Submission Release Terms
I am submitting to you herewith the above-referenced screenplay (hereinafter referred to as the "material") pursuant to the following terms and conditions.
1. I am interested in having you evaluate my material. I know that because of your stature in the industry you receive many screenplays, treatments, ideas, stories, formats, and suggestions for screenplays. As a consequence thereof, I understand that you cannot read, accept, and evaluate the material unless I agree to and accept all terms and conditions of this Submission Release.
2. I represent and warrant that: I am the sole owner and author of the material; I have the exclusive right and authority to make this submission and to grant the rights being conveyed to you hereunder; to my knowledge, the material does not infringe upon a third party’s copyright or trademark or violate anyone’s right of privacy or publicity, and is not defamatory. I agree to indemnify you and hold you harmless from any claims, losses, liabilities, damages, judgments, and expenses (including reasonable outside legal fees and costs) that are incurred by you due to my breach of the aforementioned warranties and/or this Submission Release.
3. I understand that you regularly receive screenplays and other literary works from third parties and/or create and develop screenplays and other literary works in-house in the regular course of your business and, as such, you may have received and developed, or are now developing, or may in the future receive and develop a screenplay or other literary work that is similar in theme, idea, plot, format, characters or other respects to the material that I am submitting to you. Furthermore, I am also aware that you may decide to acquire, develop and/or produce any such screenplays or literary works. So long as such screenplays or literary works are independently created by a third party or you, you will have no obligation to me even though any such screenplay or literary work is similar to the material.
4. I agree that any portion of the material that may be freely used by the public (referred to herein as "unprotected material") may be utilized by you because it is not protected under copyright law or is in the public domain. All or any part of the material that is not unprotected material shall be referred to herein as “protected material” and is protected under copyright law.
5. If you use or cause to be used any of the protected material, you must negotiate a rights acquisition agreement with me within customary industry standards.
6. I acknowledge that no fiduciary or confidential relationship now exists or will ever exist between us by reason of this Submission Release or submission of the material by you. No express or implied agreements will exist between us as a consequence of this unsolicited submission or conversations in reference thereto.
7. I have retained at least one copy of said material and I hereby release you from any liability for loss of, or damage to, copies of said material submitted by me hereunder.
8. This Submission Release shall be governed by the laws of the state of California applicable to agreements executed and to be fully performed therein.
9. In the event of any dispute concerning the material or concerning any claim of any kind or nature whatsoever arising in connection with the material or arising in connection with this Submission Release, such dispute will be submitted to arbitration. I hereby waive any and all rights and benefits, which I may otherwise have or be entitled to under the laws of California to litigate any such dispute in court, it being the intention of the parties to arbitrate, according to the provisions hereof, all such disputes. Either party may commence arbitration proceedings by filing a Demand for Arbitration with the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") and proceeding thereafter in accordance with the Commercial Rules and procedures of the AAA. The arbitration shall be conducted in the County of Los Angeles, State of California, by a single arbitrator mutually selected by you and me from the AAA National Roster; provided, however, that if we cannot agree upon an arbitrator within twenty (20) calendar days after the date that AAA sends out notice to the parties that a Demand for Arbitration has been filed, the AAA shall appoint the arbitrator. The arbitration shall be governed by and subject to the laws of the State of California and the then prevailing Commercial Rules of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrator's award shall be final and binding and a judgment upon the award may be enforced by any court of competent jurisdiction.
10. I hereby state that I have read and understand this Submission Release and that no oral representations of any kind have been made to me and that this Submission Release states our entire understanding with reference to the subject matter hereof and that you are relying thereon in your acceptance and evaluation of the material. Any modification or waiver of any of the provisions of this Submission Release must be in writing and signed by both of us.
To electronically sign this Submission Release, enter your name in the "Name" field below, preceded and followed by the forward slash (/) symbol. An example of an acceptable signature is: /john doe/. Select the date of signing in the "Date" field below.
