However, this is a classic example where the old phrase “one point in time saves new” applies. A little clumsiness and frankness addressed in advance can put to bed so many problems that can fester over time and become quite destructive. Without a cooperation agreement, a number of events could paralyze the progress of a project in a brutal and chaotic way. With a cooperation agreement and the structure it creates for the company, partners can focus on creating and using the best possible project. In particular, for the scenario of the author for hire or reward, referring to the proposal in the cooperation agreement and asking the subject to provide a written justification for any dissatisfaction with the manuscript, objective criteria are established against which the author`s contribution is evaluated. Even if the screenwriter`s staff did not agree on the exact details of his strategy, a cooperation agreement will be an invaluable guide throughout the process. Tasks. No action! Try to be as specific as possible about what needs to be delivered and when it is delivered. If you hire someone to help you write a non-fiction book, the author will prepare the book proposal. A book proposal that gives a detailed overview of the concept of the book and includes the author`s references and information on how to market the book.

The proposal will be used to arouse the interest of publishers. The proposal is usually written with the knowledge that content work on the actual manuscript only begins when an offer from a publisher is available. This scenario is common with “as I said” books. If an employee`s name has greater brand value (or greater notoriety), it may make sense for that person`s name to appear first. If the problem is unclear, alphabetical order is another reasonable approach. Cooperating authors may also want to initialize each page by hand to indicate their acceptance. Notarized signatures are an option, but not a legal necessity for them to be valid. If you link to here, please link to that landing page and not to my individual contract files that don`t appear in search engines. As a rule, the longest section of a cooperation agreement is the provision that determines the respective rights of employees related to the provision of services when the project is developed and produced by the financier, production company, studio or other buyer. If one of you doesn`t hire the others for the project and everyone invests your creative and business time and energies in the project, the cooperation agreement will describe everything in a clear and (hopefully) concise way.

The cooperation agreement should be seen as the “constitution” of the joint creative effort between two or more participants: the agreement will recall the respective rights and obligations of all and regulate the project as it goes through all phases of development, production and (hopefully) use. Often, the cooperation agreement provides that the remaining employees can move forward with the project and involve other parties to fill the hole left by the lost employee. Typically, the departing employee (or his or her heirs) always receives some of the money – usually half of his or her initial share in the event of death or disability, or a reduction negotiated in good faith when a voluntary resignation occurs. However, the remaining employees would hold all rights and retain all creative and business controls. Special thanks to Paul Levine, who made some clever remarks about the reasons for a written agreement and some important clauses. This example is based on several agreements I have with employees, some of whom are lawyers, but I am not one and it is not a fully verified legal document. Employees are free to lobby for the best possible offers and try offers for other types of services as part of the project (. B for example, acting, additional writing, directing, production, etc.), but they must accept that as long as the agreement with the studio meets the minimum requirements set out in the cooperation agreement, you will not be unreasonable and will not blow up the project for everyone. 1. The parties cooperate in the writing of the work and, once completed, are the co-owners of the work (or own the work in the following percentages: 50% to [author #1], 50% to [author #2]). a) Although it is a work of co-authorship, no agreement with a third party regarding the sale or license of the work is valid or enforceable unless both parties accept the agreement, except as provided in paragraphs 3 and 5 below.

b) Neither party may sell or otherwise voluntarily dispose of the Work or its part thereof without the written consent of the other party, but whose consent may not be unreasonably withheld. The essence of the cooperation agreement is copyright. In the absence of a written agreement, if two people work together, there is a good chance that the next job will be considered joint work. The formal legal definition of a “joint work” is “a work created by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of the same whole” (Copyright Act 1976, s. 101). 5. If, prior to the completion of the Work, there is a dispute of any kind relating to the Work, the Parties may terminate this Cooperation Agreement by means of a written instrument. In this case, a) the percentage of ownership, as provided for in paragraph 1, will be revised to reflect the percentage of the total work performed in writing by a revised agreement, without undue restriction by mutual agreement, and b) [Author #1] will have the right to complete the work alone or in conjunction with one or more other employees and to unilaterally enter into an agreement on the sale or License of the work. Copyright.

No action! If you do not intend to jointly own (and control) the Work, state this in writing in the Cooperation Agreement. And ensure that the cooperation agreement contains a well-worded integration clause. Other non-contractual measures can also be taken to support the assumption that the work is not joint work, but the best advice is to get it in writing. The parties to the cooperation must determine how a set of rights and powers are shared. You are not bound by the standard rules of copyright law. You can write your own rules. This is where creating documents from the real world comes into play. For example, it is perfectly legal for a sponsoring party to receive final approval for all aspects of the project and for the author or author to receive less than 50% of the profits otherwise required by copyright law. Nevertheless, the agreement could provide for the surviving author to assume editorial functions, subject to accountability to the heirs of the deceased employee. If the book is subject to revision, the agreement could also include a provision allowing the surviving partner to reduce the compensation paid to the estate if significant changes are made to the text or if it becomes necessary to hire external authors to keep the work up to date. Considering how apocalyptic such a departure of an employee would be without a written cooperation agreement, I would say that this is a second very close in importance (after the “division of labor” – above) as far as the compelling reasons for a cooperation agreement are concerned! Many people who hire are not aware of the consequences of working without a written agreement.

When a joint work is created, it is assumed that each employee shares the copyright and shares equal shares in the royalties. In addition, under the standard rules of copyright law – which can be changed by written agreement – any employee may license non-exclusive rights in the work to a third party, provided that he or she makes the profits reasonably available to the other. .