have fallen flat. Today, as I stated to the minister of culture in our meeting last February, the fee would have to be adjusted to reflect the ever-increasing value of the collection, as well as the falling value of the dollar.
If Jamaica is still interested, I am afraid the clock is ticking with other parties. I have done absolutely everything I possibly could over these past seven years to try to get this one-of-a-kind archive to its rightful home, but my patience is exhausted, and<span style="font-weight: bold"> my heart is sore.</span>
I am, etc.,
ROGER STEFFEN
published: Tuesday | October 28, 2008
Roger Steffens
The Editor, Sir:While I have always respected both Wayne Chen and Michael Lee Chin's wishes that the dollar amounts involved in the potential purchase of my arc-hives remain private between us, The Gleaner story, 'Roadblock!', October 7, prompts me to correct the misimpressions it contains.
In my initial discussions with the Institute of Jamaica in June of 2001, I requested US$2 million (not "more than" as was reported) for my entire archive. This would include the very valuable copyrights to all of the photographs I have taken over the past 35 years, as well as the thousands of hours of radio and television broadcasts and interviews I have created.
The institute indicated its willingness to do a deal based on that figure and to locate funding for the purchase.
Negotiate
Nothing happened for the next three years, when Mr Chen kindly volunteered to negotiate a sale to his brother, Mr Lee Chin. An initial appraisal was made, which was woefully underpriced, and would have set a very low precedent for everyone else in the future, which made it unacceptable.
A second appraisal of the 10,000-plus hours of tapes was made, bringing the total valuation to US$1.8 million, after which Mr Lee Chin offered me that sum, to be paid in three instalments over a three-year period.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The fact is I would net only 50 per cent of the purchase price after severe state and federal taxes, lawyer and accountants' fees, etc. I felt a net sum that fell below US$1 million for the three decades of my life's work was unacceptable. This is in light of the huge expenses involved in forming the collection, not to mention the untold thousands of hours of unpaid labour in organising it all so it is instantly accessible by researchers.</span>
Valuable collection
Still, over all these years I have kept to the US$2 million request in the hope that something could be worked out, but all subsequent attempts have fallen flat. Today, as I stated to the minister of culture in our meeting last February, the fee would have to be adjusted to reflect the ever-increasing value of the collection, as well as the falling value of the dollar.
If Jamaica is still interested, I am afraid the clock is ticking with other parties. I have done absolutely everything I possibly could over these past seven years to try to get this one-of-a-kind archive to its rightful home, but my patience is exhausted, and<span style="font-weight: bold"> my heart is sore.</span>
I am, etc.,
ROGER STEFFEN