In class the other day I made a passing joke about holding out on signing Professor Coppock's release form. Professor Coppock responded with a thinly veiled comment that being a holdout 'might' affect my final grade come the end of the semester. This got me thinking about how things would actually play out if I decided to holdout on signing the form and whether or not it was really worth it.
The first question to ask is what is there to gain. Several articles I have found estimate that authors of textbooks make 12% in royalties from sales. Professor Coppock is a co-author so let's assume he makes 6%. Each textbook of the third edition of Principle of Economics sells for $95. Professor Coppock has 1,000 students in ECON 2020 on average each semester. Therefore, we can assume he makes $5,700 from sales of his textbook each semester. As the release form stipulates that my likeness can be used in any subsequent versions of the textbook then it looks like Professor Coppock will be making a comfortable amount of money from the use of my face. I think he could spare a couple hundred dollars in compensation for me.
The easiest way to go about being a holdout in this situation is to simply refuse to sign the form. This would make most or all of the footage that Professor Coppock has unusable. I'm sure he would want to avoid this so it's hopeful that he would agree to any demands I make. However, Professor Coppock holds some power over me because he can disincentivize me by threatening me with a bad grade. If he did take that course of action then I could appeal to the University. Professor Coppock is undoubtedly more trusted and valued by the University than I am so they might side with him. My next step would be to call on my fellow students as witnesses as I'm sure some of them heard our exchange in class. But then my fellow students might be holdouts and ask for part of the money that I receive from Professor Coppock in exchange for testifying. Then this brings up issues of making them keep their word. If I give them the money before they testify then they might renege on our agreement ex post facto. That way they would get the money but still remain in the Professor's good graces. If they testified before I had to give them the money then I could just renege on our agreement.
Ultimately the time, money, and effort that I would have to put into being a holdout far outweighs the benefits that I could receive. I guess I should've known better than to trifle with an expert in economics.
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