James

MEMORANDUM **

The 1982 agreement between James and Price Stern assigned to Price Stern “the copyright and all rights of every kind and nature in and to the results and proceeds of [James’s] services.” 1 Because this is an integrated agreement, its meaning must be ascertained, insofar as possible, “from the writing alone.” Cal. Civ.Code § 1639; see also Beck v. Am. Health Group Int'l, Inc., *503 211 Cal.App.3d 1555 , 260 Cal.Rptr. 237, 242 (1989).

We reject James’s contention that the agreement conveyed only the rights associated with the copyright. The conjunction “and,” which follows the reference to “the copyright,” makes it clear that James assigned some additional rights; given the specific conveyance of the copyright, an alternative interpretation would render the reference to “all rights ... in and to the results and proceeds” meaningless. Cf. Principal Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Vars, Pave, McCord & Freedman, 65 Cal.App.4th 1469 , 77 Cal.Rptr.2d 479, 487 (1998). Given that the contract defines the “service” that James was to provide as the illustration of children’s books, the phrase “all rights of every kind and nature in and to the results [of James’s] services” can only be…