A lawsuit filed last August in New York County Supreme Court, William H. Keith Jr. et al v. The Topps Company, Inc. et al, accuses Topps, the company best known for sports memorabilia and trading cards, of failing to pay authors royalties owed over multiple years. The plaintiffs—two authors and two author estates writing in the sci-fi genre—allege that Topps breached agreed-upon contractual obligations.

A History of Changing Hands

According to the suit, Topps entered into new agreements with the authors in 2016 for various works in the BattleTech and Shadowrun series, some of which date back to the 1980s. The suit points out that at least two entities held the rights through assignment before Topps—FASA Corporation and WizKids, both in the games business. 

Interestingly, the authors allege, and their agreements indicate, a previous dispute and failure to remunerate royalties as required by earlier contracts by the publisher(s) who held the rights before Topps. The right to sue for those royalties was waived by the signing of the 2016 agreements.

It is unclear who might currently hold the publishing rights to these works, which appear to have changed hands in multiple instances, including possibly with Topps’ recent change in ownership.

The Allegations

The plaintiffs allege that Topps “intentionally refused” to pay royalties and provide an accounting for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024. They assert that they carried out their obligations in line with their agreements, but the publisher failed on its end—a breach that they say is continuous.

In addition to Topps, the suit also includes upwards of ten yet-to-be-named defendants who are alleged to have committed “wrongful practices” and benefited from the deprivation of authors’ royalties.

Current Status

The suit was filed in August 2025, with little movement since. The outcome of the suit and whether the publisher “strong-armed” the authors as described in the complaint remains undetermined. The author-plaintiffs seek at least $200,000 in unpaid royalties, without factoring in interest, and payment for attorney fees. Topps has not responded to the complaint.

We are monitoring the case and will provide updates. If you are an Authors Guild member who wrote in one of these series and have not been paid, please reach out to us by sending in a legal request.