This is how you know I'm a copyright nerd: I read contest rules in their entirety. The contests I'm interested in almost always involve the submission of some work of art, so the transfer of rights involved in entering these contests is always fascinating.
Today, for example, I discovered that by entering your recording in this contest, not only do you grant the company running it the right to use the recording however they want forever, but they can also grant the same rights to anyone else. In theory, this means that they could sell your recording, or the rights to use your recording (e.g. to use it in a movie), making all the money they want without ever compensating you.
Is that likely to happen? No. Is it worth knowing what you're getting into? Absolutely. I'll still probably enter, since it's just a cover contest, but I would definitely think twice before submitting something original.
Today, for example, I discovered that by entering your recording in this contest, not only do you grant the company running it the right to use the recording however they want forever, but they can also grant the same rights to anyone else. In theory, this means that they could sell your recording, or the rights to use your recording (e.g. to use it in a movie), making all the money they want without ever compensating you.
Is that likely to happen? No. Is it worth knowing what you're getting into? Absolutely. I'll still probably enter, since it's just a cover contest, but I would definitely think twice before submitting something original.
In case you're interested, here is the actual text of the contest rules (emphasis mine).
D'Addario may edit, publish, copy, distribute, display and otherwise use, AND LICENSE OTHERS TO USE AND EDIT, your Submission (including Video and/or music), worldwide in any media, formats, editions, and derivations, now known or hereafter developed, for all possible editorial, advertising and promotional purposes without further permission, notice or compensation, except where prohibited by law. By submitting your entry, you grant D'Addario a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, create derivative works from, and display your video, including the music in the video, in whole or in part, in any media worldwide using technology now known or later developed, for any purpose, including for promotional or marketing purposes, AND TO AUTHORIZE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME.
Fun Fact: These are not the most sweeping rights forfeitures I've seen. That award goes to the 'Harry Potter for Kinect' soundtrack contest which required to you sign over ALL the rights to any music you submitted (exclusive license rather than non-exclusive), even if you didn't win. In other words, you would need permission from them in order to use your music for anything else ever again. I wondered at the time if it wasn't their secret plan to just score the entire video game with the various submissions, and only have to pay the one grand prize winner. (I would post those rules as well, but this was several years ago and my link doesn't work any more.)
The moral of this story is, in the words of Google: "Don't Be Evil." Just because you're able to do something legally doesn't mean you should. We all know what Google could do with everything they know about us (we've checked "Yes" and agreed to all of it, even if we weren't paying attention at the time), and if they can be mostly benevolent, then so can we.
Corollary to the moral: Work with good people. An evil person can exploit even a good contract, but a good person will never enforce an evil one.
The moral of this story is, in the words of Google: "Don't Be Evil." Just because you're able to do something legally doesn't mean you should. We all know what Google could do with everything they know about us (we've checked "Yes" and agreed to all of it, even if we weren't paying attention at the time), and if they can be mostly benevolent, then so can we.
Corollary to the moral: Work with good people. An evil person can exploit even a good contract, but a good person will never enforce an evil one.
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