by Will McDermott
If you write narrative content for a video, role-playing, or board game—or even write fiction within a game world or for an intellectual property (IP) like Marvel or Star Wars—you will likely be asked to sign a Work for Hire (WFH) contract. These contracts have several major differences from fiction contracts you may have signed when writing your own original fiction. If you’re looking to make the leap from writing original fiction to working within a licensed game or entertainment property, this article will break down some of the differences you can expect to find between writing for yourself versus writing for someone else.
Rights Ownership
Chief among these differences is that you will not own the material you create for that IP. Essentially, you are playing in someone else’s sandbox. WFH contracts almost always stipulate that any materials you deliver under that contract are owned by the license holder upon delivery.
Here is an example taken from such a clause: “Author assigns and transfers all intellectual property rights in the work, and the ownership of and sole rights to the intellectual property rights in the work shall be vested in [COMPANY] from the date of delivery of the work.”
Some WFH contracts will take this a step further by specifying that the WFH contractor freely assigns all rights to the work to the company even when other laws, contracts, or qualifications may say otherwise. Plus, a WFH contract may stipulate you give up your rights to derivative works based on the content delivered. This means later authors working in the IP can freely use any character, locales, plot points, etc. that you created. You no longer own or control their use.
Lastly, some WFH contracts state that revisions are at the sole discretion of the company. Here is an example: The company may “publish, produce, or market work in whatever form or format it deems fit in its entire discretion.”
WFH writers rarely retain any rights to their work, but I have seen one contract that included specific clauses dictating how the author could reprint their story after first use. This involved seeking permission in writing from the company and following their rules about the use of those elements of the story derived from the IP.
Confidentiality Clauses
The other major addition to most WFH contracts is a section on confidentiality. This is especially prevalent in the game industry due to the intense competition between game companies. They must guard their secrets (game titles, release dates, settings, game mechanics, etc.) for many reasons. For example, they don’t want competitors to get wind of an upcoming product and try to beat them to market. They also don’t want to undercut their marketing efforts until the time is right to begin releasing information.
These companies have a vested interest in ensuring that their contractors keep any proprietary information confidential. Here is an example confidentiality clause: “Contractor shall not provide, leak, disclose, or use Confidential Information acquired in connection with this Agreement to any third party without prior written consent.”
The rest of the confidentiality clause details what information is considered confidential (often covering a very broad swathe), when and how much information the contractor can disclose (usually nothing until after the game has been officially announced), and, most importantly, the ramifications and remediation the company may seek if the contractor leaks confidential information. Most often, the immediate result will be termination, but the company could take legal action as well.
Many WFH contracts also demand the contractor return or destroy all confidential information provided to them once the work has been completed. I have rarely seen these clauses enforced, but it is a good idea to remove this material from your physical and digital files at the end of the contract to avoid any unintentional leaks (say if your laptop gets stolen or your files hacked).
Even when you sign a contract with a section on confidentiality, you may also be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. NDAs are common practice in the game industry and IP tie-in fiction. This topic is discussed in another article in this series, but it’s important to note that NDAs and confidentiality agreements do not prevent you from discussing the contract with your attorney, or any payments or royalties with your accountant.
Other Differences
Rights and confidentiality are the main differences between original fiction and WFH contracts, but here are a few other items to consider:
- Royalties and scope: Most WFH contracts pay a flat fee for the work, and there will be no provision for royalties. The scope of the work required (500 trivia questions, 100 quest cards, etc.) will be spelled out in the contract or an addendum, along with deadlines. You will often get paid for milestones and/or final delivery, and that will be the end of it. When writing fiction for a game world, you may or may not get royalties depending on the publisher and your status—some tie-in publishers do pay an advance and/or royalties, but not all.
- Author credit: Whether your name will appear on the game is heavily dependent on the company. Some game companies do not include any credits in their games and attribute the creation of the game to the entire design studio. Other game companies celebrate all contributors on a credits page in the rulebook. Either way, there may be no clause in the contract that ensures your name will be attached to the product.
- Author copies: Many WFH contracts don’t stipulate that you be provided a copy of the game or published product. Many companies do provide these anyway, but you may need to request that copy once it has been published. The common fiction contract practice of providing author copies (especially when the pay is low) is notably absent from WFH contracts.
Why Sign a WFH Contract
The reality is that if you want to write for the game industry, you will often have to sign a WFH contract. It’s the way that business is done in this industry. The good news is that many game companies seek external writers because they don’t employ staff writers, so there is a decent amount of work out there for contract writers. Plus, the video, board, and role-playing game industries all run on reputation. You will hear about companies that don’t treat their contract writers well. Ask me. I have tales.
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Will McDermott turned a love of science fiction and games into a writing career. He has published nine novels, 30 short stories, and helped create numerous worlds, characters, and stories for card, board, and video games. His fiction is often set in gaming universes, including Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40K, Renegade Legion Universe, and Mage Wars. Will is known for bringing larger-than-life characters alive, including Warhammer’s Kal Jerico and Mad D’onne, Magic’s Balthor the Stout, and Night Stalker’s Carl Kolchak. Check out willmcdermott.com for more.