Seeking help concerning contract...

Steph

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Oh man, I really hope I'm posting this in the right board. Please forgive me if I'm wrong...


One of my short stories was accepted a while ago and I have no doubts concerning the reputation of the publisher, I've been following and researching them for quite some time and everything checks out, so I'm ready to move forward confidently, but today I was emailed a survey that is supposed to help them draft up a contract...

And I'm stumped!
I have no idea what to do. This is my first time :cry:
Basically, the survey goes as follows:

  • How long can we retain English-Language Rights?

  • How long can we retain Electronic Rights?

  • How long can this story remain in our website's archive after exclusive rights have returned to the author?

Each of the above questions has the choices "[1 year], [2 years], [3 years], [4 years], [5 years], [Indefinitely], or [Until Author requests Story to be removed]"

My instinct on these is to put "until author requests story to be removed," but that is kind of making me feel like maybe the publisher will be wary and won't want to put me in the yearly anthology (only a portion of the content published on the website is chosen for the print and electronic anthology).

Then the survey goes on to ask:
  • Are you interested in giving us screenplay rights? Author shall recieve 50% of profit and will be given a role in the screenplay development.
Choices are yes and no. I'm thinking no is the smart move here? What say you?

I hope I gave enough information to be helpful. I'm reluctant to reveal the publisher since the editor-in-chief peruses these boards and I don't want him to know what a clueless dolt I am .__.

Anyway, thank you so much for your time!
 

Old Hack

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They want you to complete a survey to help them write their own contract? That's absolutely bizarre. I've never heard of anything like that before.

Don't give them screenplay rights unless they have a proven record in exploiting such rights appropriately, and you feel they're better placed than you are to sell or develop them.

As for the others: if you do decide to give them rights to your work until you request a reversion, make sure there's provision for the rights to revert to you in full in the event that the publisher folds.

If this short story is a longish short story and part of a larger work, and you feel it's a significant piece of work for you, then I'd probably reconsider publishing here (but then I am notoriously cautious). If you're prolific and this is one story among many, then what do you have to lose? A single story. But still. Please be careful.
 

Steph

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They want you to complete a survey to help them write their own contract? That's absolutely bizarre. I've never heard of anything like that before.

Don't give them screenplay rights unless they have a proven record in exploiting such rights appropriately, and you feel they're better placed than you are to sell or develop them.

As for the others: if you do decide to give them rights to your work until you request a reversion, make sure there's provision for the rights to revert to you in full in the event that the publisher folds.

If this short story is a longish short story and part of a larger work, and you feel it's a significant piece of work for you, then I'd probably reconsider publishing here (but then I am notoriously cautious). If you're prolific and this is one story among many, then what do you have to lose? A single story. But still. Please be careful.
Thank you so much for the advice. I've never heard of the survey thing either, but I guess it helps save time on their end. I honestly kind of like it.
 

Mac H.

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"re you interested in giving us screenplay rights? Author shall recieve 50% of profit and will be given a role in the screenplay development."
This is nonsense.

For a start - you won't giving them anything - they are buying screenplay rights.

And the 'screenplay rights' are a very vague term - an agreement for screenrights is pages just by itself .. certainly not just a single line 'screenplay rights' ! (eg: Does it cover derivative works such as radio serials? What about the use of the characters in spin-off toys? Or the characters in TV ads? )

The bizarre clause '50% of profit' is meaningless. 50% of all profits that the exhibitor makes? That the distributor makes? That the producer makes? That the writer of the screenplay makes? That they (as Executive Producer) makes? What about income from merchandising?

I don't want to be harsh on this company - but when they make blanket assurances (like '50% of profit') it makes them sound totally amateurish.

Do you have any reason to believe they have negotiated a screenrights agreement in their life? Do you have any reason to believe that they aren't just clueless amateurs in this area?

Good luck,

Mac
(PS: To see how bizarre '50% of profits' is - let's look at a simple case.

I get you to agree on a project with me, with an arrangement that you will make 50% of profits.

I spend $20 manufacturing the object and then sell it for $100.

How much money to you get? If you expected $40 (50% of the remaining $80) then you are wrong - in fact you agreed that you would get $26.66 from the $100. That's because your royalty is an expense. And, in reality, once I bill my time to the project then project is not profitable at all - so you get nothing. But I still get a healthy income from it.)
 
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J. Tanner

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I've never dealt with anything like that in a print or e-zine contract. It's quite odd. If I recieved it I would fill it out like so:

1 year exclusive print.
1 year exclusive electronic.
Until author requests removal for archives
No to screenplay rights.

(That's fairly common on the e-rights side for a web-site publishing scheme. The screenplay and print rights grabs are odd. Normally you'd seen non-exclusive print "reprint" rights for a longer period in case they want to do a print anthology and I have no clue what they're after with the screenplay thing. I'd include a note back that I'd be interested in discussing the possibility but would need more details to make a decision like that.)
 

Steph

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Okay, thanks! I slept on it and have some clarity and with your suggestions, I think I'm getting closer to a decision. I'm going to say one year to both exclusive print and e-rights, then I'm going to say it can remain in the website until I request it is removed. I think I'm going to say no to screenplay rights because, honestly, even if it did come to fruition, I'm not sure I'd enjoy that process at this time anyway.