Artist Terms:
Basically,
what all this is saying is...
- 1. We get
to non-exclusively digitally distribute and promote your content
and use your names.
- 2. How long
this agreement lasts and who sells your content is up to you.
- 3. You set
the prices, we take a small fee, and we send you statements and
payments each month.
We
want to stress that by accepting this Agreement you are NOT transferring
any ownership rights of any kind to any of your copyrights (song,
video or audio visual recording) and no provision of, or potential
ambiguity in, this Agreement will be construed by anyone to transfer
any ownership rights in your copyright to us!
Agreement:
Please read
this Agreement carefully. By registering with PLUGOLA, this will
become a contract that is legally binding on you and us. If you
find anything in here that you cannot agree to or if by agreeing
you would be signing up to something that is not true, then you
should not register with PLUGOLA. The "Effective Date" of this Agreement
is the date on which you register with PLUGOLA. We have the right
to modify this contract from time to time as we state in Paragraph
7 below, and you will have the right to reject any modifications
we want to make by terminating this Agreement. References to "us"
anywhere in this contract means PLUGOLA, Inc., of 1414 N. Noble
St., Sutie #3F, Chicago, IL 60642.
You will see certain
capitalized terms in this Agreement, and those terms are defined
in Paragraph 8 below.
We Get To Non-Exclusively
Digitally Distribute And Promote Your Content And Use Your Names.
In order for us to be
able to distribute your Content and to represent to people that
you have authorized us to distribute and sell your Content, you
have to authorize and empower us to do those things in this Agreement.
By registering
with PLUGOLA, you
appoint us as your non-exclusive authorized representative for the
Exploitation of your Content in accordance with the terms you designate
in your PLUGOLA
terms. Accordingly, you grant to us and/or our Retailers the
right, to:
- a. Reproduce
and convert your Content into Digital Masters for all of your
Content, storing the metadata for that Digital Master in the PLUGOLA
Registry, and to use your metadata to provide Services to you
or to others.
- b. Distribute
by digital transmission Digital Masters of your Content as "singles",
"albums" or other "bundles", on-demand streams, "conditional downloads"
or other configurations of Digital Masters used in the online
music business in the Territory concerned, and to deliver those
configurations of Digital Masters to End Users (including through
the PLUGOLA Player) or Retailers subject
always to the rules you set in your Terms;
- c. Edit and
publicly perform, meaning to playback or otherwise make available
in a publicly available way, portions of your Content ("Clips"),
or Full Content by "streaming" that is primarily designed to have
potential purchasers buy permanent downloads of your Content or
subscribe to a service that includes your Content and generally
help in the promotion of the sale or playback of your Content;
- d.
Reproduce and publicly perform any Composition embodied in a Digital
Master derived from your Content (including any and all "server"
or "ephemeral" copies), it being understood and agreed that we
will not be obligated to account and pay mechanical royalties
to you, all such sums being included in the wholesale price set
by you;
- e.
Use your Content, Artwork and metadata as may be desirable for
us for Exploitation, including providing "blocking" and/or "filtering"
services for Registered (or 'Enabled') Content to certain third
parties;
- f.
Authorize our Affiliates to perform any one or more of the activities
specified above subject always to the terms you set in the PLUGOLA
Registry;
- g.
For the avoidance of doubt, the rights you grant to us for the
Compositions are, and will otherwise be deemed to be, a direct
license to us or any person, firm, corporation or other entity
hosting or making available any PLUGOLA Player including your
Content; and
- h.
You grant to us and our designees the rights to use and publish,
and to permit others to use and publish, the name(s), trademarks,
approved likenesses and approved biographical materials of you
and all persons rendering services in connection with your Content,
in connection with our or our designees’ Exploitation of your
Content and Artwork, as well as in connection with us and our
Services.
How
Long This Agreement Lasts Is Up To You. The
time period that this Agreement is in effect begins on the Effective
Date and continues as long as your Content is enabled in your PLUGOLA
Account. You may terminate this Agreement at any time by simply
disabling your content in your PLUGOLA Account.
We can terminate this Agreement at any time by sending you a notice
of our intention to terminate through either the Enabling Interface
or to your contact address listed in your Interface Account. If
you are caught attempting to cheat the PLUGOLA website in any way,
shape or form; your account will be immediately terminated without
notice, and all monies owed will be forfeited.
You Own Your
Content. We Only Own Our Data.
Again,
we want to stress that by accepting this Agreement you are NOT
transferring any ownership rights of any kind to any of your copyrights
(song, video or audio visual recording) and no provision of, or
potential ambiguity in, this Agreement will be construed by anyone
to transfer any ownership rights in your copyright to us. However,
we are the sole owner of all data we observe or collect during or
after the Term as part of providing the Services, including Acoustic
Fingerprints, transaction data, file-share requests, file transfers,
search requests, other shared materials, customer geographic and
demographic information.
Your
Fans Can Plug (resell) Your Content, Unless You Tell Them Not To.
- a. Subject
to your right to opt in/out of making your Content available to a
particular Affiliate in this Agreement, you authorize us to make
a contract with Affiliate(s) that allows us to distribute your
Content to a Affiliate for sale, streaming, or blocking. You will
be able to review the Retailer Use Terms for each Retailer through
the Enabling Interface. If you do not opt out of a particular
Retailer through the Enabling Interface within fifteen (15) days
after you are presented with such Retailer Use Terms, you will
be deemed to have authorized us to make your Content available
to that Retailer on those terms and we will make your Content
available. Any additional Digital Masters that you Register will
be automatically made available to each Retailer whose Retailer
Use Terms you have accepted or are deemed to have accepted because
you did not reject that Retailer in accordance with each Retailer's
Use Terms.
- b.
You understand and agree that the distribution of Content is solely
up to each Affiliate and can be controlled by changing the "Affiliation'
status in your "Account". You, and not us, are solely responsible
to pay all costs for and to bring and prosecute any and all claims,
involving your Content or otherwise, against an Affiliate, or
the owner, operator, or host of a web site which contains a PLUGOLA
Player. You understand and agree that we assume no obligation
to enforce your rights. Enforcement of your rights is solely your
responsibility. PLUGOLA provides a "Terms for Download" option
that you may use to display your own "Terms" that will be legally
binding to those who choose to purchase and download your content.
- c.
You will have the right at any time during the Term hereof to
modify the Exploitation of your Content, or to withdraw
your Content by disabling your content in your PLUGOLA
Account Interface. Promptly following the disabling of your content,
your content will immediately be removed from Fans' and Affiliates'
Players. The foregoing will not limit your responsibility for
sales and other uses of your Content and/or Artwork occurring
prior to the implementation of such change and will not limit
in any way the rights of End Users who have downloaded your Content
or Artwork.
You
Set The Prices, We Take A Small Fee, And We Send You Statements and
Payments Each Month.
- a.
We will maintain a unified account (a "proceeds account") into
which we will deposit net proceeds derived from sales of Digital
Masters and against which we will debit all fees payable by you
to us. All such fees (e.g., per-download transaction fees) are
listed on PLUGOLA’s Fee Schedule. If we change our fee schedule,
we will do so in accordance with the notification and modification
process described in Paragraph 7(a). For the avoidance of doubt,
you, and not us or our designees, will be responsible for setting
the wholesale price, subject to your obligation to pay the Transaction
Fee.
- b. Payment
to You: During the Term, we will deposit into your proceeds account
all of your net proceeds received by us, less our maintenance
fees (as described herein), on a monthly basis, no later than
forty-five (45) days following the end of each calendar month.
We will hold payment until the following month if the total amount
due to you is not more than twenty-five dollars (US$25.00). Our
accountings will show, in reasonable detail, the name of the artist,
the name and quantity of your Digital Masters sold/dpwnloaded
during each month and for sales through a Affiliates, together
with the applicable wholesale price and total net proceeds payable
for your Content. For sales through PLUGOLA
Player, we will not be obligated to provide the identity of the
host of any particular PLUGOLA Player.
Some
Promises You and We Need To Make.
- a.
By registering, you promise us that you have all rights necessary
to give us your Content, Artwork and associated metadata, all
at your sole cost and expense. You understand and agree that the
only sums we are required to pay to you in connection with any
and all Exploitations of your Content, Artwork or metadata will
be the retail price therefor less any and all sums you are required
to pay to us under this Agreement. You will be responsible for
and will pay (i) any sums due to artists, authors, co-authors,
copyright owners and co-owners, producers and any other record
royalty participants from sales or other uses of Digital Masters;
(ii) all sums payable in connection with the Compositions derived
from sales or other uses of Digital Masters, (iii) for any rights,
consents, or royalties payable to third-parties in connection
with the delivery, encoding, transcoding, encrypting, use and/or
distribution of Content; (iv) all payments that may be required
under any collective bargaining agreements applicable to you or
any third party, and (v) any other monies payable with respect
to Exploitations of your Content, and Artwork, metadata and any
other materials provided by you to us. You further agree to be
bound to the terms of PLUGOLA's "Dispute
Resolution and First Registrant Rule" located at www.plugo.la/about/policies/disputes.
You agree that you will not, and will not attempt to, challenge
the Registration of any content that you do not own and control.
- b.
You represent and warrant that you have the full authority to
act on behalf of any and all owners of any right, title or interest
in and to your Content or Artwork; and that you own or control
all rights necessary in order to grant to us the rights and promises
you grant to us under this Agreement, that the exercise of such
rights, licenses and permissions by us and our Retailers and licensees
will not violate or infringe the rights of any third party.
- c.
Each party represents and warrants that it has full authority
to enter into and fully perform its obligations under this Agreement
and has obtained all necessary third-party consents, licenses
and permissions necessary to do so; and neither party will not
act in any manner which conflicts or interferes with any existing
commitment or obligation of such party, and that no agreement
previously entered into by such party will interfere with such
party's performance of its obligations under this Agreement; and
that each party represents and warrants that it will perform their
obligations hereunder in compliance with any applicable laws,
rules and regulations of any governmental authority having jurisdiction
over such performance.
All
The Other Things A Contract Need To Have.
- a.
Modification: we reserve the right to change all or part of this
Agreement. Notice of any such changes will be provided by the Administration or in the manner detailed in Paragraph
7(h). It is your responsibility to check PLUGOLA mail
for any notices of modifications to this Agreement. If you do
not consent to any such proposed changes your sole recourse will
be to terminate this Agreement by written notice to us, and your
failure to do so within ten (10) days of the date of any such
change notice in your PLUGOLA mail will constitute your acceptance
of such changes.
- b.
Effect of Termination: the expiration of the Term of this Agreement
will not relieve either party from their respective obligations
incurred prior to or during the Term. Accordingly, the provisions
of this Agreement will continue to apply even after the expiration
of the Term.
- c. Indemnification:
if we receive a claim that our distribution of your Content or
Artwork or any other materials provided or authorized by you violates
any third party rights, you agree to fully indemnify and hold
us harmless, and upon our request, defend us and our licensees
and affiliates (and their respective directors, officers and employees)
from and against any and all losses, liabilities, damages, costs
or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs) concerning
any such claim. Accordingly, you agree to reimburse us and our
licensees and our affiliates on demand for any payments made in
resolution of any liability or claim that is subject to indemnification
under this Paragraph. You agree that your consent will not to
be unreasonably withheld. We will promptly notify you of any such
claim, and by obtaining, posting and maintaining an adequate bond
for our benefit you may assume control of the defense of such
claim, provided that we will have the right in all events to participate
in the defense thereof. Additionally, you agree to indemnify,
defend, and hold us harmless from and against anything including
all losses or liabilities (including reasonable attorneys' fees,
costs, and expenses) arising out of any claims by an Affiliate
that relates to your withdrawal of your Content (such as claims
alleging unfair business practices, or price discrimination).
- d.
Additional Services: If you breach this Agreement or otherwise
act in a manner that we determine, in good faith, requires us
to provide additional services we do not customarily provide in
the normal course of its business, we will notify you that we
intend to render such services, and we reserve the right to charge
you our standard rate price for the time and materials required
to complete such additional services.
- e.
The parties agree and acknowledge that the relationship between
the parties is that of independent contractors. This Agreement
will not be deemed to create a partnership or joint venture, and
neither party is the other's agent, partner, or employee.
- f.
This Agreement contains the entire understanding of the parties
relating to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all previous
agreements or arrangements between the parties relating to the
subject matter hereof. This Agreement cannot be changed or modified
except as provided herein. A waiver by either party of any term
or condition of this Agreement in any instance will not be deemed
or construed as a waiver of such term or condition for the future,
or of any subsequent breach thereof. If any provision of this
Agreement is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to
be unenforceable, such determination will not affect any other
provision hereof, and the unenforceable provision will be replaced
by an enforceable provision that most closely meets the commercial
intent of the parties.
- g.
This Agreement will be binding on the assigns, heirs, executors,
personal representatives, administrators, and successors (whether
through merger, operation of law, or otherwise) of each of the
parties.
- h.
Except as otherwise provided for herein, any notice, approval,
request, authorization, direction or other communication under
this Agreement will be given in writing and will be deemed to
have been delivered and given for all purposes on the delivery
date if sent by electronic mail to the addresses provided to and
by you upon registration, or as properly updated.
- i.
This Agreement will be governed and interpreted in accordance
with the internal laws of the State of Illinois applicable to
agreements entered into and to be wholly performed therein, without
regard to principles of conflict of laws. Any dispute arising
out of or relating to this Agreement will be subject to binding
arbitration in Cook County, Illinois, USA (or another location
as We may agree in writing), by telephone, in writing or on line,
at Our choice, before and under the then-current Commercial Arbitration
Rules of the American Arbitration Association. Judgment may be
entered on the arbitrator's decision in any court having jurisdiction.
You and we will each pay one-half of the costs and expenses of
such arbitration, and each of the parties will separately pay
its counsel fees and expenses.
- j.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, the rights and remedies
of the parties provided under this Agreement are cumulative and
are in addition to any other rights and remedies of the parties
at law or equity.
- k.
The section entitled “Summary” and the titles used in this Agreement
are for convenience only and are not to be considered in construing
or interpreting this Agreement.
- l.
This Agreement is for the sole benefit of the parties hereto and
their authorized successors and permitted assigns. Nothing herein,
express or implied, is intended to or will confer upon any person
or entity, other than the parties hereto and their authorized
successors and permitted assigns, any legal or equitable right,
benefit or remedy of any nature whatsoever under or by reason
of this Agreement.
What
The Capitalized Words Mean. The
following capitalized terms will have the following meanings for
purposes of this Agreement:
"Artwork"
means album cover artwork for your Content, and any other artwork
relating to your Content you provide to us. All such artwork will
be deemed to have been cleared by you for all purposes unless you
otherwise notify us.
"Content" means sound or
video recordings [including any and all musical compositions (“Compositions”)
embodied therein] that you enable in the PLUGOLA
Registry. All Content must be owned or controlled by you and/or have
been licensed by you for all purposes and rights granted and authorized
in this Agreement. No Digital Master of your Content may exceed fifteen
(15) minutes of playing time or include an interpolation of multiple
recordings (e.g., a "DJ Mix").
"Digital Master" or "Digital
Masters" means a copy or copies of your Content in digital form. Digital
Masters may include metadata associated with a Digital Master (such
as song/vido title, artist name, running time, identifiers [e.g.,
ISRC] and other information customarily associated as metadata in
the online music business in the country concerned), and Artwork.
"Account Interface" means
an online portal that provides access to your Digital Masters Registered
in the PLUGOLA
Registry.
"End User" means a person
who accesses or receives your Content via an Affiliate
or the PLUGOLA
Registry.
"Exploitation" or "Exploit"
means the sale, license, digital transmission, editing, marketing
and/or distribution of one or more Digital Masters, including any
and all reproductions made and distributed of any and all Digital
Masters.
"Registration" means a PLUGOLA
Content Provider's affirmative indication in the PLUGOLA
Registry with respect to particular Digital Masters that such PLUGOLA
Content Provider owns or controls such Digital Masters. "Register"
or "Registered" will have correlative meanings, and "Unregistered"
means a Digital Master that has not been Registered.
"Affiliate"
(or "Plugging")means any authorized third party (PLUGOLA members ONLY) that markets,
distributes or sells the Content of a PLUGOLA
Content Provider.
"Services" means the services
provided by us as described in this Agreement and other materials
provided or made available to you by us.
"PLUGOLA
Content Provider" means a party (including you) with which we have
a contractual relationship pursuant to which such party permits the
Exploitation of their Content.
"PLUGOLA
Player" means an online (and/or embeddable) store, such as one that
you create by means of the PLUGOLA
Enabling Interface, that provides a sales and/or distribution opportunity
for your Content that you have Registered whereby such store may be
inserted into any product or service that has the capability of rendering
html (such as, by way of example only, and not limitation, a web page)
after you have enabled the functionality on the PLUGOLA
Enabling Interface.
"PLUGOLA
Registry" means our collection and maintenance of all information
and records processed and compiled by us (including without limitation
aggregate metadata, Digital Masters, Artwork, Registrations and your
Use Terms and the use terms of third parties) in a form available
for access by PLUGOLA
Content Providers and PLUGOLA
Affiliates
through the PLUGOLA
Enabling Interface.
"Territory" means the countries
of the world designated by you in the Enabling Interface (the default
Territory being the world), provided, that we may elect to make the PLUGOLA
Player available on a more limited basis.
"Use Terms" means the rules
you establish in the PLUGOLA
Registry which govern the Exploitation or prohibition against Exploitation
of your Content by third parties, including Affiliates.
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