Developer infos on their site are quite cheesy, so i got some questions: 1. Do you get an exclusive licence agreement or can you self-distribute your games beside having it on realgames? 2. When you select "game submission" you get an licence agreement which says: "...you automatically grant to RN and its partners a worldwide, unlimited, ROYALTY-FREE, non-exclusive and fully sublicensable right and license to: (i) use, reproduce, transmit, retransmit, distribute, or display the Licensee Application for the purpose of evaluating its suitability for..." ROYALTY-FREE? Does this mean they can sell your game without giving you anything or what ??

quote: distribute, or display the Licensee Application for the purpose of evaluating its suitability for..."

surely the word evaluating only means the trial/demo version?

Philip Lutas
CEO of Optical Realities

I think it''s just talking about the submittion, for "evaluating its suitability" so they decide if they will publish it or not, but I''m not sure.

But it goes on. Especially point (ii) sounds hazardous:

"... for distribution through RealArcade or any other RN application (the "Software"), service, or web site; (ii) distribute, display, and manage the Licensee Application including the game files, box art and images, game information, and streaming video previews through RealArcade or any other RN product, service, or web site..."

That means they can distribute the game files (=the game) any way they want, royalty-free.

I sell a game through realgames and have had no problems. they do pay you royalties!

http://www.positech.co.uk

Sounds like a lawyer screwup. I''m sure what they intend is for them to be able to mirror demos or make backup copies in case of server failure without having to pay you for every copy they make, in addition to checking out your demo and making sure there''s nothing that could get them sued for libel or whatnot.

They prolly use the same basic contract to cover individual games and java applets or streaming media that would be mirrored around their servers.


So, they prolly don''t intend this to be a license to steal your game.

However, a contract is supposed to be a binding agreement between two legal entities. And you have every right to negotiate the terms of the contract. You don''t have to take the terms they offer. I would start with a simple email to the comapny expressing your concerns and asking for clarification of what they have in print. Maybe they can simply improve the wording.


If you''re serious about getting the terms you want, then consider consulting a contract lawyer to review the terms. That costs money, which might be more effor than a budget game is worth, it''s your call.

HTH

"However, a contract is supposed to be a binding agreement between two legal entities. And you have every right to negotiate the terms of the contract. You don''t have to take the terms they offer. [...] If you''re serious about getting the terms you want, then consider consulting a contract lawyer to review the terms"

Ever heard of corporate capitalism? Money dictates. Big companies have a lot of individuals and small companies interested in dealing with them and they can pick anybody they want. Realarcade has the money so they write the contract, individuals and small companies can only choose to sign it or not, they have tons of submissions, if someone wants the contract to be different they are not gonna waste time in that, they would just choose other games to publish. It''s "a binding agreement between two legal entities" but it''s not the case of two similar companies making an agreement, of the two legal entities one has billons and the other one is insignificant from the economical point of view.