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If you have reached a point in your career where you are offered distribution for your content, you may be wondering what to do next. There are a number of important questions to ask, and it’s crucial to approach the right person to find honest answers. It will take some time, and maybe even some money, but conducting due diligence in this situation is key.
Ask Questions
The best advice I can give you: Read the contract. Circlewhat you don’t understand and find a professional who does. Recap what you think you understand to the professional to make sure you do understand.
Some questions to consider while going over your agreement include:
How many years is the agreement for? Does it auto-renew?
How do they pay out? Are there up-front fees? Back-end fees?
Do they market for you? Do they charge you for marketing?
I don’t advise asking the person who gave you the agreement as their interests are to have you sign. Sure, some people have integrity, but some do not. What is in the agreement that you sign is what you are agreeing to, not what is said in an email or on the phone.
You can ask them to define the terms in the agreement, but if I was offering you distribution, I would not define the question that you ask, because I’m not an attorney. I don’t want to advise you on a contract. Keep in mind whoever gives you the agreement most likely has paid a professional to review, write, etc. So, when you pay your professional, their job is to advise. It is up to you to figure out what is fair. There are also complimentary online videos on distribution; just make sure that person has a career in distribution as it changes so rapidly.
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Consider the Potential Scenario
To help further, here is a point of view from someone like me who is offering distribution and a content creator who is asking questions that show me this may be your first time. I already know that I’m coming at you in good faith of the win-win. When you ask me a question about distribution, I’m uncomfortable answering it, because I’ve already done my due diligence, so I say to you, go have someone read it. There are firms where you can access legal help on a subscription basis where they can review up to a certain amount of pages per month based on your subscription level.
There are also other ways to have your contract professionally reviewed. There might be a nonprofit organization, where junior lawyers will read contracts for people, on a sliding scale. But no matter what, read your contract; if it’s exclusive, that typically means you can’t go anywhere else. Nonexclusive typically means wherever they’re taking it, someone else can’t take it there. Usually, they are five-year terms, but it’s important to understand that distribution is extremely slow, which impacts these term lengths. Why? There’s meta-tagging, and meta-logging, you have to give us the deliverables, find out where your costs are, determine if there are any upfront fees, etc. For example, with us, there are no upfront fees. If we need closed captioning, and you don’t want to provide it, the distribution company will tell you how much it will cost for the markets they’re going to bring into, if you agree to it. They will then deduct before your next payout. Knowing this, you may not go to the places where closed captions are needed.
As you can see, in the nonexclusive world, it means you get to choose. It’s like being single or in a committed relationship. So those of you who don’t like committed relationships may want to go nonexclusive. Those of you who like being exclusive, and not going anywhere else, may want to go with exclusivity. I would suggest MG – money guarantee up front if exclusive. Again, read what getting that money up front means. There are strings attached to money, pretty much any money.
While there are a number of factors to consider when approached to distribute your content, take time to ask questions and seek a professional opinion to ensure you’re ready to make the right decision for you and your unique situation.
