The Release and the Catch

So you've finally gotten in touch with someone at the network and they like your two minute pitch... Congratulations! You've made it farther than most. But now the network guy tells you that he'd like you to send him your promo video/treatment/etc., and he sends over something for you to sign - just as a formality - so that you can send him your materials. He may even have told you that it's as much for your protection as it is for his. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't read it, and just because a document (like a release) is short, doesn't mean it can't hide some very nasty things in some very innocent language. And before you know it, you may have just signed your idea completely away.

I recently had a client who was submitting his show idea to a major network, and got a release agreement with the following language:

... all results of Submitter's services, all materials contained in the Submission, and all uses thereof in connection with the [name omitted] production or project... belong to [name omitted] and shall, to the greatest extent possible, be considered "works-made-for-hire" within the meaning of the United States Copyright Act.

Now, you may have simply read over that and not even noticed that you just gave away all the rights to your work by signing a document with this in it and then submitting your idea. Yes, seriously. And this was not some fly-by-night start-up operation. This was a national network. Ultimately, when pressed on it, they deleted this language. But it leaves one to wonder, just how many suckers signed this thing, and gave it all away.

REMEMBER, ALWAYS READ BEFORE SIGNING, and if you have any questions, ASK A LAWYER.