Magazine Article Contract (3)

The Publisher (“XX”) is pleased to consider the publication of your work, [title] (the “Work”), to be included in the XX publication [publication name, date].

You agree to prepare the Work with the appropriate length, tone and character for the XX's publication, and which meets the editorial standards of the XX.  The suitability of the Work for publication shall be determined by the XX at is sole discretion.  Nothing herein shall obligate the XX to publish the Work.  If the XX does not publish the Work, all rights granted in this Agreement revert to You.

The XX shall have the right to edit the Work to conform to the XX's standards of style, technological requirements, language usage, grammar and punctuation, provided that the meaning of the Work is not materially altered.  If published, You will be identified as the author of the Work, or co-author if applicable.

Grant of Rights: As a condition of publication and for no monetary compensation, You hereby grant to the XX the following rights to the Work in any and all media whether now existing or hereafter developed, including print and electronic/digital formats: (1) the exclusive right of first publication worldwide; (2) the perpetual non-exclusive worldwide right to publish, reproduce, distribute, sell, adapt, perform, display, and license the Work, or any part thereof, alone or in conjunction with other materials; (3) the perpetual non-exclusive worldwide right to use the Work, or any part thereof, in any other publication produced by the XX  and/or on the XX’s website; (4) the perpetual non-exlcusive worldwide right to use the Work to promote and publicize the XX or its publications; and (5) the non-exclusive right to use Your name, likeness and biography in connection with the advertising, publicity, and promotion of the Work.  The grant of rights survives termination or expiration of this Agreement.

Warranty: You warrant that the Work is original with You and that it is not subject to any third party copyright; that You have authority to grant the rights in this Agreement; that publication of the Work will not libel anyone or infringe on or invade the rights of others; that You have full power and authority to enter into this Agreement; that the Work has not been published elsewhere in whole or in part (except as may be set out in a rider attached hereto, in which case, Grant of Rights (1) above is stricken); and that You have obtained permission from the copyright owner consistent with this Agreement for any third party copyrighted material in the Work.  This warranty survives termination or expiration of this Agreement.

You agree that you may not assign or subcontract any rights or obligations under this Agreement without express written approval.

This contract is for a commissioned article in a legal organization's magazine.  It grants the magazine a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive right to use any part of or all of the article in any way (including but not limited to in any publication produced by the legal organization or online).  The Work and the author's name or likeness may be used to promote the article, the legal organization or its publications.  Finally, the author may not publish the Work in any forum before it is published by the legal organization unless noted in an attached Rider.  There is no deadline for when the Work must be published (although a general time frame is given, it is unclear if this contract is limited to that time frame or could extend further).  It is possible, therefore, that the legal organization could hold on to the Work for months or years without publishing, thereby holding up the author's ability to exploit the Work in any other medium.  As with many contracts, the Author warrants that they created the Work and that the Work contains no potentially libelous or defamatory content and does not infringe on any copyrights.