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destroyerzooey) wrote,@ 2008-05-27 15:55:00
| Bryan Lee O'Malley (destroyerzooey) wrote, @ 2008-05-27 15:55:00 |
| Current mood: |  irate |
| Entry tags: | advice, comics, damn the man |
Statement
I am opposed to the publisher Tokyopop.
They have this new Manga Pilot program. It's a thing where you come up with a great idea, you toil over it and create a 24-36 page comic, they put it online with a bunch of other submissions, and "the people" decide who wins. Or, y'know, whatever.
The contract for this fun deal is horrible, draconian, ridiculous. It's like Satan wrote it. I can't believe Tokyopop is getting away with this in broad daylight. 
You’ll notice this doesn’t look like your everyday ordinary contract...You know. Hollywood attorneys. The kind who write comic book contracts.
...Mumbo jumbo written by Hollywood attorneys...
Pilot Fee $____, payable in full when we receive and accept the Manga PilotThat's a conspicuous blank. I'm not aware of just what they're offering. Are they asking you to put up your own number? What are they, Radiohead? Also, please note that whatever amount they're giving you, they aren't giving it to you until they receive and accept your comic - which is 24-36 pages, by the way, "inked, toned, ballooned, and lettered", not to mention that you'll be doing all the digital prepress. (If you're "only writing", you get off easy - just a manuscript.)
If we haven’t given you a thumbs up — our written notice of our approval — of the Manga Pilot within 30 days after we’ve received it from you, then you can consider the Manga Pilot rejected.They don't even have to tell you they don't like you. Isn't that sad? Waiting by the phone for the horrible corporation, and they never call...
You promise to protect us from claims anyone makes that you violated their rights in connection with your Project or Manga Pilot. This means you’ll pay for all the lawyers to fight it out and all the other costs necessary to fend off those claims, in or out of court.This almost speaks for itself, but maybe a little example would make it clearer. Say, maybe, your comic becomes a huge success. You get movies and toys based on your characters. You might even start making some money. THEN someone comes forward and sues your ass for stealing your idea from him back in the sixth grade. You know, one of those multi-million dollar lawsuits. Let me tell you, judging from these contracts, Tokyopop is going to be holding all the million-dollar-bills at that point, not you. They'll have the huge percentage you negotiated away, and you'll be standing there with negative a million dollars. But hey, y'know, that's standard contract bullshit. Who cares? Sign 'er away. What are the odds of all that crazy shit happening?
And, if things do get ugly and end up going to court, this means you’ll also pay for all the expert witnesses and court costs and, if the other guy or gal wins, you’ll pay whatever the court awards them, too.
We may feel it’s important to test a second installment of your story, so you give us the right to ask you to do a second Manga Pilot based on the Property. If we want you to do a second Manga Pilot, we’ll let you know within six (6) months after you’ve given us the completed first Manga Pilot and we’ve accepted it.If they need you to do some more free work, you know, they'll ask. And you'll get paid the same way - AFTER you do all the work (again) and they approve it, after sending it back and forth for however many rounds of FREE changes and revisions they need.
GIVING US ADAPTATION RIGHTSJust so we're all clear: If they're making money on any of these things - and believe me, they will be - you aren't getting any of that money. Pay attention, kids.
You give us the right to reformat, adapt, and modify the Manga Pilot for iManga, our motion graphics video format, as well as for other ways that we may change it in order to display, print, and exhibit it.
“MORAL RIGHTS” AND YOUR CREDITThis one needed to be quoted in full. First of all: hey, everyone hates French people! Tokyopop couldn't possibly be as bad as the French! What is this? What the hell? Is this real?
“Moral rights” is a fancy term (the French thought it up) that basically has to do with having your name attached to your creation (your credit!) and the right to approve or disapprove certain changes to your creation. Of course, we want you to get credit for your creation, and we want to work with you in case there are changes, but we want to do so under the terms in this pact instead of under fancy French idea. So, in order for us to adapt the Manga Pilot for different media, and to determine how we should include your credit in tough situations, you agree to give up any "moral rights" you might have.
Of course, you still have your rights under this pact to your credit.
WHAT WE CAN DO WITH YOUR CREDITThis is even worse! "We don't have to put your name on your comic if we don't feel like it." Okay? That's what it says. I've seen this. Tokyopop ads that don't specify creators. You know, all their comics come from the same hive mind. All their creators are replaceable cogs in a giant machine.
And, speaking of your credit, customarily we give you credit for your work as the writer and/or artist of the Manga Pilot. However, we may have to shorten or leave out your credit when the space available or the conventions of a format won’t permit it or if it would have to be too small to read (for example, when the Manga Pilot is viewed on mobile phones). You’re OK with this.
THE ORIGINAL PROPERTY AGREEMENTIf you want, you could have a lawyer look at the contract. Inadvisable, 'cause if a lawyer looked at it and you listened to the lawyer, Tokyopop would be out one manga-creating cog in the machine. Also note how it doesn't say that you or your lawyer could suggest changes and have those changes made. You'd just "comment".
If you and we agree on the terms, we’ll send you a formal contract (it’s called an Original Property Agreement) that will include a schedule for you to create the first manga book or online manga based on the Project. You’ll have an opportunity to give us your comments to the Original Property Agreement and, if you want, have professional advisors (like an attorney) review and comment on it, too.
MATCHING OFFERS FROM OTHERSIf you walk away from Tokyopop, having signed this first "pact" but not entered into a full book deal with them, and then a better publisher makes you a sensible offer, you have to tell Tokyopop. Then, Tokyopop has the right to make an about-face and give you the same deal.
If you and we can’t agree on the terms or if we’ve agreed on terms but haven’t signed the Original Property Agreement by the end of the Exclusive Period, then we’ll have the right to match any offer you receive from anyone else for any rights in the Project. That means that if you receive an offer that you’d be willing to accept, you’ll have to tell us right away what the terms of that offer are, and we’ll then have two weeks to decide whether we want to match that offer.
AFTER THE EXCLUSIVE PERIOD OF THIS PACT ENDSIf you realize that this means Tokyopop can continue making money from different versions of your 24-36 page comic (books, magazines, ipods, online advertising, whatever), while giving you 0% of that money, congratulations. You're correct.
Once the Exclusive Period ends and even if you and we haven’t entered into an Original Property Agreement, we’ll still have the worldwide right, continuing forever, to publish the Manga Pilot on a non-exclusive basis.
SPEAKING FREELY ABOUT THIS PACTThey think shameless everything is great.
A lot of contracts prohibit you from discussing the terms of the contract (or even the fact that you signed one) and limit your right to publicly talk about your Project. We don’t have that kind of provision in this pact. We want you to talk up the Project, the Manga Pilot, and what you and we are doing together. We think shameless self-promotion is great.
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