Is there something wrong with my contract?

[Acord]

This is the second contract I've had fall through lately that wanted anything amounting to significant work. Could anyone look at this and tell me what is wrong with it?

Client contact name:
Business name:
Phone/Email/Fax:
Address:

Designer:
Phone/Email/Fax
Address:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

ESTIMATED COSTS

_X_ Labor fees are estimated at a total of $__ or __ see attached estimate sheet for specifications.

__ Consultation fees are estimated at a total of $ __ or __ see attached estimate sheet for specifications.

__ Materials costs (RC/film/neg output, scanning, project specific materials, etc.) are estimated at a total of $__ or __ see attached estimate sheet for specifications.

Total estimated cost of project: $__

Project estimates are valid for 90 days from the date of estimate. Project may be reestimated if, upon receipt of all project elements, the designer determines the scope of the project has been altered dramatically from the originally agreed upon concept. Printing fees will be estimated separately and payment arrangements made between client and printer.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE:

_X_ A deposit in an amount equal to 25% of the total estimated cost is requested prior to execution of the project ($__) as significant work has already been completed. This amount is to be refunded to the client in the event of an inability by the designer to complete the project.

_X_ Payment in full or the remaining balance is to be paid upon delivery of the completed project.

__ Payment in full or the remaining balance is to be paid 15 days from receipt of the final invoice for the completed project. Finance charge of 1.5% per month (18% annually) on all overdue balances.

__ Additional payment arrangements:

REPRODUCTION OF WORK:

_X_ The client assumes full reproduction rights upon payment for completed project.

__ One time reproduction rights for the specified project, at the agreed fee, are granted to the client. Any other usage must be negotiated.

__ All reproduction rights on the copyrighted work are retained by the designer. The work may not be reproduced in any form without consent from the designer.

_X_ The designer retains personal rights to use the completed project and any preliminary designs for the purpose of design competitions, future publications on design, educational purposes and the marketing of the designer's business. Where applicable the client will be given any necessary credit for usage of the project elements.

REJECTION/CANCELLATION OF PROJECT:

The client shall not unreasonably withhold acceptance of, or payment for, the project. If, prior to completion of the project, the client observes any nonconformance with the design plan, the designer must be promptly notified, allowing for necessary corrections. Rejection of the completed project or cancellation during its execution will result in forfeiture of deposit and the possible billing for all additional labor or expenses to date. All elements of the project must then be returned to the designer. Any usage by the client of those design elements will result in appropriate legal action. Client shall bear all costs, expenses, and reasonable attorney's fees in any action brought to recover payment under this contract or in which (Insert your company name) may become a party by reason of this contract.

COMPLETION/DELIVERY OF PROJECT

The estimated completion date the project is __. Any shipping or insurance costs will be assumed by the client. Any alteration or deviation from the above specifications involving extra costs will be executed only upon approval with the client. Any delay in the completion of the project due to actions or negligence of client, unusual transportation delays, unforeseen illness, or external forces beyond the control of the designer, shall entitle the designer to extend the completion/delivery date, upon notifying the client, by the time equivalent to the period of such delay.

ACCEPTANCE OF AGREEMENT:

The above prices, specifications and conditions are hereby accepted. The designer is authorized to execute the project as outlined in this agreement. Payment will be made as proposed above.

Client's signature:

Designer's signature:

Date:

These are the actual boxes I checked on the last one. Am I crazy? Is there something wrong with this one? I thought my last one was actually longer and less friendly.

Help!

[MFS]

Rejection/Cancellation Clause would be a no go for me, personally. Just FYI though: in the mainstream industry, I've found most contracts to fall through when it's time to actually sign the contracts -- so you might just be experiencing a little bit of that. I'd say for every one contract I saw actually signed, 9 would be indefinitely delayed or outright binned before the ink was put down.

The reason I pointed out the Rejection/Cancellation clause as a red flag for me, is that if the work falls through halfway into the project, you get to keep your monies and the client doesn't get anything. I wouldn't sign that kind of contract when hiring a freelancer and I've actually not seen one like that, although I'm guessing it might not be so uncommon.

The most common way I've seen this clause handled (indie, mainstream, whatever) works along the premises that if the client cancels they keep all work up to last milestone, but must pay out the next milestone (or sometimes two.) On the flipside, if the contractor bails on the contract then the client is entitled to all work to that point and the contractor may have to forfeit the last milestone's payment (or two.)

On another note, I've never seen a 'deposit' for a publisher/developer contract or a freelancer contract, but frequently see that first milestone is contract signing -- getting the contractor up front money.

[Acord]

REJECTION/CANCELLATION OF PROJECT:

The client shall not unreasonably withhold acceptance of, or payment for, the project.

This seems fair to me.

If, prior to completion of the project, the client observes any nonconformance with the design plan, the designer must be promptly notified, allowing for necessary corrections.

So, if the client sees something amiss or not as they want it, the designer needs to be notified ASAP. This is the client's responsibility, and I see no issues with this.

Rejection of the completed project or cancellation during its execution will result in forfeiture of deposit and the possible billing for all additional labor or expenses to date.

So, if the designer completes the project AS PROMISED or it is cancelled while in progress(and there are NO good reasons for that if you have set aside proper funding and weren't "floating a check") and you DO NOT PAY then you get none of the work, and your deposit is forfeit.

In other words, the designer gets to keep the work as reimbursement for breach of contract, possibly to sell to another client at a later date. What makes you think you are entitled to anything for breaching a contract? Do you want a reward?

If you communicate and do business in an honest, LEGAL, straightforward fashion this is not an issue.

All elements of the project must then be returned to the designer. Any usage by the client of those design elements will result in appropriate legal action.

In other words, you cancelled the job, wasted the designer's time, and you don't get copyright transferred because you have BREACHED CONTRACT.

Client shall bear all costs, expenses, and reasonable attorney's fees in any action brought to recover payment under this contract or in which (Insert your company name) may become a party by reason of this contract.

And if it's for enough money that they decide to sue, you also agree to pay for their lawyer. If you are acting as a representative of a company, then the company could be held liable as well.

I don't understand. This clause basically states that if you BREACH THE CONTRACT you get nothing, and could be sued for damages depending on the amount. Why do you think you deserve a reward for that again?

[MFS]

To start, I didn't mean to be insulting or offending, not in the slightest. Just giving you my thoughts based on my experiences with contracts in the VG space which is fairly extensive.

I should clarify by saying that as a client I wouldn't want that kind of clause in a contract, but neither would I want that kind of payment arrangement. Of course I am looking at this from the perspective of a substantial amount of work (2-12+ months) which are the most common that I've dealt with. In this case the payment structure is almost always milestone based, as the deposit on the entire sum at the end kind of scheme works in no one's favor, and in which case the clause you have is a negative aspect. If this contract is geared towards much smaller amounts of work, then both the payment scheme and that clause are more palatable. I didn't assume such was the case however.

[Acord]

To start, I didn't mean to be insulting or offending, not in the slightest. Just giving you my thoughts based on my experiences with contracts in the VG space which is fairly extensive.

I should clarify by saying that as a client I wouldn't want that kind of clause in a contract, but neither would I want that kind of payment arrangement. Of course I am looking at this from the perspective of a substantial amount of work (2-12+ months) which are the most common that I've dealt with. In this case the payment structure is almost always milestone based, as the deposit on the entire sum at the end kind of scheme works in no one's favor, and in which case the clause you have is a negative aspect. If this contract is geared towards much smaller amounts of work, then both the payment scheme and that clause are more palatable. I didn't assume such was the case however.

Milestone payment structures are pretty common, and that's a different contract entirely. This contract is meant for jobs that are too small too merit such a structure, but too large to take someone at their word.

[MFS]

...

And what about when the contractor misses dead lines or the quality detoriates or...the client would obviously want to cancel the contract, but in the wording above that would be nothing but detrimental. They still pay out and get nothing. But again, it's perhaps the payment scheme that leads to the awkwardness for me, which might make perfect sense for smaller scoped work. I definitely can't say that I have much experience in contracts for in that realm.

Edit:

Milestone payment structures are pretty common, and that's a different contract entirely. This contract is meant for jobs that are too small too merit such a structure, but too large to take someone at their word.

Sorry, from the first post you made I thought we were talking about larger scale work, in which case the clause/payment were my concerns.

[Bad Sector]

The contract isn't easy to read. I read it twice and still don't get from where that 80% comes from.

However what i understood (and i think its unacceptable) is that if a "client" decides he doesn't want to finish the game (or changes mind about the art direction), the "designer" keeps both the money he received so far and the art he designed. In which case, what did the "client" paid for?


Here is a simple rule that you should keep in mind and modify the contract with: if a developer pays an artist to create some art, he wants (*expects*) to keep the art and use it as he likes, as many times as he likes and without boundaries.

If your contract doesn't allow this, you'll shouldn't be surprised if people dont't like it.

EDIT: also what MFS said. This contract doesn't provide any safety for the client either. What if a designer's art starts to suck badly after a while (he got more clients perhaps)? In this case, with your contract, the developer has to abandon both the money he spent so far and the previous art which probably worked just fine.

[Acord]

And what about when the contractor misses dead lines or the quality detoriates or...the client would obviously want to cancel the contract, but in the wording above that would be nothing but detrimental. They still pay out and get nothing. But again, it's perhaps the payment scheme that leads to the awkwardness for me, which might make perfect sense for smaller scoped work. I definitely can't say that I have much experience in contracts for in that realm.

If the designer is going to be late, they need to okay that with the client first. And if the contractor misses the deadline without adequate reason, then the contractor is guilty of breach of contract and must refund the deposit.

Maybe I should add forfeiture of completed work as well?

[Acord]

Edit:


Gotcha! Sorry, from the first post you made I thought we were talking about larger scale work, in which case the clause/payment were my concerns.

Eh - most folks know around here if it's $100 or so that I don't bother with contracts and such. Too much trouble.

[Acord]

The contract isn't easy to read. I read it twice and still don't get from where that 80% comes from.

However what i understood (and i think its unacceptable) is that if a "client" decides he doesn't want to finish the game (or changes mind about the art direction), the "designer" keeps both the money he received so far and the art he designed. In which case, what did the "client" paid for?


Here is a simple rule that you should keep in mind and modify the contract with: if a developer pays an artist to create some art, he wants (*expects*) to keep the art and use it as he likes, as many times as he likes and without boundaries.

If your contract doesn't allow this, you'll shouldn't be surprised if people dont't like it.

EDIT: also what MFS said. This contract doesn't provide any safety for the client either. What if a designer's art starts to suck badly after a while (he got more clients perhaps)? In this case, with your contract, the developer has to abandon both the money he spent so far and the previous art which probably worked just fine.

Sorry - the 80% is in the case that 80% of the work had already been completed.

Maybe I should instead do a list type contract, with price per asset?

[Acord]

Alright - thanks for the input, I think I can see where the issue is. I really just need to set up milestones, although in this instance it's such a small project that it's almost painful to do so.

[MFS]

Acord, if the deposit on the full payment-on-finish structure works for certain jobs you pick up, stay with it, really. For a small amount of work (less than $1000) I wouldn't turn down someone's services just because of that. The bigger issue was just that what you have is very biased towards the protection of the contractor, leaving the client out in the cold.

Explicitly mentioning how the client and contractor can default and/or cancel the contract and what the remedies are if such occurs would alleviate a lot of gray area that currently exists.

Also as a side note, it is well worth the money to pay for an attorney to draft a boilerplate contract for you, and preferably one that references an appendix which contains project specific information like work to be done, fees, etc. In this way, you can simply switch out the appendix for different projects while keeping the core legal base intact without having to constantly be paying for new contracts to be drafted. The main reason I mention this is because it only takes a slight mis-wording to get a contract thrown out of court (God-forbid you ever have to deal with this), and it's in every professionals' best interest to keep their tees crossed and 'i's dotted when it comes to legally binding documents.

[Colm]

Did it fall through specifically because of your contract (wording, clauses)? Or was it just that when it came right down to it they didn't want to sign anything?

[Acord]

I am honestly unsure, although I got hints to the effect that it was too overbearing. Maybe it is, but normally it is the designer that gets screwed, and not the client.

Several times, I've found this to be due to an inability to balance a checkbook, or a client that was "getting funding" was too naive to secure a solid agreement from their backers, or they totally change their minds on the materials(covered here under scope of work) and try to get a lot more work without paying for the stuff that will now be unused.

Unless it's something insanely tiny(concept sketches or a single resource) I tend to use contracts for everything now. There are just a lot of really dishonest people out there, or people that do not know what they really want and think it's okay to change their minds after you've already poured on the hours.

That last one is never okay. It is a dealbreaker known as changing the scope of the work, and I've known older, more pro designers(folks who are 50+) that will sue for breach of contract if that happens out of pure, unadulterated spite.

For game designers, I think everyone knows that if your game is no fun with blocks and trangles and placeholder graphics and 8-bit randomly generated sound, it won't be any fun with nice graphics or nice sound FX or music.

I think it's important for programmers seeking work from artists to already have the core game play mostly done and tweaked before looking to polish it. I know that if I can save up enough money to hire programmers for something, I will have a demo with graphics resources developed already.

[luggage]

I don't think it's a bad contract, written a little from the designers view rather than both sides. I doubt the contract was why your client didn't sign though - if it was they'd have asked for their own amendments to it. I'd say they just got cold feet.

Just briefly I'd say that...

* there's no obligation on you to complete the job. For the client they have to bear the cost of any legal action you take if they break the contract but the same term isn't in the other way around.

* 'promptly' is open to interpretation. If you submit a piece what's the turnaround time before you expect it to be okayed or come back with changes?

[Scharlo]

So, if the designer completes the project AS PROMISED or it is cancelled while in progress(and there are NO good reasons for that if you have set aside proper funding and weren't "floating a check") and you DO NOT PAY then you get none of the work, and your deposit is forfeit.

In other words, the designer gets to keep the work as reimbursement for breach of contract, possibly to sell to another client at a later date. What makes you think you are entitled to anything for breaching a contract? Do you want a reward?

Client should be entitled to what he paid for. Why do you think you should be entitled to keep the money paid in advance + all the work you created ?
I agree that it should be some penalty if the client cancel the work in progress but it should work other way as well. What if you don't deliver what you promised on time (or at all) ? Will you pay the client for his time and money lost ? I don't think so, at least not according to this agreement.

I have been on the both sides in numerous deals and I see your agreement as unfair to the client and I wouldn't sign it.

[Acord]

Client should be entitled to what he paid for. Why do you think you should be entitled to keep the money paid in advance + all the work you created ?

Because if the client breaches the contract they do not deserve to be rewarded for it, and the designer punished?

Let's say that I hire you to do some coding using a similar contract. I pay you 25% up front, and you complete 80% of the work and send it to me(because my feedback is crucial) before I tell you that I got someone else cheaper and won't be paying you.

So, I should have the right to use the work that I haven't paid for?

I agree that it should be some penalty if the client cancel the work in progress but it should work other way as well. What if you don't deliver what you promised on time (or at all) ? Will you pay the client for his time and money lost ? I don't think so, at least not according to this agreement.

No - I don't. And here's why: The client chose to commission ME, and is paying me for assets - not the other way around. If I don't get paid, it costs the client nothing. Since they initiated the contact and the contract, they are purchasing my time - not vice-versa.

Some clients will ask for discounts due to late delivery. This is really some very nasty ground though, as a designer will be much quicker to declare a change of scope in order to move the delivery date back any time that a client requests changes. The end result is that something that should have taken a week takes a month because the contract gets changed at every juncture.

And before anyone says "This is why contracts suck!" remember that a verbal agreement is worth only the paper it is written on.

If I have worked with someone on several occasions and trust them to stick to their word, that's one thing. Out of all my clients across both advertising and game design, I've only had that sort of working relationship with two of them. But in the real world, this sort of trust is not the rule, but the exception.

I have been on the both sides in numerous deals and I see your agreement as unfair to the client and I wouldn't sign it.

I don't believe you have been on both sides, nor often. If you have, I would like to know how many times you have been screwed over. Ballpark figure.

[Jack Norton]

The client chose to commission ME, and is paying me for assets - not the other way around. If I don't get paid, it costs the client nothing. Since they initiated the contact and the contract, they are purchasing my time - not vice-versa.

I didn't follow all the discussion but you're wrong on this point - just from my personal (recent) experience, even if we didn't had any contract in place: a voice actress made about 20% of the work and then quit. I had to find a new one to replace her, and what she did was useless (since I couldn't change the voice from one scene to the other). It wasted my time and also caused a delay on the release of my new game, making me miss the before-Christmas deadline.

Now how can you say that this has "no impact" to the client, I don't know...

[AlexWeldon]

I think this thread illustrates what's wrong with your contract: you think it says one thing, and the developers who are looking at it understand something different.

You think it says "if you don't pay me for the work, you don't get to use it, duh."

Everyone else seems to think it says "if you sign this contract, you're committing to the whole job up front, and if you change your mind about anything, I'll keep all the money AND you won't be allowed to use anything I've done for you."

Why don't you just tell people to think of it like ordering food in a restaurant... you order something, you're committing to paying for it afterwards, whether or not you eat it. Of course, if what you're given isn't what you ordered, then the kitchen has to fix the mistake or else give you the food on the house... but if you change your mind, or you don't like the food, too bad.

As a side note, I think you're a little paranoid - I've been doing freelance design for five years, and video game art for one, and I've never made anyone sign a contract (though I'll sign a reasonable one if the client wants), and I've never been screwed. Just make sure you only work with people who have some kind of reputation that they don't want tarnished... if I get a sketchy vibe from a potential client, I just quote higher than normal and/or ask for a big hunk of the cash up front. Generally, they take their sketchy business elsewhere.

[Bad Sector]

Yes thats what i understood too by reading the contract. I assumed that a client pays for the art while the art is made (like, for example, i want a whole village and you give me each house separately and i pay you each time a house is delivered). Which i think is what most people though because its the most practical for development and a client can see immediately if the assets fit in the game/engine or need modification.

Of course if nothing is paid, its most logical that the designer keeps the art :-).

[luggage]

Contracts are there to protect both parties. They're also only of use when things go wrong. In your case it's leaning towards favouring the designer.

I think you're looking at this contract as a way to protect yourself from being ripped off. It's also meant to protect your client.

[Reactor]

As a side note, I think you're a little paranoid - I've been doing freelance design for five years, and video game art for one, and I've never made anyone sign a contract (though I'll sign a reasonable one if the client wants), and I've never been screwed.

I agree. I'll be starting a freelance business (of sorts) soon, and I'll be working to a similar methodology. I guess the point of me mentioning that is- sometimes as much as you want to protect yourself, you also have to remember that long contracts waste their time, amongst other things. No one likes getting taken for a ride, but perhaps its worth risking if it'll bring more legit (and happier) clients to the table.

[luggage]

As a client I'd at least insist on a copyright assignment contract.

[dadio]

I wouldn`t say you`re paranoid at all.
I think there are lots of people out to screw other people in freelance design (or at least in my experience it sure feels like it).
Maybe it`s not all so shark-ish tho - I think maybe it has more to do with misunderstanding & differently interperating agreements/contract details.
So on that score, I applaud that you`re going to such depth/detail with specifics in your contract.

However I can see how the listing of all fallback scenarios could put off a potential client...
also, your copyright agreement there would possibly really put off some clients:

One time reproduction rights for the specified project, at the agreed fee, are granted to the client. Any other usage must be negotiated.

All reproduction rights on the copyrighted work are retained by the designer. The work may not be reproduced in any form without consent from the designer.

I can really understand why you`ve included this (as an artist) because you want to know in advance exactly what the art is going to be used for & where it will appear (the scale/scope of the project & potential revenue involved) & limit it to that & price accordingly, but on the flip side, this ties the clients hands too tightly. (Can the client even publish promo materials/advertisments without your consent? - it doesn`t seem so - that`s very restrictive.

Also, from muddling through various contract disasters myself, it seems to me that all clients prefer (& assume) complete copyright/reproduction/publishing rights - ie: the ability to completely break free from the designer & do whatever they want with the (paid for) artwork. I can understand this (because what happens if the designer becomes uncontactable or even dies for instance? - the art becomes "dead" & unusable for any additional purpose).

I think you might want to revise this section in particular to stop scaring away potential clients.

[Bad Sector]

Also, from muddling through various contract disasters myself, it seems to me that all clients prefer (& assume) complete copyright/reproduction/publishing rights - ie: the ability to completely break free from the designer & do whatever they want with the (paid for) artwork.

I fully agree with that too. A client isn't licensing art, he's paying for the time of the artist to make the art and the art belongs to the client (after payment). If this isn't the case, then why should a client hire a freelance artist in the first place?

[Jack Norton]

I agree too. I actually had met just one artist who sent me such a contract, by which I should have not used the art in any other way except for the game.
I never used that artist again.

[Scharlo]

Because if the client breaches the contract they do not deserve to be rewarded for it, and the designer punished?

Let's say that I hire you to do some coding using a similar contract. I pay you 25% up front, and you complete 80% of the work and send it to me(because my feedback is crucial) before I tell you that I got someone else cheaper and won't be paying you.

So, I should have the right to use the work that I haven't paid for?



No - I don't. And here's why: The client chose to commission ME, and is paying me for assets - not the other way around. If I don't get paid, it costs the client nothing. Since they initiated the contact and the contract, they are purchasing my time - not vice-versa.

Some clients will ask for discounts due to late delivery. This is really some very nasty ground though, as a designer will be much quicker to declare a change of scope in order to move the delivery date back any time that a client requests changes. The end result is that something that should have taken a week takes a month because the contract gets changed at every juncture.

And before anyone says "This is why contracts suck!" remember that a verbal agreement is worth only the paper it is written on.

If I have worked with someone on several occasions and trust them to stick to their word, that's one thing. Out of all my clients across both advertising and game design, I've only had that sort of working relationship with two of them. But in the real world, this sort of trust is not the rule, but the exception.



I don't believe you have been on both sides, nor often. If you have, I would like to know how many times you have been screwed over. Ballpark figure.

Ok, I can see more clearly now. Problem is not in the contract, problem is in you and this is the reason people don't want to work with you.
First, you quote my statement 'Client should be entitled to what he paid for' and then you ask if you should get something you didn't paid for ?!
Your logic with 'client chooses me' is equally unreasonable. So you don't chose your client ?
And finally, I signed over 50 agreements where I hired contractors, many of them from this forum and also hundreds of agreement where other party hired me or my company so yes I do understand this subject significantly better than you.
As you can see through this thread, everyone disagrees with you but this is obviously not something you can see, so good luck finding someone who will sign this with you.

[Acord]

#1: Let's say that you code a game for a portal. Is it okay for the portal to then just re-use your source code to make a new, similar game with? Because what you are telling me is that you are okay with that.

#2: This is actually a NICE version of a graphic designer's contract. I really resent that you feel there is anything wrong with me personally.

#3: I have done a VERY tiny amount of work for possibly TWO people on this board. One was a concept sketch and one was a skybox. Everyone else has turned out to be flakey-flakey / can't figure out what they want, even when I offer free work just to generate a couple of portfolio pieces.

I signed on to these boards to examine some of the business aspects. I can tell you right now why most of you are broke/almost broke/scraping by, and it has nothing to do with the iPhone market or portals or whatnot.

You are naive and you let yourself be taken advantage of, and THAT is why you are broke. Some of you clearly know what you're doing, but most of you need to take some business classes, watch Glengarry Glen Ross and quit sitting on someone's pole.

And just because you have accustomed yourself to taking it up the poopshoot does not mean that anyone will ever do the same for you, so try developing a backbone instead. They're nice to have.

[Acord]

Ok, I can see more clearly now. Problem is not in the contract, problem is in you and this is the reason people don't want to work with you.
First, you quote my statement 'Client should be entitled to what he paid for' and then you ask if you should get something you didn't paid for ?!
Your logic with 'client chooses me' is equally unreasonable. So you don't chose your client ?
And finally, I signed over 50 agreements where I hired contractors, many of them from this forum and also hundreds of agreement where other party hired me or my company so yes I do understand this subject significantly better than you.
As you can see through this thread, everyone disagrees with you but this is obviously not something you can see, so good luck finding someone who will sign this with you.

BTW: When you sign 1000+ come back. Don't assume that you've done more work and that it makes you mysteriously qualified to be a dick.

edit: OMG! You're a portal! No wonder!

I hope nobody else here is dumb enough to listen to you!

[MFS]

#1: Let's say that you code a game for a portal. Is it okay for the portal to then just re-use your source code to make a new, similar game with? Because what you are telling me is that you are okay with that.

#2: This is actually a NICE version of a graphic designer's contract. I really resent that you feel there is anything wrong with me personally.

#3: I have done a VERY tiny amount of work for possibly TWO people on this board. One was a concept sketch and one was a skybox. Everyone else has turned out to be flakey-flakey / can't figure out what they want, even when I offer free work just to generate a couple of portfolio pieces.

I signed on to these boards to examine some of the business aspects. I can tell you right now why most of you are broke/almost broke/scraping by, and it has nothing to do with the iPhone market or portals or whatnot.

You are naive and you let yourself be taken advantage of, and THAT is why you are broke. Some of you clearly know what you're doing, but most of you need to take some business classes, watch Glengarry Glen Ross and quit sitting on someone's pole.

And just because you have accustomed yourself to taking it up the poopshoot does not mean that anyone will ever do the same for you, so try developing a backbone instead. They're nice to have.

Wow, just wow. I was really trying to offer you some sound advice as was Scharlo, but now am quite offended. Your view that most people on these boards are broke is so skewed, it is almost definitely because you have never worked with professional game developers (of which there are several on this board) -- most likely because I do not know a single professional game developer that would ever sign that original contract you posted here. Not one.

Do you work full time working on games? I do and have for the last 6 years. You don't think Scharlo does? Maybe you should check out his company website.

As to your question #1: A lot of publishing contracts stipulate that the publisher does indeed own the code and art and everything else in the game. If the game is your own IP, you want to stipulate that the publisher only has distribution rights for this one game (or at worst first rights to sequel etc.) which is something you can easily put in a contract for art services as well.

As to your question #2: Maybe it's nice to you. I'd never sign it. A slew of other "broke" professional game developers responded here they'd never sign it. Regardless of what you think is nice, it's out of line with the industry normal. Sorry.

And question #3: If you want to move from working with hobbyists, non-professionals (which sounds like the only people you've come across) to working with professionals then it would do you some good to heed advice given by such people.

Good luck.