This also goes for freelance contracts.
I once had a company slide into their NDA, before we had even discussed compensation, that anything I wrote that was âsimilarâ to what Iâd be working on for them belonged to them. It was so broadly worded, that anything I wrote with a contemporary setting would belong to these peopleâŚincluding the web serial I was writing and publishing at the time. Full rights.
I told them I could not sign it as stands and attempted to open negotiations.
I never heard from them again. I strongly feel I dodged a bullet.
Never, ever sign a non-compete clause unless it is extremely narrow. âDonât take our stuff and sell itâ is fine.
âWe own everything you makeâ is not fine.
I also had a temp employer try to do a milder version, which was âAnything you write during your commute.â Uh, right. You going to pay me for my commute time then. I refused to sign and did not get the job.
Unless you are literally at the âCanât pay my rent/food billâ point? It is better not to get the job or gig than to be locked into an aggressive non-compete.
With the legally-required disclaimer that Iâm not a lawyer, watch for these in publication contracts and NDAs:
Overly broad non-competes. âPlease donât self publish a book the same month weâre releasing your bookâ is fine and only good manners. âYou arenât allowed to self publish for the life of this contractâ is a red flag.
On the same note, overly broad first refusal clauses. Donât sign with a publisher who insists that they have to have first refusal on every single book you write for the length of the contract. Often they will sit on your books for months, even if they donât publish that genre. However, it is always polite to give first refusal on sequels and other books set in the same world.
Life of copyright clauses. For the love of little puppies and kittens: Never. Sign. A. Life. Of. Copyright. Contract. (Work for hire is obviously a different situation. Iâm talking for original work here). Contracts should have a specified term in years, after which your rights automatically revert if you donât renegotiate. Automatically. You shouldnât have to request them.
Signing over rights the publisher doesnât intend to exercise. Donât sign over audio rights unless the publisher has a solid record of producing audio books (if they do  have a solid record of it then do give them audio rights and make them pay the production costs). Donât sign over movie rights to a book publisher! Yes, I have seen this. The publisher was Curiosity Quill. They have since imploded. If a publisher is e-only ask about splitting off the print rights.
For work for hire contracts, then you are signing over all the rights in the contract. (Editing contracts are always work for hire). An NDA is standard and donât be afraid to sign one even if theyâre scary, just make sure they donât hide anything nasty in it. A standard NDA should boil down to âPlease donât share the files with anyone and please donât talk about the project publicly without our permission.â I personally treat every project as under an NDA even if I havenât signed oneâŚyouâll see me talk occasionally about âThis project I canât talk about is taking up my time.â That means Iâm either under an NDA or I should be if the publisher had any sense.
The âoppositeâ of an NDA is a required publicity clause. Be careful of these: Make sure you arenât responsible for the results. Usually they arenât too onerous, though. Itâs more like âWould you please share the kickstarter with all of your Facebook friends.â I also had one which required me to post the release of the anthology to my blog. Usually theyâre no big deal, but watch out for pressure being put on you to do a ton of marketing on a small thing like a short story. It can take you away from marketing stuff which really needs it.
Donât sign broad non-competes. Ever. Under any circumstances.
Donât sign away the rights to something a company canât use/exercise.
Donât be afraid to negotiate.
Donât be afraid to walk away (unless, again, you would end up on the street/without health insurance/etc).
