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Waziot
12-04-2005, 05:08 PM
In the Contest ToS, I was wondering if I could get some thing cleared up.

In exchange for promotional consideration and other good and valuable consideration, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged and intending to be legally bound, I hereby irrevocably grant, transfer and convey to eBaum’s World, Inc., its affiliates and licensees (collectively “eBaum”), the unlimited and unconditional right to use the enclosed material (collectively “Material) in any and all formats, now known or hereafter developed. The rights hereby granted to eBaum include the perpetual, exclusive and unencumbered right to use, edit, reproduce, publicly and privately perform, distribute, telecast, publish, promote, market and otherwise exhibit the Material, and any derivatives thereof, worldwide, including excerpts, in any and all forms of media, now known or hereafter devised including, but not limited to, cell phones, the internet, broadcast, non-broadcast television, pay, cable and network television, satellite and close-circuit transmission, in-flight video, home entertainment in current and future formats, and printed transcripts.
Does this basically mean that we're signing over our content to be used on a seemingly unlimited platform, where we aren't allowed any restriction on it's distribution, use, or monetary gain? By signing this are we signing over our content to ebaum, so that he may have legal right over it?

Also:

I further represent that the rights granted to eBaum herein shall not infringe on any rights of any third party including, but not limited to, any copyright, trademark rights of any other intellectual property rights
Does this mean that even if we do have a copyright on our content, it's null and void further securing the rights to the said above?

Also:

I hereby agree to defend, indemnify and hold eBaum and its officers, directors and employees harmless from and against all damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or connected any actual or threatened lawsuit, claim or legal proceeding relating in any manner to the possession, distribution or use of the Materials by eBaum.
Does this mean if someone sues ebaum because of our content despite the fact that we've already signed it over to him, we are held responsible and are responsible for paying any legal fees and charges?

Also:

I waive any right to inspect or approve uses of the Material. I also waive any “moral rights” I may have in the Material.
Does this mean we have no control or right whatsoever on what ebaum decides to do with our submission?

If all this is true, then is it really worth it to lose an original creation to be whored or construed however eBaum and his affiliates please for the chance of winning a measely one-hundred dollars?

mgunit
12-04-2005, 05:19 PM
The terms are laid out plain, on the submission page. He could attempt to hide them as most sites do by just having a checkbox and "I have read and agreed to the terms of service.

The grand prize is 1k, second place gets $500, 3rd gets $250 and the runners up get $100.

I think this is a good amount for someones video of their grandpa getting hit in the nuts with a football which wouldn't have gotten them anything.

Anyone who is submitting content surely reads the form before they upload it for the contest, otherwise I feel bad for them as they would probably just upload it to someone for free.

Waziot
12-04-2005, 05:49 PM
Yeah I suppose it's important what your video is of. If you worked really hard on it, you might not like signing it over, but if it is something like the example you gave, it wouldn't be that bad.

Then again, I'm just the kind of guy who likes to have atleast a little control over what happens to my work.

mgunit
12-04-2005, 06:19 PM
Yeah I suppose it's important what your video is of. If you worked really hard on it, you might not like signing it over, but if it is something like the example you gave, it wouldn't be that bad.

Then again, I'm just the kind of guy who likes to have atleast a little control over what happens to my work.

I agree, if someone worked really hard on their video and they want full control over use of it, they shouldnt submit it to here, or any other site that accepts submissions for that matter.

Jay
12-04-2005, 09:43 PM
The terms you list are from the contest submission form, where we recieve over 10,000 submissions a week. Because of the large volume of submissions we receive, we need to list these terms for legal protection. Any lawyer would call you crazy if you did not have them. (BTW, if you think ours is bad, check out America's Funniest Home Videos Terms (http://abc.go.com/primetime/AmericasFunniest/rules.html)... it's even MORE wordy)

We have in the past, and will continue to work with the original author of any content on custom terms on a case per case basis. We can easily be reached at several email addresses listed on our contact page (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/contact.html) (because of the large amount of emails we receive and the growing spam problem, it may take 2-5 business days for us to get to yours, but rest assured, we will get it).