© Contracts For Creators

Contracts For Creators

Draft V.1.1

This contract template should help you:

(1) Understand the different ways you can protect your rights, and negotiate better;

(2) Capture the essence of your ‘business conversations’ or at least get you
started in the right direction;

(3) Help you have clearer conversations within the creative community,
about things like copyright, proper payments, professionalism and the like

What this contract template does not do:

(1) Please understand that this isn’t a substitute for real legal counsel or advice. So if
you feel like you ought to be speaking to a lawyer, then please do go right
ahead – there may be nuances that a general template like this may not help
cover;

(2) Using this template doesn’t create a professional relationship with any of us on
the team, and so if you’d like to learn more about who we are and what we do,
please do read the section about us.

(3) This template may not fit all your situations, and isn’t going to look like a
standard contract, because we want to focus on making it simple and
approachable. So we hope it doesn’t come across as too much of a surprise.

© Contracts For Creators

 Agreement for Musical Work between
[INSERT YOUR NAME]
AND
[INSERT YOUR CLIENT’S NAME]

This Agreement for Musical Work (henceforth to be referred to as the “Agreement”)

dated [insert date] (henceforth to be referred to as the “Effective Date”) is entered
into by and between:

[Insert Your Client’s Name], with their office at [Insert Address], and to be referred
through this Agreement as the “Client”;

AND

[Insert Your Name], residing at [Insert Address], and to be referred through this
Agreement as the “Artist”.

Both the Client and Artist may collectively be referred to as Parties.

The Parties hereby agree to the following terms and obligations:

Whereas

A. The Artist is a professional musician and in the business of creating original

musical work for commercial and non-commercial purposes;

B. The Client is [insert a few basic details about your client here];

C. The Client has agreed to enter into an agreement with the Artist with
respect to the agreed upon and defined work (“Musical work”) which is [do
insert a few details about the project that you have been engaged for]

1.Scope of Work

1.1 The Artist agrees to provide the Musical work to the Client, in exchange for the
agreed upon fee, and in keeping with the agreed upon delivery schedule.

1.2. Both Parties understand that the Musical work will be used for the purposes of
[describe the purpose – for eg., in the course of XYZ advertising campaign as a
jingle, or to be incorporated as a part of the soundtrack/backingscore of XYZ web
series] only, unless otherwise specified.

© Contracts For Creators

 2. Delivery, Approvals and Revisions

2.1.The Client shall provide the Artist with a detailed brief, with respect to the
creation and commissioning of the Musical work, and shall be available to answer
any pertinent questions posed by the Artist, within a reasonable time. Both Parties
agree and understand that they will be available to each other, only during the
agreed upon business hours.

2.2.The Artist shall adhere to the agreed upon delivery schedule, and provide the
Client with timely updates of the Musical work. The Client agrees to inform the
Artist within [insert number] of days of receiving the Musical work, as to its
acceptance.

2.3.The Artist guarantees to revise and modify the Musical work, if requested by the
Client, provided the Client is able to effectively explain to the Artist, the
modifications they are interested in.

2.4.The Client shall seek the prior approval of the Artist before making edits or
changes to the final Musical work, and shall refrain from sharing the draft versions
of the Musical work with any third party, unless otherwise agreed upon.

3. Compensation and Fee

3.1. The Client agrees to pay the Artist a fee of [Insert currency] [insert number] or
[insert amount in words], exclusive of service tax and inclusive of TDS. This fee shall
be payable to the Artist as a [lumpsum / as milestone payments] on the delivery of
the Musicalwork.

3.2. The Client agrees to pay the Artist a royalty rate of [insert number] payable per
quarter, as has been mutually agreed upon, and in keeping with the statutorily
recommended rates.

3.3 Any and all out of pocket expenses, including but not limited to [Insert types of
expenses], shall be borne by the Client and will be considered outside the
calculation of the fee, and shall be reimbursed to the Artist on submission of bills
and receipts.

© Contracts For Creators

 4. Grant of Rights

4.1. The Artist grants to the Client, the [full rights/ specific rights/ a license] over the
Musicalwork

4.2. The Artist grants the rights [in perpetuity/ for a period of x number of years]

4.3.The Artist grants the rights to the Client for [the territories of x/ the entire world]

4.4.The Artist being acknowledged as the author, shall retain moral rights over the
Musical work/ The Artist working for hire, shall waive their moral rights and the
pursuit of any action towards safeguarding them.

4.5.The Artist shall have portfolio rights over the Musical work, and the permission
from the Client to include the Musical work in their portfolio/ for promotional
purposes.

5. Representations and Warranties

5.1.The Artist hereby acknowledges that they are entering into this Agreement, in
good faith and have the capacity to do so, thereby binding them to the obligations
of this Agreement

5.2.The Client hereby acknowledges that they are entering into this Agreement, in
good faith and have the capacity to do so, thereby binding them to the obligations
of this Agreement

5.3.The Artist warrants that their Musical work is original, and does not infringe on
any existing copyright, licensed work or protected works.

5.4.The Client shall ensure that they adhere to the payment schedule, and shall
make all reasonable efforts to help clarify the brief of the Musical work to the Artist.

5.5.Both Parties agree to keep the terms of this engagement confidential and shall
only reveal aspects of the same to a third party, as and when necessary. Both
Parties shall treat each other’s information as well as the results of their
collaboration including discussions, conceptualizations, business ideas, promotional
ideas and any other related discussions as a part of the confidentiality required
under this Agreement. Failure to abide by this condition shall amount to material
breach and shall also attract penalties as prescribed under law

© Contracts For Creators

 6. Cancellation and Termination

Either the Artist or the Client may choose to terminate the Agreement prior to the
completion of the Musical work, by providing a written notice to the other Party. The
Parties are required to put down in writing, the reason for the termination. The
Client shall pay the Artist for all the work done in the course of creating the Musical
work, and shall clear any and all pending dues, no later than 15 days from the date
of issue of the notice of termination.

7. Indemnification

Both Parties shall indemnify each other against any and all liability, damages, costs
and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, in connection with
any third-party claim or action arising out of the breach of either of their
representations, warranties and agreements herein.

8. Governing law and Dispute Settlement

The Agreement and all matters ensuing under it shall be governed by the Laws
of India, and shall thus fall under the jurisdiction of [insert city]. In the
event of a dispute between both Parties, they shall first attempt to resolve it by
way of mediation, failing which the Parties shall resort to resolution of the said
dispute by way of arbitration where the Parties shall appear before an arbitration
panel of three arbitrators where one is appointed by either Party, and the two
Parties shall appoint the third arbitrator.

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© Contracts For Creators