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My team and I are getting pretty far along in the development of our latest game and have been thinking about audio. We decided to host an audio submission contest where we will offer a little cash and some equity stake in the game as prizes. We are also giving away copies of the game to participants. We hope not only to find audio for our game, but to meet some cool sound artists and promote the game a bit through the process.

First of all, is this even a good idea? What are some potential dangers in doing this? Will it even be well received among artists?
Secondly, I wrote up some Terms and Conditions in my best legal-speak to try to protect us and clarify how the contest will be run. Are these sufficient to make sure everyone involved is treated fairly and is legally protected? They are as follows:

  • All submissions (The Submission) must be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-3.0)
  • By applying a CC-BY-3.0 license, you (The Submitter) expressly give Detour Games (and all members wherein) permission to copy, distribute, transmit, modify, adapt, and make commercial use of The Submission.
  • The Submitter must own all rights to The Submission and be within their rights to license it as specified and submit it.
  • The Submitter claims responsibility for the legality of The Submission. If The Submission is found to infringe on the rights of a person or entity other than those of The Submitter, Detour Games will not be held liable as all responsibility and liability for the legality of The Submission is that of The Submitter's.
  • No more than two free copies of The Game per submitter.
  • All flat cash prizes will only be disbursed pending the success of our first $5,000 Kickstarter campaign. These prizes will be disbursed 30 days after Detour Games receives the Kickstarter funds.
  • All equity prizes (percentage of profits) are defined as the given percent of total profits after costs for a period of one year (12 months) after the release of RAW. These prizes will be disbursed semi-annually.
  • All prize money will be disbursed through either an electronic fund transfer through a service such as PayPal or by a mailed money order. It is The Submitter's responsibility to cooperate with Detour Games in the disbursement of the funds.
  • Detour Games reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions at any time without notice.
  • By participating in the contest, The Submitter agrees to and accepts all terms and conditions listed.

What else could I do (legally) to protect everyone involved?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks, maybe I should move it to chat, but first let me try to edit it to ease your concerns. \$\endgroup\$
    – Amplify91
    Oct 10, 2012 at 19:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ OK I already flagged it but I gess well see how you can change it. \$\endgroup\$
    – GameDev-er
    Oct 10, 2012 at 19:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ Well, I removed any links and mentions of my specific contest. I believe this could truly be helpful to people in my situation. I have never run a contest before and I'm not sure what I need to do to be fully, legally prepared. \$\endgroup\$
    – Amplify91
    Oct 10, 2012 at 19:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ Seems better to me. Tho I don't know how to unflag sorry. \$\endgroup\$
    – GameDev-er
    Oct 10, 2012 at 19:22
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ I've disregarded the spam flag; no automated action is taken on only one flag. As with any legal advice received over the internet, you should take any answers received here as mere suggestions and talk to a real lawyer. In addition, laws are different around the world, so answers received may be specific to the answerer's region, and you may want to talk to a lawyer with knowledge of international laws. As a made-up example, it may be the case that some regions prohibit receiving prize money electronically. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ricket
    Oct 10, 2012 at 20:28

1 Answer 1

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Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice...

is this even a good idea?

I think you're idea is pretty sweet. If you market it right, the the contest could generate some good buzz for your studio and your game.

What are some potential dangers in doing this?

You'll probably want to make sure that all submissions to your studio via this contest become property of the studio. You don't want to get sued for copyright infringement just because you didn't word your contracts properly. However, see below...

What else could I do (legally) to protect everyone involved?

In my opinion, the only acceptable answer to this question is ask a lawyer. Seriously. You've obviously put some time and effort into fleshing out this idea. You don't want to risk it all by not spending a few bucks on proper legal advice.

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