Overreaching Clause About General Assignment of Copyright

[Contestant(s)] irrevocably assign and transfer to the Sponsor and its agents, licensees and assignees all rights in the Video, including, without limitation, all copyrights; grant to the Sponsor and its agents, licensees and assigns the right to reproduce, publish, broadcast/use, adapt, delete, edit and/or modify the Video in any manner or format, for any programming, publicity, advertising and promotional purposes, and in any and all media worldwide in perpetuity, in all languages and versions, and without additional consideration, [Contestant] unconditionally assigns and transfers all ideas, concepts, copyrighted materials and trademarks contained in the Video and any and all rights including moral rights in the Video to Sponsor and its agents, licensees and assigns. Sponsor and its agents, licensees and assigns have the right to use, assign, modify, edit, adapt, dispose, and electronically alter the Video, including bur not limited to, for moral rights, to appear in promotional and/or commercial materials, as well as to reproduce them, in whole or in part, without compensation or additional consent from me or any third party.

I unconditionally assign and transfer all ideas, concepts, copyrighted materials and trademarks contained in the Video and any and all rights including moral rights in the Video to Sponsor and its agents, licensees and assigns. Sponsor and its agents, licensees and assigns have the right to use, assign, modify, edit, adapt, dispose, and electronically alter the Video, including bur not limited to, for moral rights, to appear in promotional and/or commercial materials, as well as to reproduce them, in whole or in part, without compensation or additional consent from me or any third party.

Caveat contestant! This is a release form from a song-writing contest. The contestant who sends in a video of herself singing her song assigns all the rights in the video to the sponsor of the contest (the "Sponsor"). The sponsor can then make every conceivable kind of use of, and make any kind of change to, the video, throughout the world, forever, and without paying the contestant. The rights transferred to the do not appear to be limited to the exploitation of the video, but would include the rights in the music apart from the video.

Furthermore, it says that the entrant transfers any copyrights she holds in the video she is submitting to the sponsoring company and that the sponsor may use the video in any way it wants without paying the contestant anything. It also mentions that the contestant assigns any moral rights she may have in the work. The United States does not recognize moral rights per se and, therefore, this clause is moot. (For more information on moral rights, click here.) (Furthermore, it should be noted that moral rights cannot be assigned in jurisdictions that do honor them.)

The Author hereby grants and assigns exclusively to the Publisher all rights in the Work, including book publication rights and the right to fully develop the Work in all languages throughout the World for the full term of copyright (under current or subsequent copyright laws). Such rights shall include, but are not limited to the right to print, publish, license, distribute, and/or market, either directly or where applicable by third parties, any marketable right associated with the Work.

This is a contract for publication of an article in a newspaper or magazine. It gives the publisher all the author's rights in the work, including the right to turn the article into a book, all foreign languge rights, and any other conceivable way of making money from the article, anywhere in the world, for as long as the copyright lasts.

In consideration of his/her acceptance by the Publisher as a contributor (the Contributing Author) to the Work and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the undersigned Contributing Author agrees as follows:

The undersigned Contributing Author grants to the Publisher the exclusive worldwide right to publish and sell the Article, in print format or in any other media, and all Articles contributed to subsequent editions, under its own name and under other imprints or trade names, during the full term of copyright and all renewals thereof. The undersigned Contributing Author assigns to the Publisher the worldwide copyright in the Article, for use by the Publisher in such manner and medium, including electronic media, as the Publisher wishes. In exercising this right the Publisher may (i) make translations, (ii) prepare other versions, or (iii) quote from and otherwise utilize the Article or material based on the Article, and the Publisher may grant permissions and licenses to third parties to do the same.

This is a contract for the publication of a contribution to a book of articles by several different authors.

The first paragraph of this excerpt means that the publisher will not pay the author for the rights the author grants.

The second paragraph means that the author gives up all her publishing rights -- print, digital, audio, and any other media -- for the whole world, for the full term of copyright. The publisher has the right to publish the work under its own name, but also under other imprints, and to allow others to publish: this can mean that the work, which the author expected would be published by the Publisher's prestige imprint, can end up being published by some less desirable imprint owned by the same Publisher, or even by someone else. Because the author assigns her full copyright to the publisher, she has no rights left in the work to sell to anyone else. The publisher may change the article, translate the article, make other versions of the article, and use any material from the article - all without getting the author's approval to any change, translation, version, etc.

[1] The AUTHOR and [distributor] intend this to be a contract for services and each considers the products and results of the services to be rendered by the AUTHOR hereunder (the "Work") to be a work made for hire. The AUTHOR acknowledges and agrees that the Work (and all rights therein, including, without limitation, copyright) belongs to and shall be the sole and exclusive property of [distributor].

[2] If for any reason the Work would not be considered a work made for hire under applicable law, the AUTHOR does hereby sell, assign, and transfer to [distributor] its successors and assigns, the entire right, title and interest in and to the copyright in the Work and any registrations and copyright applications relating thereto and any renewals and extensions thereof, and in and to all works based upon, derived from, or incorporating the Work, . . . throughout the world.

This language is designed to grab all rights from a free-lance author or artist. The first clause purports to create a work for hire agreement, which would mean that the author has no rights left at all, ever (and cannot even get them back through the termination right). The second clause takes a belt-and-suspenders approach: if for any reason the work is not for hire -- which it would not be if the commissioned work did not fall within the statutory categories -- the author explicitly assigns all rights not only in this work, but in any work based on this work, for the full term of copyright, for the whole world.

By entering the Contest, entrants agree to assign their intellectual property rights to Sponsor and permit Sponsor to use the photos in any media, including the Internet, for any purpose whatsoever. Entrants who do not agree to this use should not enter this Contest.

Caveat contestant! This is from the terms and conditions of a photography contest sponsored by Better Homes & Gardens. The author gives up all her rights to the contest sponsor, who may use the photo in any medium and for any purpose. Because it is such a broad clause, it allows for the publisher to alter the photograph as well, even though this is not explicitly stated.

The Author, in consideration of the Publisher undertaking as provided herein to publish the Work and for other good and valuable consideration paid by Publisher, receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, grants to Publisher, its successors and assigns, an exclusive worldwide license to publish the Work and to exercise all rights under the copyright for the full term of copyright. It is understood that this full license of rights includes but is not limited to [list of uses including commercial book clubs, periodicals, lecture use, reprints and royalty-free uses such as those for the visually impaired.]

Although the contract calls itself a "license," it gives to the publisher exclusive rights to all uses of the literary work for the full term of copyright, throughout the world. No rights are left for the author.

In consideration for being permitted to photograph the musical group currently and professionally known as BAND and/or any individual member thereof, the undersigned ("you"), for yourself and on behalf of your heirs and assigns, hereby agree that any photographs ("Photos"), including the negatives and transparencies, taken on the date of DATE, shall be utilized solely for the assignment ("Assignment") commissioned and/or assigned by EMPLOYER. You hereby agree that the Photos shall not be used and/or or exploited for any other purpose or in any other manner other than for the Assignment, including, without limitation, for any commercial exploitation, on any musical recordings, on any packaging of any musical recordings, and/or in connection with any advertising, promotional merchandising and/or publicity relating to any musical recordings. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you shall have the right to use the Photos for use in your own professional portfolio.

This is a contract between a photographer on assignment and a musical group. Note that the photographer's rights are likely further constrained by a contract between her and her employer.

This contract gets the harshest rating because of what it does not discuss. It says that the photographer can only use the pictures for the purposes of her assignment. The problem is that the contract doesn't address who owns the copyright in the work. It does limit the photographer's uses of the work, but it is unclear on other points, such as alteration of the work, attribution, and internet usage.

COPYRIGHT:

[Publication] agrees to pay Author for the aforementioned project. Editor of Publication has the right to edit all of material and delete any copy or visuals deemed to be unneeded or impractical. The published material becomes the property of [Publication] with [Publication] owning the copyright.

It is agreed by both parties that all material prepared on a freelance/correspondent basis for [Publication] is the property of [Publications]. In addition to owning the copyright for the print versions, [Publication] owns the copyright for all electronic versions that may be used on xxx.com or xxx.com. Author relinquishes “all rights” to both electronic and print versions of her work as commissioned and paid for by [Publications].

If [Publication] is required to bring an action to enforce this Agreement, Author shall reimburse the Company for all costs incurred, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, court costs, and reasonable costs of litigation. This Agreement shall be interpreted and construed in its entirety in accordance with the laws of this State.

This is a contract between a publisher and a freelance writer. This agreement receives our harshest grade not only because it allows the author to retain no rights to his work but because its language is quite vague and confusing. For instance, it gives the publisher copyright ownership in the print versions of the article, but it does not define what that means. Moreover, the publisher is specifically granted the right to edit or delete any material that it wants without asking the author's permission. The publisher is also granted copyright ownership over all electronic versions of the article used on its affiliated websites. Again, aœelectronic version is a vague and undefined term which could be quite broad. Furthermore, the contract states that the author relinquishes all rights. The placement of all rights in quotations is confusing. It is unclear what the term means. The final paragraph states that the author must pay the legal costs for any challenges to the agreement. Finally, this contract makes no mention of attribution so the author may never receive credit for his work.