Louise, First, take a look at the exact terms of your seismic permit. Generally, you are to be paid if seismic testing is performed and the data is gathered. The data is then entered into a seismic information bank and sold repeatedly to third parties. The landowner is not being paid if and when the seismic data is purchased and then receiving additional payments every time the data is "sold" - which is really meaning licensed for specific use. Second, find out if any of the other landowners were paid.
Third, send a certified demand letter for payment of the funds due. Best to send a joint letter. Point out that your agreement to the seismic was conditional upon payment and therefore the unauthorized incursion onto your land was both a physical trespass and a subsurface trespass to the minerals and subject to damages. Demand that 100% of the related data be sent to you as the mineral owners and deleted permanently from their records and seismic library. Ask specifically who has had access to the data and where all it is stored and any other questions you can think of. Send the letter to every company associated with the seismic survey, from the land agent to the company physically conducting the seismic to the listed company wanting the data.
In the future, do not sign any seismic permit without making changes, such as that no one can enter the property unless payment is made in advance. Limit the time of the survey to specific number of months from date of signing. Limit to a single seismic survey during that time. Do not allow the permit to be assignable to any other parties. Require that the seismic company or an authorized agent sign and return the permit before seismic is conducted. Do not let anyone tell you that your lessee has said the seismic is fine and you have to agree. If your lessee is conducting seismic solely for its own purposes and related to the lease, that is acceptable. Otherwise it is up to you to approve or not.
