Question about AEG

[mythusmage]

Take a look at Alderac Entertainment Group's contact page at their web site. Read their submission policy down at the bottom, read it carefully. Now come back at let us all know what you think.

For you legal beagles a couple of questions:

1. Is it legal?

2. Is it ethical?

For my part; Unless and until a publisher and I come to a specific agreement regarding a submission I've sent in, I retain all rights to said submission. No exceptions. That is my policy.

I find AEG's submission policy reprehensible, unconscionable, and lame in the extreme. I recommend that people boycott AEG until such time as they change their submission policy to something more in line with good practice.

 

[Ranger REG]

Then don't send them your Work, until you come into an agreement with Alderac with regard to the distribution of your Work.

Just be careful how you pitch your idea since idea cannot be copyrighted.

 

[mythusmage]

Your advice would be more useful if you knew what you were talking about.

Go and read AEG's submission policy, then come back and write about it. Unless my memory has gone bad on me (again) it says that any thing submitted to AEG becomes the property of AEG. Nothing about their purchasing it. In addition, take careful note of the various ways you can "submit" to AEG.

If they were talking about ideas, then why didn't they make that clear?

 

[Mindcrime]

I don't think that crap legalese would hold up on Judge Judy, but IANAL either. Personally, I think that's a real clumsy way to discourage fans from inundating them with their 'cool ideas' - They don't have writer's submissions guidelines, so they're also not interested in hearing from freelancers, but I don't think the legal BS on the Contacts page is necessarily aimed at freelancers.

Chris

 

[Blacksad]

[snip]
2. Is it ethical?
[snip]
I find AEG's submission policy reprehensible, unconscionable, and lame in the extreme. I recommend that people boycott AEG until such time as they change their submission policy to something more in line with good practice.

In perspective, I think its ethical.

You should look at others non-d20 companies submissions policy, some have policies that only allow submissions only on a few subject (like steve jakson games) or who destroy any work that comes to them without any proposal before (like gold rush games).

I think its mostly to prevent people from sending them whole unedited, unplaytested, unfineshed books of poor quality in their e-mail box. This way they don't have to crawl among crap to find serious contributors to their game lines.

 

[Mindcrime]

who destroy any work that comes to them without any proposal before (like gold rush games).

I think this is to protect themselves legally - most companies don't want to recieve unsolicited ms's without a disclaimer saying they're not responsible, if after reviewing your ms, they happen to publish something similar later by coincidence. This keeps submitters from suing them for 'stealing ideas' (ideas are a dime a dozen, so the chances of said ideas being stolen are slim to none, in reality, but that won't keep a few greedy wankers from trying to sue nonetheless, I'm sure.) I think AEG would be better off saying "unsolicited ms's get chucked without being looked at." That's much better than just claiming outright ownership of unsolicited material.

Chris

 

[trancejeremy]

IANAL, but quick perusal of the copyright law at

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/index.html

strongly suggests no, it's not legal...

Section 2

Sec. 204. - Execution of transfers of copyright ownership

(a)

A transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is not valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or such owner's duly authorized agent.

(b)

A certificate of acknowledgement is not required for the validity of a transfer, but is prima facie evidence of the execution of the transfer if -

(1)

in the case of a transfer executed in the United States, the certificate is issued by a person authorized to administer oaths within the United States; or

(2)

in the case of a transfer executed in a foreign country, the certificate is issued by a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States, or by a person authorized to administer oaths whose authority is proved by a certificate of such an officer

-------------------------------------------------------

So, basically, a person would have to sign away his rights to the ownership of the material he's sending - just a disclaimer by AEG on their web page isn't enough