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SigninG a Publishing Contract

9A. Non-compete and right of first refusal

Publisher requests for non-compete or right-of-first-refusal clauses are rare, but do happen. Reject these restrictions on your behavior if they apply to anything other than the game you're licensing and its expansions and other derivative works.


A non-compete clause prevents you from creating additional works that “compete” with the work covered by your contract. The publisher would never sign something saying they won’t publish another game that competes with your game, and you should not make that promise either. 


A right of first refusal or right of first negotiation would require you to pitch your games to this publisher first, and wait for them to refuse it before offering it to another publisher. This might delay your ability to pitch games that are not really appropriate for this publisher, while you go through the process of offering the game and waiting for them to refuse it.

If DESIGNER intends to submit or authorize publication of another game, DESIGNER shall first submit a proposal or prototype to PUBLISHER and provide PUBLISHER the opportunity to Publish the next game. If PUBLISHER wishes to acquire such next work, DESIGNER and PUBLISHER will attempt to reach an agreement as to terms during a reasonable period of exclusive negotiation, but no longer than 60 days, after DESIGNER's delivery of the proposal to PUBLISHER. If DESIGNER and PUBLISHER do not reach an agreement on the material terms within such period, DESIGNER is free to independently Publish the work or submit such next work elsewhere and Publish it with another publisher. For avoidance of doubt, this right of first negotiation shall terminate upon termination of the Agreement for any reason.

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