Tokyopop - The Manga Pilot Contract

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http://destroyerzooey.livejournal.com/180842.html

i send this as a warning to any aspiring artists on this board, especially ones who're fans of Tokyopop and may want to work for them. i myself have been trying to break into the comics world for a while now and one of the first things they teach you is how to make sure you don't get screwed by contracts. it's an unfortunate truth but sometimes you have to be as good a businessman as you are an artist, if not more so.

Wow... O_O Thanks for posting this! I was actually thinking of signing up with them eventually, but now I realize that that would have been a horrible mistake.

Daaamn. Thank you for posting.

Of course, MadMagazine has been ripping into Tokyopop for a while, so on the basis of that alone I was reluctant. But this article definitely solidified my argument.

Lol, that contract is a joke in how pathetic it's written. I mean it uses a patronizing language, deliberately tries to be confusing and ambiguous on certain terms, and clearly looks too unprofessionally written. Rule of thumb, corporations will try to screw you with contracts period. Analyze the contracts and make sure they explicitly state terms in a understandable way that (without loopholes, unfair conditions to invalidate these terms, etc added): You'll clearly be paid in some way that's satisfactory to both parties (make sure a figure you'll be paid and their conditions about payment(s), are printed on the contract), and you'll have sufficient or absolute intellectual property rights to all works you produce.

THAT IS EVIL!...I can't belive they're getting away with it...!