Earlier today my team received the following email, informing us that there will be a TV show being filmed at the LA North Regional that we are attending, asking that our drive teams fill out what they called a “Publicity Release Form” and send them to FIRST. Below is the email. They ask that it is kept confidential, but I don’t know who this Kevin guy who sent it to me is and I never signed anything saying I wouldn’t share this information, so I’m sharing it here because I think this situation is not safe for students or teams.
Hello all,
You are receiving this email as a registered team mentor for the Los Angeles North Regional at Mamba Sports Academy. At the competition on Saturday, February 29, we will be filming a segment for a TV show to promote the FIRST RISE season. Filming will be taking place in the late morning/early afternoon. All content within this email is confidential.
To prepare for filming, we are asking for each team’s drive team to sign publicity release forms in advance. Attached, you will find the publicity waiver. Each drive team member should sign the waiver, and if under 18, have their guardian sign. We will also need a photo with each student holding the waiver so we can easily identify participants (example also attached). Please have each student sign the waiver and reply with a photo by Friday, February 14 to [email protected] (copied here).
There is the possibility that we will need to have additional students from your teams sign waivers on-site and after filming; we will follow-up directly with those teams as needed. We also understand some students may not feel comfortable being filmed. Please let me know if that’s the case and we will make arrangements.
Thank you for your cooperation in this exciting project! Please contact me if you have any questions.
Best,
Kevin
Kevin Walther
Brand Manager, Marketing
Attached was this PDF document, which I put on Google Drive for y’all to see. Now I’m not too familiar with the various kinds of publicity release documents out there, but every single one I’ve seen thus far has been half a page at most and has been a clear, easy read. This document is 2 full pages of an 11 part contract written in legalese. Maybe it was more common than I thought, but since it was pretty dense, I called up a friend of mine who works in Hollywood and knows much more about these things than I do (she has experience with competitive robotics and its integration in the film industry), and asked her to help translate some of the language through the lens of Hollywood.
After better understanding the rights we give away by signing it and the potential dangers for our students and our team, I am making sure my team doesn’t sign it. I urge everyone who received this email to read this document very carefully before signing, because despite being labeled as a “publicity release”, this contract releases teams’ rights to their identities, properties, and insurances. I’ve outlined some of the more concerning details below:
- In exchange for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, I authorize Karga Seven Pictures, LLC (“Producer”) and its licensees, successors and assigns to make use of my appearance in connection with Producer’s audiovisual project currently entitled “Untitled Food Network Program” (the “Production”) or otherwise.
This means that anyone the producer gives permission to use their photos and videos of you to has permission to use said photos and videos, even if you did not give the other party explicit permission. I don’t personally like this, but more importantly this also applies to minors, whose photos, videos, and likeness can be distributed without their knowledge or consent.
- I agree that Producer has the right to take motion and still pictures of me, and to record my voice, conversation, sounds and actions, including any performance of any musical composition(s) and/or re-enactments, dramatizations or portrayals of any material, during and in connection with my appearance and that Producer shall be the exclusive owner of the results and proceeds of any such taping, photography and recording, whether such taping, photography, and/or recording occurred prior to or after the date hereof, with the right, throughout the universe in any and all media (now known or hereafter devised), in perpetuity, to copyright, to use and/or to license others to use, in any manner, all or any portion thereof or of a reproduction thereof, and my name, voice, image, likeness and biographical information in and in connection with the distribution, exhibition, advertising, promotion and other exploitation of the Production or otherwise, including without limitation ancillary products (e.g., merchandise). All physical embodiments of the filming, recordings, photography and other materials created hereunder, whether occurring prior to or after the date hereof, shall hereinafter be known as the “Materials”.
This is one of the most jarring ones. Those who sign this contract are releasing their right to nearly their entire likeness. Again, this applies to minors.
- I will defend, indemnify and hold the Released Parties harmless from any and all claims, actions, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, expenses, injuries or causes of action, as well as all those that in any way are caused by, arise out of or result from any breach or alleged breach by me of any of the representations, warranties or agreements made by me in this Appearance Release.
This is one of those “even if it’s not probable, it’s still possible” kind of things. If the production crew’s actions results in anything that could injure a student, damage your robot or pit, affect the outcome of a match, or damage your team brand, they are entirely in the clear. You can in no way hold them responsible. Now how likely is it that something like this will happen? I don’t know, but I’ve seen a lot of things at events happen, and I wouldn’t be surprised if something like these could happen at LAN this year as a result of this production crew coming in and trying to film a TV show. Their priority is making good television, not giving this program exposure and making the best experience for these students. I’m worried about how their pursuit of good television will affect the regional.
- Without limiting the foregoing, I hereby agree that I shall not have the right to terminate or rescind this Appearance Release or to enjoin or restrain the distribution, exhibition, advertising, promotion or other exploitation of the Production, the Materials or other materials produced in connection with the Production, or elements thereof or rights ancillary thereto.
If you sign and submit the contract, you cannot terminate the contract. While this is pretty standard, teams are being asked to sign a contract about an event they know little to nothing about before the event even begins. Should a team show up and find out that they are not comfortable with how they are being represented or with how their agreement to the contract affects their regional experience, they cannot terminate it.
- I acknowledge that there is a possibility that subsequent to the execution of this Agreement, I may discover facts or incur or suffer claims which were unknown or unsuspected at the time this Agreement was executed, and which if known by me at that time may have materially affected my decision to execute this Agreement. I acknowledge and agree that by reason of this Agreement, and the releases contained in the preceding paragraphs, I am assuming any risk of such unknown facts and such unknown and unsuspected claims.
This one is very concerning to me. We are being asked to sign a contract without knowing what will happen, and if later on (either at the event or afterwards) we find out something that, had we known before signing we would not have signed, there is nothing we can do about it. If my robot falls off the bar and later out I find that some television show mocked my team about it and played the falling clip over and over, there’s nothing I could do. If I find out my photo and name is later on used in an advertisement for young men unable to grow facial hair and I’m the “before” photo, there’s nothing I can do. Keep in mind this also applies to minors. Would these things happen? I don’t know, but this final point doesn’t make me feel like it’s out of the question.
- I agree that Producer may assign this Appearance Release and any or all of its rights and obligations to any party or entity. This Appearance Release is non-assignable by me and any purported assignment shall be null and void. This Appearance Release shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the internal law of the State of California, applicable to contracts entered into and to be fully performed therein, without giving effect to California’s principles of conflicts of law. If there is a dispute between Producer and me which cannot be settled by mutual agreement, Producer and I agree that the Federal or State courts in Los Angeles, California and courts with appellate jurisdiction therefrom shall have exclusive jurisdiction of such matter and that venue therein is proper and convenient. This Appearance Release constitutes the entire understanding of the parties and replaces any and all former and contemporaneous agreements and understandings relating to the subject matter hereof. No waiver or modification of the terms hereof shall be valid unless in writing signed by the party to be charged and only to the extent therein set forth. This Appearance Release may be executed by original, facsimile or electronic signatures, each of which will be deemed an original.
This states that not only can the rights I waive by signing this contract be given to anyone the producer would like, but also that I cannot give those rights to anyone myself. If they take a photo of me that my team wants to use as my headshot on our team website, I cannot give the team permission to use it, but the producer can give out and license any likeness of me or part of my identity that I have waived to anyone for any reason at all.
All in all, this whole TV show idea is very concerning to me, and as stated above, I will not be having my team sign this. I am worried about how the presence of this TV show will affect the event (staging scenes takes time, I better not lose out on matches because of this), and I am worried about the liability that this production crew brings to both my team and our robot. I have a hard time believing that this goes in line with FIRST’s mission, or that FIRST thoroughly understands what is in this contract they asked teams to sign. I am also disappointed with FIRST labeling this as a “Publicity Release Form”, when it is clearly a contract that both waives teams’ rights and releases the Producer from liability.
I am not here to tell everyone else what to do, I just want to make sure teams are educated on what they may be signing. When FIRST sends this out, teams would probably expect that it is inherently safe because FIRST sent it, and I don’t believe that’s true. My goal is to prevent teams from signing this without fully reading it because it’s from FIRST and they feel it can be trusted. We all claim to read terms and conditions when downloading a new app, so I hope that with this post teams actually do read what they are asked to sign.
