Common Contract Terms for Actors, in Plain English

Read This First

This is general information. It is not legal advice. The same word can mean different things in different contracts, union agreements and places, and nothing here replaces the document in front of you. Take your questions to your agent, your manager or a lawyer before you sign.

Because details vary, each term below has a definition in general terms and a short list of questions. The questions matter more than the definitions. Ask them in writing, and keep the answers.

Exclusivity

A promise not to do certain other work, or not to work for certain others, during a stated period.

• What exactly is covered: a product category, a genre, a platform, a territory?
• When does it start, and when does it end?
• Is the exclusivity tied to a payment, and what happens if the project is delayed?

Buyout

A single payment that covers a stated use of your work in place of further payments for that use. Everything depends on what the document says the payment covers.

• Which uses, which media and which places does the payment cover?
• Does it cover uses that do not exist yet?
• What is not covered, and what would a further use cost?

Usage and Term

Usage is where and how your performance or likeness may be used. Term is how long that permission lasts.

• Where can it appear, and in which media?
• How long does the term run, and does it renew on its own?
• What happens when the term ends: does the use stop, and who has to remove it?

Holding Fees

A payment sometimes made to keep you from taking competing work, or to keep your dates open, for a period of time. Whether one applies, and how much, is set by the contract or by an agreement that governs it.

• Is there a holding fee, and when is it paid?
• For how long, and can the period be extended?
• What am I giving up while it runs?

Conflicts

A competing commitment that overlaps with this one in time, category or both. Contracts usually say what you must disclose and what happens if a conflict appears.

• How does the document define a conflict?
• What do I need to disclose, and by when?
• What if a conflict arises after I sign, and who decides?

Kill Fees

A payment due when a production ends or cancels your engagement before you finish the work.

• Is there one at all?
• How is it calculated, and what triggers it?
• Does it change if the cancellation is the company's choice or caused by something outside its control?

Credit

How your name appears: whether you are credited, where, in what order and in which media.

• Is the credit promised in the document itself, or only discussed?
• Does it cover every place the work appears?
• What is the remedy if the credit is left out by mistake?

Morals Clauses

A provision that lets a company take action, which can include ending the agreement, if your conduct is judged to harm its reputation or the project's.

• How is conduct defined, and who decides?
• Does it reach conduct from before I signed?
• Is there notice and a chance to respond before action is taken?
• Does it apply in both directions?

Before You Sign

1. Read the whole document, including the parts that look routine.
2. Write down every question and send them to your agent or manager, or ask a lawyer.
3. Note every deadline, including the deadline to accept.
4. Keep a copy of the final signed version, and a note of what each term obliges you to do.

A union agreement or the law may set rules or minimums that apply to you. This guide does not state any, because what applies depends on you, the work and the place. Your union, your agent, your manager or a lawyer can tell you.