Can I tighten up these articles? Absolutely. I can make them shorter. I can strip them down, clean them up, and measure every paragraph down to the millimeter of available text space. I can make each article deliver one clean point, remove every detour, and get the reader in and out as quickly as possible.…
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There is something that constantly happens in my family. My sisters—especially the second oldest—love sending old family pictures into the family chat. Every once in a while, I’ll look at one of those faded photographs and think, “Let’s throw this through ChatGPT and see what it can do.” People tend to think restoring old photographs…
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Okay, folks, this is one of those things where I look at Disney, Marvel, and the whole superhero fatigue argument and go: the problem is not that superheroes are dead. They are not dead. Genres do not really die. Swashbucklers did not die. Westerns did not die. Cowboy stories did not die. Spy stories did…
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This is the time we’ve all been waiting for: the contract. This is where everything comes together. Before anything else, let’s be clear. You need good legal representation. You need people who know what they’re doing. People you can trust. This is not one deal. This is your career. I do not have legal representation…
Read MoreCreative Control – Who Actually Decides Now before we go any further, there is something I need to make very clear. This is a non-negotiable term of engagement for me. Everything we’ve talked about — money, contracts, morality provisions, royalties, reversion, buybacks — all of it eventually leads to one question: What is allowed to…
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Up to this point in the series, we’ve talked about money. We’ve talked about licensing, royalties, audits, residuals, merchandising, and all the different ways an intellectual property can make—or lose—money. Now it’s time to talk about something that can affect every one of those revenue streams almost overnight. Morality clauses. These clauses are often misunderstood…
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Now we’re getting into the part everybody wants to hear about. Royalties. This is one of those areas where you have to be very mindful because every industry handles royalties a little differently. Books. Music. Film. Television. Merchandise. Licensing. They all have different customs, different accounting methods, and different contracts. That’s why you should never…
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The Fun Clauses (That Can Still Screw You) Now here’s where things get interesting. This is the part people think the whole game is about. Travel. Accommodations. Flights. Hotels. Expenses. Because when someone wants your intellectual property, a lot of times they want you there, in person. And that? That’s the deal before the deal.…
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Exclusivity Is Where the Money Is Exclusivity is where control starts turning into money. People hear the word and think it means one simple thing: “They are the only ones who can use it.” That is not enough. Exclusivity can be very specific. It can be limited by product, region, time, quality standards, performance requirements,…
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Clauses Are Where You Win or Lose Clauses look boring. That is probably why they are so dangerous. You look at a contract, see legal language, skim past the dense parts, and think, “Yeah, yeah, let’s get to the deal.” That is where people lose. Because when you are operating with intellectual property, people do…
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