Game Development Business and Legal Guide (Premier Press Game Development)

Introduction

A publishing contract is an agreement between a publisher and a developer that spells out the terms of the working relationship. What work will you perform? What will be paid and how? When will it be paid? Who owns your work? What happens if something goes wrong?

Because these contracts are complex and there are many eventualities that must be accounted for, negotiating and drafting the full agreement can take months. To avoid such a long delay in production, the publisher and developer may sign a short form agreement (sometimes referred to as a letter of intent, memo of understanding, deal memo ). This short (two to seven pages), legally binding contract sets out the core terms of the contract and is then used as the basis for a long form agree ment , which will include all of the details.

This chapter will familiarize you with the following:

• Terms and concepts found in AAA publishing agreements, whether for original or licensed IP

• Deal terms that are most favorable to the publisher and those that favor you

• Negotiation techniques in situations of minimal leverage

• Hidden pitfalls and common errors

The publishing contract will be analyzed in three parts :

• Terms of a straight work-for-hire agreement (where developer owns neither the content nor the engine)

• A publishing contract/license for developer-owned intellectual property (content and/or technology)

• Clauses added into the long forms of most contracts

The author would like to thank Kirk Owen of Octagon Entertainment ( www.octagon1.com ) for his help in preparing this chapter.