• Questions

  • Is signing up a contract with webnovel really that bad?

Xincerely Please do not try to waive away any clauses with the argument that "they would never be used". They are there for a reason and if a profit-seeking company can make a profit by using those clauses they will. Ghost-writers are a real thing and have been used for a number of different series. Its not just "child ____". Novels have been stopped because they criticise the wrong people or are too "dark". This might sound crazy to some people, but it made sense to the powers that be, so imagine what other things could make sense to them.

Check out RABBITICOL's message just before yours. Particularly this section:

"And after you have read it and don't like any clauses, don't let anyone tell you nonsense along the lines of: Those are just there for XYZ reason and Webnovel doesn't enforce them, they have never enforced them... or they don't have the manpower to enforce them.

That reasoning is utter garbage. Unless they remove the clauses, always sign it with the assumption that they will enforce them on the earliest possible moment."

This is true for all contracts from any party, not just those from webnovel. The key message (to paraphrase Rabbitcol) is assume that any and all clauses will be enforced and, if you are fine with it, then the contract is fine. People have different desires and needs, what is a good/acceptable deal for one person does not necessarily make it so for another person. For example: some people their IP is their baby, while for others it is just another commodity that they are willing to sell for an acceptable price. A bottle of water for 1,000 dollars is crazy for most, but a good deal to a dehydrated person. Just don't try to package any old liquid and pretend its just water with a different meaningless "colour" and odour.

        Because certain clauses haven't been enforced so far does not guarantee that they will never be enforced. Sure, the chances are less considering the present scenario but when you are agreeing to the clauses mentioned, you should be okay if they are enforced because you have agreed to them. You wouldn't be able to stand up tomorrow and say, hey that's not fair. I signed because I saw those clauses never getting enforced. Why me? You wouldn't be able to ask that why me question in future. Having said that, I would say, take your own time going through the contract and the terms and conditions. If they work for you, just go ahead and sign one. If you aren't looking for what WN is providing, don't sign. It's really simple as that. The deal is good or bad depending upon your circumstances and preferences. Good luck. : )

        MaxwellKHA

        Key word to add: YET.

        While many of those clauses are not actively enforced, the fact they exist in a legally binding contract is what should put most on awareness.

        No one thought Disney was going to run Star Wars into the ground when they bought Lucasfilms... but lo and behold they did exactly that.

        The thing to take away from that is, never say never. Weirder shit happens and has when its come to those who buy good work and have employees who don't know good from bad when wielding their authoritative powers.

          Thank you for your opinions guys. I think I won't sign I read all the 20 pages and with some clauses I am totally not fine with it. Like they have the ability to force me to stop my novel or yeah a third party can continue writing my novel. Or they are giving me instructions for my plot and I have to follow them even though I have a different opinion as it is their work now. I am not someone else puppet. Again thank you guys but if someone else is interested in signing a contract don't be discouraged by that if it really is your interest.

            Deleteduser87

            I think Rabbiticol has given some good advise. It's my recommendation too. Read and ask your content editor your questions. They're there to help you with this.

            You're instincts should tell you if you're going to sign or not. You should be 100 percent gungho willing to sign with all understanding of what you're signing. If you're not, especially after gathering content editor and independent advice from legal savvy peeps, there's your answer.

            A rule of thumb, a clause is always enforceable. We're just fortunate at this stage that Webnovel is still yet to reach a level of maturity to enforce most of them. It's best to read and accept a fact that a condition and obligation clause is one that must, can and has the potential to happen.

            Hope that helps.

              I think most of people here are forgetting one painful yet important aspect of the clauses in the contract.

              1st - Be god-damn realistic. Outside of the cream of the top of the webnovel (and even it that case, I doubt it would have any other meaning) your books when compared to the size of the entire webnovel, are worthless. Don't worry, my books, books of most of my author's friends and most of the authors I even know about, apply to this rank.

              Because it's easy to say, sign something only with the understanding it will be used against you. But that's not how the world works. Do you know what kind of insane uproar enforcing even a single of those rules would cause? Do you realise the size of the backlash that WN would face with it? Then unless you believe (and trust me, unless you are top3, you don't have any reason to do so) that you are absolute monster whose novel is worth more than the literal rest of the webnovel portfolio, then you don't need to worry about it!

              What's more, EVEN IF a clause were to be enforced (because let's say for some reasons WN turn's idiotic as most of the people bringing up those clauses would like it to be). What do you think would WN do? Go for immensely costly lawsuit only to gain about 1% of its costs alone back (in case you were actually a big author in the first place, which let's face it, most of peps are not)? SImply because they would like you to suffer?

              I'm sorry guys, but you are not (nor am I or most if not all the author's writing for webnovel) worth the effort to go for such length. If you breach the contact, you can just say byebye to your earnings, as you wouldn't get a single more promotion till the rest of your life. But let's be honest, if you are willing to breach the contract, you don't care about webnovel either way.

                MotivatedSloth they wouldn't got into a lawsuit. They'd just fuck you over and say "read the contract. " the author would have to be the one to fight it and try to get those clauses rendered unenforceable but good luck lol. Esp good luck for poor authors trying to fight a corporation

                    Aby55 I will repeat once again what I said. If WN does this to small author, they screw themselves over. So no, they wouldn't care about small authors. It's not even worth to hire ghostwriters for small stories. People just thinks too highly of themselves. Learn how to be humble. Lack of humility is what irks me on this forum the most.

                        MotivatedSloth Why are you telling me to be humble? I'm not a small author worried this will happen to me. I'm a legal professional in my country making a clarification about what could happen. Calm down Mr. Defense Force. No need to attack me

                            Aby55 Why are you telling me to be humble?

                            Because you have no reason to be proud.

                            Aby55 I'm not a small author worried this will happen to me.

                            Seeing how you even thing about publishing on WN, then yes, you are. If you are super great insane author, then go to amazon. Simple as that.

                            Aby55 I'm a legal professional in my country making a clarification about what could happen.

                            Maybe you are legal, maybe you are professional, but you are not a real grown-up in my book if you don't take reality into account. Just like there are people out there screaming that they are unicorns married to attack helicopters, I take them as seriously as people who think that such a huge company as WN with backing of one of the biggest companies in the world would care to bully someone like you, while risking their entire business collapsing because of that.

                            Aby55 Calm down Mr. Defense Force. No need to attack me

                            Calm down Mr. volatile snowflake. No one is attacking you. You are making an laughingstock of yourself, yourself. You brought the points that I pointed out that are unreasonable, and never said anything that would actually warrant your side.

                            Aby55 they wouldn't got into a lawsuit. They'd just fuck you over and say "read the contract. "

                            And once again, by doing that, they would risk all of the original authors leaving the site and dropping their novels. So let me tell you this again, unless your novel is worth more than all the novels on the site combined, then there is no way that would ever happen. But I guess the fact that you are not the precious little treasure that your family most likely made you believe you are (as is the case with most of us) is sad and hurtful, won't change the fact that in order to even be at risk of getting on the Webnovel badside, you would have to be greater author than Author Wiz. And trust me, there is not a single person on the entire Webnovel that even comes close to that monster.

                                        I'd like to ask if anyone else is getting that mass email and contract notification when they sign into Inkstone?

                                        Feels like part of one of their updates. (one of the reasons I never signed months back too- I understand WN is busy contracting all sorts of writers but I never liked how robotic copy&pasted their emails sounded, or maybe it was just the editor they had contact me). Of course, it's part of the streamline and efficiency, and I get that.

                                          MaxwellKHA Actually the reason they say that is because they are ignorant. Its the same reason why people say the world is flat. Have you also heard the one about the benefits of joining pyramid schemes or how Bernie Madoff gives good returns on investments? Look them up if you have not. It might save you and your loved ones a lot of grief. Unfortunately this type of practical information is not taught more often when we are children, even though it could have a greater impact on our lives.

                                            MotivatedSloth I am sorry to inform you, but this has already happened:

                                            Qidian is pretty used to backlash and it has not stopped them. They just learnt how to handle it better (e.g. like negotiating they start off with a high demand and then are "willing" to "back down" to a slightly lower amount that contain all the key changes that they want). Which, to be fair, is pretty common practice for companies that prioritise profits over ethics.

                                            Having said that, being a "puppet" is not necessarily a bad thing. If you care more about money than the IP of your work, its obviously attractive to sell your IP for money. And while other people can disagree with your decision, at the end of the day, if you are both happy AND aware of what you are getting into, then good for you. Its like buying lottery tickets. As an investment option its stupid. But if you buy it purely for entertainment with the expectation that you are more likely to lose money than gain money, its a valid choice. However, being happy with an ignorant choice can hurt you when you least expect it and when you cannot afford it. That is not smart. That is just stupid.

                                                Web Novel Novel Ask