NDA Culture...
NDA stands for Non-Disclosure Agreement and is basically a contract between a Publisher and a media outlet that sets down the rules regarding the reviewing of games.
Personally, I’ve signed one with Phantagram and I have another one in the workings with EA and I’ve had to sign a Licensing Agreement with Microsoft. These are all instances where I’d consider an NDA to be appropriate.
However, there are places where they aren’t and some people in this Industry seem to regard the signing of an NDA to be some sort of right of passage. I certainly didn’t feel anymore or less important when I signed the NDAs I have.
As I spoke about in my Blog yesterday, I’ve recently come to an agreement with xboxgamezone for them to organise BXB tournaments for us. Now, I’ve had these agreements before with other members of the gaming industry and I haven’t felt the need to sign an NDA with them because I made the agreement on mutual trust and mutual interest. Essentially - I trust the person I made the agreement with.
On a couple of occasions that was the wrong thing to do. As without a legally binding agreement either party can do as they wish without fear of legal retribution. Just below the level where I feel the application of an NDA to an agreement are a bunch of people who are using these things without need and to inflate their own sense of self-importance.
When working with one "industry professional" he asked me whether we needed to sign an NDA before we moved forward in the working relationship, I replied that I didn’t feel it was necessary. However, in hindsight, crafting and signing an NDA would have perhaps been a good idea as this "industry professional" then proceeded to lie and bullshit me for several months before I confronted him and ended my dealings with him - in the end I came off the worse in the situation.
I understand the need for NDAs when dealing with such important agreements as licensing out a Development Kit. But for a small agreement on working a few things together I felt it was out of place.
The NDA is representative of a paranoid industry. With an abundance of online media outlets that grows everyday, publishers are inundated daily with hundreds of requests for review copies of games and sifting through all this mail to find the genuine sites from the free loaders hunting for a few free games must take a hell of a long time.
I once saw an e-mail from one major publishers in which they were complaining to the people on their mailing list that they weren’t being sent URLs to the reviews games they sent out. They weren’t seeing the come back for their investment, can we blame publishers for being a little bit paranoid about who they are dealing with?
EA wouldn’t even entertain the idea of working with BXB until we were added to the EMEA Reviewer Kit List and even then they are asking me to sign an NDA. Why? Because it’s a way of ensuring that they are working with a genuine media outlet and if they turn out to be a free loader they can flex their legal muscles and royally own the fake media outlet.
This paranoia filters all the way down to the lowest levels of the industry, with absolute nobodies signing NDAs with other nobodies, neither of which have the financial ability to take any action if this fake "agreement" is broken. It’s a joke.
Perhaps that this paranoia is in fact a good thing. It’s something that we should all have to protect us from disappointment and betrayal. What concerns me the most about signing an NDA, except in the case of major companies, is that it makes me wonder that if the person I’m dealing with wants an NDA - what are they prepared to do in the absence of one?
In conclusion, there is none. I can see both the good and bad points about NDAs but one thing that does really piss me off, is people that bang on about stuff and when you ask them for more detail they say they’re NDA and can’t say.
It’s cringe worthy cock waving and there’s no need.
6 comments:
Still on about egos I see.
People obviously getting to you. Shame.
As for NDAs - they stand for Non-Disclose Agreements.
The only reason you EVER need to sign one, is when you're about to be shown something you're not allowed to talk to anyone about.
As such, by and large, you wouldn't sign one with a friend, or someone helping you promote an event. You usually wouldn't sign one when reviewing a game.
Only when a secret is being shared with you, and you're not at liberty to disclose any info. For example, developing a DS touch screen game, before the touch screen feature was announced. Or, agreeing not to publish a review until a specific date.
Well...this is clever guess work. I have never signed an NDA nor been asked to sign one.
Closest I got, was filming unfinished X360 games prior to the machine's launch. The PR company let me, then paniced, and said they had needed Microsoft's permission because they were unfinished copies of the game. But all I needed to do was show what I was about to publish, and after they had seen and approved it, I got the thumbs up and everything was fine.
Regarding business ideas, NDA are usually signed, because you're seeking finance for something unique and you don't want any competitors stealing your idea and getting the capital to do it, before you. Even then, however, if your investor or business angel signs one, you'll probably go around to a number of different investors with the idea, as you don't always get there on the first pitch.
For video media, I get people to sign a release form - just permission to be filmed.
For business agreements, I have so far gone completely contract free. Because there's a verbal contract in the first place, and usually intent portrayed through emails anyway. Even still, I'm having to sign an agreement with White Night Films, one we've drawn up ourselves to know where things stand payment wise [ I hired them for E3 last year ]. From my experience, a written agreement signed by someone, is not legally binding. It needs a second witness signature and someone actually there to witness both parties signing, for it to work as the basis for suing someone later.
Having said this, I went to see a local solicitor about terms and conditions when supplying product to trade. He advised for a new business, there was so much paperwork, it wasn't really worth doing, as long as a shop had asked for a product, and you had proof you had sent it, you could just invoice them. You don't want to be suing your shops immediately, 'cos you're trying to build a long term relationship with them. Nonetheless, we opted to take Centresoft's terms, modify them to our own end, and have them sent down along with the product to assess by the buying team. Even still though, Centresoft distribute PlayStation products, and are a really large powerful outfit, and we were gawping at some of their terms and conditions which weren't really that friendly to the independant retailer.
Long and short of it is: Trust is good. And when you're small, you don't really need these contracts, etc. However, to stop future arguements, it is sometimes useful to have everything agreed in writing. However, this is a WRITTEN AGREEMENT, and NOT an NDA - an NDA is merely a promise not to tell anyone about something. Hence Non-disclosure. And that's exactly why people who've signed them, refuse to tell you stuff, and mention they're under an NDA.
Recruitment agencies use them too, when they help hire people for cutting edge game development projects, they're not allowed to talk about at such an early stage.
~AJ~
Let me publish this on GameDrift as an article O_O
Thanks for your comments AJ, perhaps you should write you own blog rather than doing it on mine!;)
My point was, there are silly people out there using NDAs without the need, without really understanding what they represent and not having the finacial capabilities to back up any break in the agreement.
Essentially, it's a waste of time which is intended to make them sound more important.
I know what, where and when NDAs are used!
Sorry Mike, didn't mean to patronise. Just that some of your article's examples sounded like they were being used just as general agreements, which didn't make sense.
Since you were trying to highlight that they were being used by people "not really understanding what they represent" tho', maybe that was your point.
Additional apology for the length of reply in relation to the comment: "perhaps you should write you own blog rather than doing it on mine!;)", I do get carried away, 'cos I get addicted to email, and if I don't have any new emails, I usually check a forum and blog and write tonnes instead to compensate.
I do actually have my own journal, but it's highly personal, so I don't share the URL much.
Sorry again, didn't mean to detract from your post, nor patronise regarding the meaning of NDA.
I don't think you need that much financial muscle to back things up though. Isn't it something like a letter to the small claims court? And then they then send a letter out, and usually it goes no further, 'cos the other party gets scared, and complies again? Well...I dunno. Never done this sort of thing, and my knowledge is patchy, and I could be wrong. Nonetheless, interesting commentary on contract culture.
=/ Hmm. Long comment again.
Am not good with word limits. ^_^.
~AJ~
Dude, only you are reading this blog!
Nah, other people are reading it. I just tend not to reply to half of them!
.:P:.
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