Tokyo Pop's New Contract Ripping Off Artists

[IVstudios]

You'd still be giving up all the rights to what you send them, which means that theoretically, they could make millions using your idea and you'd never see a dime beyond the initial "$____." And if you tired to do anything with your own creation they could sue you.

Edit: Well, maybe not. I take it back. The wording on it is a little ambiguous.

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. “Non-exclusive” means that both we and you can publish it and give others the right to publish it other formats. We’ll own and continue to have the exclusive right to publish any iManga or other adaptations that we make based on your Manga Pilot.

This is the part that seems worrisome. I would want to get this clarified to know if it means that they can take your idea and make it into a TV show or whatever without needing to ask or pay you. And if so, if such things have to be derived directly from the Pilot or if they can "take your idea and run with it," and write new stores using your characters and such.

It seems to mean that they can simply republish your pilot in any medium they choose. Still not a great deal, but I would want to clarify that first.

And after actually having read the contact in context, though it is still a pretty bad deal, it is not nearly as bad as those blogs make it out to be. It's more a kick in the nuts than an all out raping of your artistic dreams.

[Soap Committee]

Soap - I don't see where they will be required to write thee volumes of pages, nor any indication of how much they will be paid. My understanding is they may be required to write one additional story before they are accepted or not. At which point, they'd have to sign another contract of some kind. Even the description the author goes into doesn't describe it the way you are.

Those points weren't in the Pilot contract because they're what happens when they contract you for the real comic work, which is relevant because the point of the Pilot Program is to get published through them!

The ending terms vary from artist to artist but once the pilot stage is over, for that 'bonus RL experience' they contract and agree on a number of volumes and the payment. I'm only acquainted with a couple of TP artists, but their pay varies from livable to straight-up unethical.

I'm sure it comes down to lawyers and good negotiations, but my point was that you seemed to take the contract lightly, like a comprehension-test before buying a car or whatever. Ehhh I need to actually work now

[Killbert-Robby]

I see where Ryan is coming from with this. *Yes* it sucks bigtime, there's no denying that. But at the end of the day, a contract's a contract. And, I mean, come on, who honestly doesn't know that contracts can really fuck you over? It's not *right*, but when it comes to paper work and all that, it doesnt matter if it's right or wrong, it just simply is.

[KWill]

Turn this around - If people refused to sign their contracts, would TokyoPop change their policies? Yes. Or they would go under.

So do the people published by them want to be undermined by a meticulously phrased contract? Probably not. But they do sign them anyway.

I wouldn't say that they demanded to be undermined by a meticulously phrased contract. I would say they saw prestige, or dollar signs, or fame and fortune and went against their better judgement and signed a bad contract. Or, they didn't read the contract. Or they didn't consider the ramifications of signing their contracts.

All those things are the fault of the person signing the contract. Not the business offering the contract. It is not, and never has been, the job of a business to protect you from your own stupidity, or ignorance.

You see, you can continue this argument and blame con jobs on the poor fools that fall for them. I kind of disagree, since I believe the business is certainly to blame for exploiting naivety.

Quite. Getting away with something under the law doesn't mean it should be done. It certainly doesn't mean that you did the right thing.

Does it mean they're doing the right thing? Oh hell no. But, I never suggested they were.

It sounded like you're cheering them on, and I usually assume that people don't cheer on things they consider wrong.

[Joel Fagin]

The only unusual thing about the contract, really, is that they wrote it in language you can understand. I remember the Hotmail EULA which said everything you sent via Hotmail was copyright Microsoft. A bit of a bind if an author sends a novel to a publisher via Hotmail.

- Joel Fagin

[Redtech]

The only unusual thing about the contract, really, is that they wrote it in language you can understand.

There's easy to read, and then there's racism, condescending language and weasel-worded mumbo jumbo. What kind of moron agrees to work for someone with that level of 'maturity?'

I'm going to pull out the best legal contract I've ever read: the EULA for Unreal Tournament 2004: The only legal document that's actually pleasant to read. http://www.epicgames.com/ut2k4_eula.html

1. Thanks. Congratulations and thank you for licensing our software. We're sorry to cramp your style, but out lawyers tell us that if we want to keep control and ownership of the cool stuff we're developing, we have to make sure you understand and agree that you are just buying a right to use it and that that right is limited in certain ways. So what follows is what you need to know and agree to.

Polite, isn't it? No need to be rude, or to cuss anyone.

4. Use Restrictions. We want you to enjoy our products for years to come, and we want to be able to continue to make awesome games, so you need to be aware that there are some things you cannot do with the Software. The Software contains copyrighted material, trade secrets and other proprietary material. You may not decompile, modify, reverse engineer, publicly display, prepare derivative works based on the Software (except as permitted in Section 8, below), disassemble or otherwise reproduce the Software. Except as set forth herein, you may not rent, sell, lease, barter, sublicense or distribute the Software. You may not delete the copyright notices or any other proprietary legends on the original copy of the Software. You may not offer the Software on a pay-per-play basis or otherwise commercially exploit the Software or use the Software for any commercial purpose except as described in this agreement....

The main crux of the issue gets straight to the point and still manages to lay down the rules.

5. CHEATING. Nobody likes a cheater. It's a disgraceful way to earn a win and really is an insult to those players who earn their wins in on-line games the old-fashioned way-WITH TALENT. We're pretty hard on cheating in on-line games using the Software because it sullies the overall gaming experience and is JUST PLAIN LAME. With that in mind if you are caught cheating in an on-line game using the Software we will immediately and permanently ban your CD Key. At that point this License Agreement is automatically terminated and you must immediately delete this software from your PC. Failure to comply with this last bit (deleting the software) may bring on the wrath of the lawyers. Trust us.you don't want that.

Straight to the point...

13. Enjoyment Requirements. We are aware that there are rumblings and grumblings within the gaming community about heavy handed, legally onerous license agreements. You have our word that this one is as fair and even handed as it gets and, as you have read this far, you know it to be true. Now, be gone from this screen and enjoy the Software, including the UnrealEd.

And a brilliant addenum. It's not unreasonable to write a document that is legally valid but lays down the law in a simple and easy-to-understand method. True it increases the length of the document and can be dangerous if it is liable to interpretation, but it doesn't insult anyone's intelligance and is easier to understand. Isn't that what legal documents should be about?

[Dread]

Holy hell this is awful! After reading snippets of the document, I have come to the conclusion that you'd have to be deemed clinically retarded to actually go through with something like that. *Sighs* People these days.

[Valkyrk]

who honestly doesn't know that contracts can really fuck you over?

Holy hell this is awful! After reading snippets of the document, I have come to the conclusion that you'd have to be deemed clinically retarded to actually go through with something like that.

Soooooooo, to get the proper perspective on this, I read the document BEFORE reading the arguments against it. Unfortunantely, then, I would fall under these definitions. Reading snippets that people describe in detail for you is NOT like reading the entire document. For an inexperienced document reader like I am, this contract seemed perfectly okay. Well, I also started to lose interest after the first 4 pages. I got the general idea that they would be publishing my work for me, and all I have to do is draw my stuff. Only after hearing the document explained piece-by-piece did I begin to understand what it really described. So, yes, I agree with the argument that this contract is bad, but I think that for someone who is used to just doing what they like, making comics, this could be dangerous for them if they don't have someone sitting next to them describing what each line means. Reading documents is a skill, just like writing, just like drawing, just like using chopsticks; and it needs to be developed. For those who don't have that skill developed, this contract is very dangerous.