Decked out in sequined black and gold dresses, Anne Harrison and the other women in her Bulgarian folk-singing group were lined up to try out for NBC's "America's Got Talent" TV show when they noticed peculiar wording in the release papers they were asked to sign.
.Any of their actions that day last February, the contract said, could be "edited, in all media, throughout the universe, in perpetuity."
She and the other singers, many of whom are librarians in the Washington, D.C., area, briefly contemplated whether they should give away the rights to hurtling their images and voices across the galaxies forever. Then, like thousands of other contestants, they signed their names.
Ms. Harrison figured the lawyers for the show were trying to hammer home the point that contestants have no rights to their performances, "but I think they're just lazy and don't want to write a real contract," she says.
Lawyers for years have added language to some contracts that stretches beyond the Earth's atmosphere. But more and more people are encountering such everywhere-and-forever language as entertainment companies tap into amateur talent and try to anticipate every possible future stream of revenue.
Experts in contract drafting say lawyers are trying to ensure that with the proliferation of new outlets -- including mobile-phone screens, Twitter, online video sites and the like -- they cover all possible venues from which their clients can derive income, even those in outer space. FremantleMedia, one of the producers of NBC's "America's Got Talent," declined to comment on its contracts.
Authors and artists are being asked to sign over distribution rights to the biggest territory of all -- the universe. But does that include black holes?
.On the Dotted Line
I hereby agree to participate in the above multi-media project ("Project") produced by Producer, and irrevocably grant my permission and authorize Producer to record, re-record and photograph my likeness, my name, my performance, my voice, interviews of me, and information relating to me, to portray or describe me as Producer may elect, and to make use of any incidents of my life in any and all editions of the Project, and in advertising, marketing, publicity and promotion related to the Project, and to reproduce and publish the same throughout the universe in perpetuity, in any and all media now known or hereinafter devised, including without limitation, all forms of television, home video, digital download, radio and print.
-- Contract required for guests appearing on WQED, a PBS television station in Pittsburgh
If at our request you send certain specific submissions (e.g., postings to chats, surveys, message boards, contests, or similar items) or, despite our request that you not send us any other creative materials, you send us creative suggestions, ideas, notes, drawings, concepts, or other information (collectively the "Submissions\) shall be deemed and shall remain the property of Lucas in perpetuity. By making any Submission, the sender automatically grants, or warrants that the owner of such material expressly grants, Lucas the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, and distribute such material (in whole or in part) throughout the universe and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed, for the full term of any copyright, trademark or patent that may exist in such material for any purpose that Lucas chooses, whether internal, public, commercial, or otherwise, without any compensation, credit or notice to the sender whatsoever.
-- Terms of use listed on Starwars.com, where people can post to message boards, among other things
As of the date first set forth above, the Midtown Holders, for themselves and their respective officers, directors, members, managers, heirs, successors, assigns, agents and representatives, hereby fully and forever unconditionally release and discharge the Company, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, officers, directors, shareholders, members, managers, successors, assigns, agents and representatives (collectively referred to as "SPFI Affiliates") from any and all claims, demands, obligations, actions, liabilities and damages of every kind and nature whatsoever, at law or in equity, whether known or unknown to any of them, which they may now have against the Company or the SPFI Affiliates or which may thereafter be discovered, in connection with, as a result of, or in any way arising from, any relationship or transaction with the Company or the SPFI Affiliates, however characterized or described, which relates in any way to the Placement Agent Agreement, the Old Warrants or any other related agreements from the beginning of time until the date of this Agreement, except and unless such claim, demand, obligation, action, liability or damage arises from a breach or default in Company's obligations to be fulfilled pursuant to this Agreement.
-- A Sept. 14 agreement between Denver-based Spicy Pickle Franchising Inc. and investment bank Midtown Partners and Co., LLC, which has helped raise capital for the sandwich and pickle shops
.The terms of use listed on Starwars.com, where people can post to message boards among other things, tell users that they give up the rights to any content submissions "throughout the universe and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed."
Lucasfilm Ltd., Star Wars creator George Lucas's entertainment company that runs the site, said the language is standard in Hollywood.
"But, to be honest with you, we have had very few cases of people trying to exploit rights on other planets," says Lynne Hale, a Lucasfilm spokeswoman
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125658217507308619.html
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