For the last several posts I have been examining the top ten funniest self-publishing contractual clauses from competitors and dissecting what the legalese means and why it’s “funny.” Last week I looked at the 10th, 9th, and 8th funniest contractual clauses. Yesterday I looked at #7.
6th Funniest Clause from the Competitor’s Contract – Our use of the Descriptive Materials may become integral to us throughout the term of this Agreement and will continue beyond the term of this Agreement even though we will no longer produce or sell new Units after the term of this Agreement. Therefore, notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, for Descriptive Materials and Promotional Clips, the license you grant us will be perpetual and royalty-free.
What it means: They can display information about your book on their website forever without paying you, even after they stop selling it or after you terminate the contract with them.
Why it’s funny: In most cases, authors terminate their publishing relationship with their publisher for one of two reasons. 1) They’ve either gotten a contract from another publisher and need to pull the “old version” of the book from availability or, 2) They have irreconcilable differences with the publisher and wish to cut all ties. This contractual clause from this competitor prevents its authors from doing either.
Next time, #5…
President of Outskirts Press 