Overreaching Clauses for Writers

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.

In order that [journal] may disseminate the WORK to the fullest extent, the author(s) hereby irrevocably grants, assigns, conveys, and transfers exclusively to the [journal]the copyright in the WORK identified herein (including but not limited to figures, tables, artwork, abstracts, or summaries submitted with the WORK), under all laws, treaties, and conventions throughout the world in all forms, languages, and media now or hereafter known or developed without limitation in consideration of the publication of the WORK in [journal].

This is a contract for publication of an article in a scholarly journal. It grants the publisher all rights to the work, in any language, throughout the world, in any media available now or created in the future. The author receives no compensation other than publication of the work in the journal.

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.

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.

Exclusive Rights. Author hereby grants to the Company throughout the world in any and all languages for the full term of the copyright of the work:

Exclusive "Electronic Publication Rights" to the Work. For purposes of this agreement "Electronic Publication Rights" shall mean the right to reproduce, transmit, make available, display publicly, distribute, syndicate and publish the Work in any and all languages on the Internet, in magnetic, CD-ROM, optical, electronic, digital, and other machine and computer rendable forms and media now and hereafter known. Exclusive film, television, video, DVD, and online video rights to the Work.

Exclusive 90-Day Rights. For a period of ninety (90) days after publication of the Work, exclusive right to publish the Work in any language in any and all media whether now known or hereinafter discovered or developed including anthology, collection, or compilation produced or authorized by the Company; it being understood and agreed that Artist shall not permit any other party to reproduce, publish, or use the Work in any form or media until the expiration of such exclusivity periods.

Non-Exclusive Rights. The Author hereby grants to the Company throughout the world in any and all languages for the full term of the copyright of the Work: After the expiration of the exclusivity period set forth in the preceding clause, nonexclusive right to publish the Work in any and all media whether now known or hereinafter discovered or developed including any anthology, collection, compilation, or magazine syndication produced or authorized by the Company.

The Company may, by itself or through third parties, exercise the rights granted in this agreement.

This is an excerpt from a publishing agreement for a work of fiction to be initially published in electronic form. It gives the distributor the right to exploit the work electronically, in any format, worldwide for the duration of the copyright term.

Furthermore, it gives them the exclusive right to sell the work on TV or video, in film or DVD and the online video rights. If a third party purchases the right to release the work in these media from the distributor, then the Author gets 25% of the net proceeds from that purchase. (Keep in mind that 'net proceeds' normally doesn't mean a lot of money!) If the Company finances the DVD, video, television show or other such production itself, the Author gets 2.5% of the production budget (except advertising and marketing - which is where a lot of the budget will be spent!)

For 90 days after the contract is signed, the Company has the right to exploit the work in any way it wants to in any media (although the geographic scope of this right is not addressed).

After 90 days, the Company has the non-exclusive right to publish the work in any media, worldwide for the duration of the copyright.

The Author hereby grants and assigns the entire copyright in the Article to The Law School (“The Law School”) for its exclusive use. The Law School shall be the sole proprietor of the copyright, consisting of any and all rights of whatever kind or nature now or hereafter protected by the copyright laws of the United States and of all foreign countries, in all languages and in all forms of communication,including, but not limited to, books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, and any current or future electronic medium or data storage system. The Law School, through itself or others, shall have the right to publish the Article in all languages and in all forms of communication.

The Law School grants the Author the right to reprint the Article in any book of which the Author is the author or editor, subject to the Author’s giving credit in the book to the original publication of the Article in the Publication. Such credit shall include the original copyright notice as it appears in the Publication.

This agreement requires the author to assign all rights in the work to the law school which publishes this journal. The only right the author retains is the right to publish the article as part of a book which she authors or edits.

A. Ownership of Contributions. Each of your Contributions will be original and solely created by you as a "work-made-for-hire" specially ordered or commissioned by us, with XXX Media being deemed the sole author of the Contribution and the owner of all rights whether now known or hereafter devised (including all copyrights and all extensions and renewals of copyrights) in and to the Contribution, with the right to make all uses of the Contribution throughout the world and all changes in each Contribution. Without further obligation to you, we may use, reproduce, edit, change, add to, take from, translate, reformat, or reprocess the Contribution in any manner. To the extent any Contribution is not deemed to be a work made for hire, you irrevocably assign to us all rights whether now known or hereafter devised (including all copyrights and all extensions and renewals of copyrights) in and to each Contribution throughout the world, including any and all of your rights to authorize or control the exploitation of each Contribution by any media and means now known or hereafter devised. You waive all "moral rights of authors" that may exist or any similar rights. We may, but are not obligated to, provide attribution to you in connection with any Contribution or to display, use or otherwise exploit any Contribution. We have the right, without liability to you, to use any ideas, suggestions, or questions provided by you to us. Upon request by us, you will promptly provide us with such documents and agreements as we may require to further evidence and confirm your representations, warranties, and covenants under this Agreement, including material and location releases and assignments.

B. Our License To You. We grant you a royalty-free, limited, nonexclusive, nonlicensable license to the Contributions for performance, distribution, and display on your personal or business website so long as your website contains no less than 1 prominent crawlable link to the WEBSITE OPERATOR Website appearing in close proximity to each Contribution on your website.

This could be one of the most overreaching contracts we have on our site. It's between a company that runs a website and seeks contributions (photographs and written works). This contract dictates that the work is a work for hire even though there is no evidence that the contribution fits the description in Section 101 of the Copyright Act. Furthermore, it says that the site does not have to give the author credit for his or her work and may even use the author's ideas or suggestions without remuneration or credit. Finally, it allows the author to use his or her work only in connection with his or her own website and then only if a link is provided to the website to which the work was contributed.

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, “electronic versions” 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.

Except as may be set forth in an applicable Schedule, Publication shall own and retain all right, title and interest in and to all Work and all other reports, documents, materials, ideas, concepts, know-how, specifications, plans, notes, drawings, designs, pictures, images, text, audiovisual works, data, information and other items, expressions, works of authorship or work product of any kind that are authored, produced, created, conceived, collected, developed, discovered or made by Author in connection with the Work or which relate in any manner to the Work or which result from any Work produced by Author for Publication, including any and all intellectual property rights therein (collectively the “Work Product”). To the extent applicable, Publication shall be deemed to be the “author” of all Work Product, and all such Work Product will constitute "works made for hire" under the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq.), and any other applicable copyright law. To the extent that any Work Product does not constitute a work made for hire, Author hereby assigns to Publication all right, title and interest that Author may have or may hereafter acquire in all Work Product, including all intellectual property rights therein.

This contract is between an author and a travel magazine. It states that all work product of the author (including research materials) are the product of the publication and solely the publication owns all rights in them. It also states that the work is a work-for-hire.

2. COPYRIGHT AND TITLE

2.1 The Contributor hereby grants to the Publisher for the legal term of copyright including any renewals and extensions the exclusive and irrevocable right and license to produce publish communicate to the public and exploit and to license the production publication communication to the public and exploitation of 2.1.1 the Text 2.1.2 any part of the Text 2.1.3 any new edition or other adaptation or any abridgement of the Text in all languages throughout the world in volume form and in any other form or medium whatsoever including (but not by way of limitation) any form of electronic publication distribution or transmission (whether now known or hereafter invented) that the Publisher may wish. The rights granted in this Clause may be exercised by the Publisher and its wholly owned subsidiary and sub-licenses of all translation and subsidiary rights on such terms as the Publisher may determine. 2.2 The copyright in the Text shall remain vested in the Contributor.

5. MORAL RIGHTS

5.1 The Contributor agrees that amendments alterations or additions to the Text made by the Publisher or the Editor or a third party pursuant to Clauses 1.1 or 6.2 or for the purpose of preparing supplements or new editions of the Work, will not infringe the Contributor's right of integrity in the Text as provided in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Contributor further hereby waives such right when such a waiver is an essential condition of the exercise of any of the subsidiary rights.

This is a contract for a book to be published by a British publisher which is why there is a Moral Rights clause in the terms.

The terms of this agreement are very overreaching. Although the last line of Section 2 of the agreement purports to allow the author(s) to retain the copyright in the work, the rest of the clause renders it almost meaningless. Section 2 gives the publisher the exclusive right (meaning no one else has the right) to publish the book - or any part of the book or any new edition(s) of the book - around the world as long as the book is protected by copyright. Presumably this would include translations of the work, although that right is not specifically mentioned. This clause also gives the publisher the right to adapt the work in any media - even forms not yet invented. In a particularly egregious clause, clause 5, the author(s) is/are forced to waive any moral rights they might have in the work if said rights might interfere with the publisher's exercise of any of the subsidiary rights. Furthermore, as is mentioned in our section on moral rights, moral rights in written works are not recognized in the United States. Therefore, this clause is meaningless in the U.S.; it does not grant an author rights not recognized under U.S. law.