Silent Manga Audition (SMA), a project of Tokyo-based manga and anime production company Coamix Inc., conducts regular open auditions, or contests, for creators of silent manga (manga without dialogue). Contestants can win cash prizes, as well as mentoring and, possibly, publication.
SMA is currently running a contest for writers. The goal: to become a manga scriptwriter.
Entrants are invited to submit “a manuscript IN ENGLISH for the first chapter of a series, including one introduction page”. Winners receive cash prizes, plus the possibility that their script “could be developed into manga series by our MasterClass members and you through our editorial support!” The submission form is here; there are no entry fees. Entry deadline: February 1, 2024.
It’s an exciting-seeming opportunity: a credible company, real prizes, the potential for professional advancement. As always, though, the devil is in the details: the entry guidelines (aka Application Terms).
The first paragraph makes clear that winners must surrender ownership of their copyrights:
Copyright surrender in a work-for-hire situation isn’t necessarily a “beware”, as long as the contract terms aren’t exploitative and you understand the implications of what you’re agreeing to.
In this case, however, the one-time money prize is the sole compensation you’ll receive for your copyright transfer, from which Coamix Inc. can then profit indefinitely. Be aware also that if you win and your script does not get developed into a series, Coamix will still own your work. Winning, therefore, has potential benefits–but also potential costs.
On to the second paragraph:
Simply by entering the contest, you grant sweeping rights to Coamix to use your work in pretty much any way it chooses, whether or not you win. Coamix can exploit these rights without seeking your permission, or, I’m guessing, compensating you (I don’t see the phrase “royalty-free”, which is the standard way of indicating that you get no money, but there’s no mention of payment, either).
The grant is non-exclusive, which means that you could use those rights yourself, or license them to others (as long as that license too was non-exclusive). But it is “irrevocable”–you cannot cancel or terminate–and there’s no expiration date–which means, in effect, that it extends for the life of copyright.
Writing contest rules sometimes do include a blanket grant of rights upon entry, especially where there are multiple prizes. It’s a convenience for the contest sponsor, ensuring that the grant is already in place for winners, who don’t have to be contracted with individually. But the rights of non-winners should not be held forever. Rather, they should be released within a reasonable amount of time: if not upon announcement of prizes, then within a few weeks or a few months. Coamix does appear to want to be able to consider non-prizewinning entries for series adaptation, which is reasonable enough (that’s what the third paragraph of the entry guidelines addresses). But why does it need the author’s lifetime plus 70 years to do so? Claiming writers’ rights indefinitely just in case they might be useful someday is major corporate overreach. Sadly, it’s all too common.
Also of concern: entrants must agree “not to assert any moral rights”. Moral rights–which US writers may not be familiar with, since US law doesn’t recognize them for textual works–include the right of attribution (to have your work published under your name) and the right of integrity (to prevent your work from being altered in ways that are damaging to it or to you). So not only does entering this contest entail a sweeping, interminable grant of rights, it also constitutes agreement for your work potentially to be changed and amended in ways you can’t predict or object to, and to be published or otherwise exploited without your name. It’s not a copyright transfer, as with the winning entries–but it removes your work from your control almost as effectively.
I assumed that the entry guidelines for SMA’s regular contests would be identical…but to my surprise, they don’t appear to be. There’s a much more formal and legalistic submission agreement, and although entrants and prizewinners must agree to a similarly sweeping and uncompensated grant of rights, there’s no mention of copyright transfer or of a moral rights waiver. The rules for the scriptwriting contest, in other words, are significantly less creator-friendly.
Now, if you are fine with all of the above and still want to enter your script…no problem. That’s your decision.
My concern is that too many writers will only skim the entry guidelines…or maybe, if they jump right to submission without checking them first, miss them entirely, since they aren’t linked to the contest submission form. Please, writers, when considering whether to enter any kind of contest, make sure you read–and understand–every word of the applicable rules and guidelines. Compare the rules to similar contests. Seek opinions from others. Or email me, and I’ll tell you what I think.
Otherwise, you may be signing up for unanticipated consequences, somewhere down the road.
Wow! It is like to create a great idea and give this baby of yours to strangers, just to steal it, use and change and do not even tell you a word.