Writers Traditional vs. Self-Publishing Contracts: What Every Author Should Know Before Signing Before you sign a publishing contract — traditional or self-published — you need to know what you're actually transferring. This guide breaks down royalties, reversion clauses, copyright fundamentals, and what's actually negotiable in a traditional deal.
Filmmakers Chain of Title for Indie Films: The Document Package Every Distributor Requires Finishing your film and having a film a distributor will accept are two different things. Chain of title problems are among the most common reasons indie films stall at distribution — and they are almost always preventable if documentation is built during production, not after.
Filmmakers Option and Purchase Agreements for Indie Filmmakers: How to Lock Down Your Source Material Before you can make a film based on a book, true story, or someone's life, you need to lock down the rights. Here's how option and purchase agreements actually work — and what to watch for before signing.
Game Studios AI-Generated Assets in Games: Copyright, Ownership, and the Risks Studios Are Walking Into Studios are building games with AI-generated art, audio, and code — but the legal framework hasn't caught up. Here's what the copyright gaps mean for your IP, your deals, and your investors.
Game Studios Steam, Epic, and Itch.io: What Indie Studios Actually Agree To in Distribution Contracts Most developers click through platform distribution agreements without reading them. Steam's 70/30 cut is the detail everyone knows. The unilateral amendment clause, MFN provision, and Valve's right to delist your game are what matter when something goes wrong.
Game Studios Indie Studio Formation and IP: Structuring Your Game Company from Day One Most indie studios ship their first game before signing a single IP assignment agreement — and discover the problem during publisher due diligence. Here's the legal checklist: entity choice, IP assignment, trademarks, contractor agreements, and exit readiness.
Technology, AI, & Digital Innovation AI Training Data and Copyright: Fair Use, Licensing, and Governance for Model Developers Generative AI is colliding with copyright law in real time. Frontier models are trained on enormous, largely scraped corpora, while authors, artists,…
Game Studios Distribution Platform Agreements: What Indie Developers Need to Know About Steam, Epic, and Console Store Terms Steam's Steamworks agreement, Epic's developer terms, and console store contracts impose real legal obligations on indie developers — not just revenue splits. Here's what each platform actually claims, what it can do to your game and account, and what you can push back on.
Hardware Founders Invention Assignment Clauses — What They Actually Claim (And What They Don't) Your employer's invention assignment clause probably claims more than you assume. Here's what the four standard categories actually cover, where state law protects you (and where it doesn't), how the prior inventions schedule works, and what engineers should do before starting any personal project.
Hardware Founders Moonlighting from Arm, NXP, or Samsung Austin — What Your IP Assignment Clause Actually Claims Austin chip engineers sign IP assignment clauses that reach off-hours work. Here's what "related to company business" actually sweeps in, why Texas has no statutory floor like California's Labor Code § 2870, and the hygiene steps to take before starting any side project.
Musicians Label Deal Red Flags: What to Negotiate Before You Sign Taylor Swift's masters, Madonna's 90% touring share, California's broken 7-year rule for musicians: what every artist should fight for before signing a recording contract.
Hardware Founders Hardware Startup Fundraising: What's Different from SaaS Hardware startups need more capital, structured differently, across more rounds than SaaS. This guide covers the fundraising mechanics, investment instruments, non-dilutive capital access, and IP structures that define the hardware financing landscape.
Visual Artists Copyright vs. Trademark for Artists: Which Protection Do You Actually Need? Most artists know copyright protects their work — but not what trademark does differently, or when they need it. Here's the practical breakdown: copyright protects the art, trademark protects the brand, and some marks need both.
Visual Artists Gallery Representation Deals: What Artists Need to Know About Exclusivity, Splits, and Termination Gallery contracts cover more than just commission. Here is what visual artists need to know about exclusivity scope, payment timing, and protecting your work if the relationship ends.
Visual Artists The Visual Artist's AI Opt-Out Guide: What Actually Works in 2026 Three layers of defense — dataset, technical, legal — and which actually work for visual artists in 2026. Concrete steps for Spawning HIBT registration, Glaze cloaking, current AI-crawler robots.txt entries, EU TDMRep, and where DMCA still bites against AI outputs that copy your work.
Hardware Founders Hardware Patent Strategy for Early-Stage Founders: What to File, When, and Why It Matters Before Your Raise Hardware founders face a patent landscape categorically different from software — tighter deadlines, higher stakes at each development stage, and no automatic copyright fallback. What to file, when to file it, and how to build an IP stack that holds up in due diligence.
Visual Artists Commission Contracts for Artists: Protecting Your IP, Preventing Scope Creep, and Getting Paid When Projects Die A commissioned painting, illustration, or photograph cannot be work-for-hire — no matter what the contract says. Here is what your commission contract needs to cover: copyright ownership, scope creep prevention, kill fees, and the payment structure that protects you when projects die.
Hardware Founders Your Day Job Might Own Your Startup's IP: The Clean Separation Playbook for Deep-Tech Founders Most hardware engineers sign invention assignment agreements without reading them — and those agreements reach further than you think. What California and six other states protect, and the operational playbook for building your startup's IP without contaminating it with your employer's.
Streamers Talent Agreements with Managers and Agencies: Leverage Points for Streamers Signing with a manager or agency could double your earnings — or lock you into a deal you can't get out of. Here's what every streamer should negotiate before they sign.
Musicians Your Music Is Being Used to Train AI. Here's What You Can Actually Do About It. AI companies trained on tens of millions of recordings — including yours — without consent. Here's what the lawsuits mean, what opt-outs exist, and the steps you can take to protect your catalog now.
Musicians DIY Release Agreements: What Independent Musicians Need to Lock Down Before Distributing Most independent releases have at least one contract problem — you just never signed anything. This guide covers the collaboration agreements, split sheets, producer deals, and distribution terms every indie musician needs before uploading a single track.
Startup Central Startup Domain Strategy: Trademark Protection, UDRP Disputes, and Defensive Registration Many startups treat a domain as a quick technical purchase — secure the .com , ship the landing page, move on.
Intellectual Property & Branding Trademark Lifespan and Renewals: A Complete Guide for Startups and Growing Companies For startups and growing companies, a trademark is more than a name or logo — it's a core brand asset that can drive demand, partnerships, and valuation.
Startup Central Startup Brand Protection: Domains, Trademarks, and Enforcement Strategy For most startups, your public brand begins with a name and a domain . That makes early branding decisions unusually visible — and unusually expensive…
Streamers The Brand Deal Contract Checklist: What Every Streamer Needs to Read Before Signing Brand deals come with contracts that most streamers sign without understanding what they're giving away. IP grants, exclusivity restrictions, and performance penalties can all limit your freedom and income long after the campaign ends.
