Self-Publishing Partner Digital License Agreement
This Digital Video License Agreement (as amended from time to time, this “Agreement”) contains the terms and conditions of (i) your use of the Amazon digital service that enables self-submission and delivery of content and self-service support (the “Program”) for distribution of audio-visual programs and related content via the digital video services operated by Amazon or its Affiliates and (ii) Amazon’s use of such content. This Agreement is a binding agreement between you and Amazon. As used in this Agreement, “Amazon,” “we” or “us” means, individually: (a) Amazon Digital UK Limited, (b) Amazon.com Sales, Inc., (c) Amazon Seller Services Private Limited, (d) Amazon.com Services LLC, and (e) any other Amazon.com Inc. Affiliate that joins as a party to this Agreement as provided herein, in each case solely with respect to such entity’s exercise of its rights and compliance with its obligations in connection with the countries, territories, and provinces designated by Amazon. As used in this Agreement, “Content Provider” or “you” means the person or entity accepting this Agreement or any of your successors in interest or assigns. “Affiliate” means any entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with Amazon or Content Provider, as appropriate.
Any version of this Agreement in a language other than English is provided for convenience and the English language version will control if there is any conflict between language versions. Given the importance of this Agreement, we encourage you to review it carefully. In addition to the terms set forth below, this Agreement expressly incorporates by reference other Program-specific terms and conditions governing the Program, the information posted on the Program Site, including the Content Policy Guidelines and Prime Video Slate Terms of Use, as well as Amazon.com Conditions of Use and the Amazon.com Privacy Notice, located on Amazon.com or the equivalent information in the applicable territory (or a respective successor site thereto).
In consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, Content Provider and Amazon agree as follows:
1. Agreement Acceptance |
You accept this Agreement by clicking “Agree” where you are given the option to do so. If you do not accept the terms of this Agreement, you may not use the Program. By accepting this Agreement, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where you reside, whichever is older) and that you are able to form a legally binding contract. If you are accepting this Agreement on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the legal authority to bind that company or legal entity by the terms of this Agreement. |
2. Amendment; Notice of Changes |
The Program will change over time and the terms of this Agreement will need to change over time as well. Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, we reserve the right to change the terms and conditions in this Agreement at any time in our sole discretion. Any changes to the Agreement, including Program-specific terms and conditions, or to the policies and guidelines referenced in this Agreement, other than with respect to the amount of the License Fees we agree to pay under the Agreement, will be effective upon Amazon’s posting of a copy of the updated Agreement, Programs-specific terms and conditions, or policies and guidelines referenced in this Agreement, as applicable, to the website for the Program at videodirect.amazon.com (including any successor or replacement website, the “Program Site”) or other applicable Amazon-owned sites, with or without prior notice to you. Changes to the royalty rates used to calculate License Fees under this Agreement will be effective and binding on you on the date that is 30 days after we post a notification of such change on the Program Site or notify you via email using the email address provided in your Account or via message to you through your Account, unless otherwise agreed in writing. |
3. Account Setup and Maintenance |
You represent that all information you provide in connection with establishing your Program user account (“Account”) is accurate at the time you provide it, and you agree that you will keep it up to date and ensure that it remains accurate as long as you use the Program. You may maintain only one Account at a time (unless you are using multiple Accounts solely for the purpose of delivering Licensed Content or making multiple subscriptions available via Channels Access, in which case you agree that you will use only the minimum number of accounts that are strictly necessary for such purposes). You will not use false identities or impersonate any other person, or use a username or password you are not authorized to use. You authorize us, directly or through third parties, to make any inquiries as may be appropriate to verify the Account information you provide. You also consent to us sending you emails relating to the Program and other publishing opportunities from time to time. |
4. Term |
This Agreement commences upon your acceptance of it and continues in perpetuity until terminated as set forth in Section 17 of this Agreement (the “Term”); provided, that if you distribute Titles via Channels Access, (a) the Term of the Agreement with respect to Channels Access will commence upon your acceptance of this Agreement and continue for 18 months from the date that your Subscription launches on the Service (the “Initial Subscription Term”) and (b) the Initial Subscription Term will automatically extend for successive periods of 12 months each unless and until terminated by either party in accordance with Section 17. None of the rights granted to Amazon shall be deemed to have lapsed at any time in accordance with the applicable law of the Territory, including for the avoidance of doubt, as applicable, Section 19(4) read with Section 30-A of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. |
5. Territory |
With respect to each Title, the “Territory” means that part of the world where you authorize the Licensed Content pertaining to that Title to be distributed pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, as indicated by you in your Account or on the Program Site. |
6. Rights Granted |
You hereby grant Amazon a non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, and distribute through the Service in the Territory each Title, all Promotional Materials associated with that Title, and any associated Marks (collectively, “Licensed Content”). The license includes such ancillary or incidental uses of the Licensed Content as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Agreement. Each audio-visual program or Linear Feed (as defined below) that you submit for distribution on the Service is a “Title.” For each Title, “Promotional Materials” means, collectively, the Delivery Materials and any images, trailers, logos, artwork, publicity materials, and metadata provided by you or created by Amazon (including any reasonable alterations to such materials deemed necessary by Amazon) as well as any video clips of up to 3 consecutive minutes of footage from the Title. “Marks” means, collectively, any trademarks, service marks, URLs, domain names, trade names, logos, insignia, or other source or business identifiers that may be embedded or incorporated into any Title or Promotional Materials. |
6.1 Incremental Linear Feed Rights and Requirements |
“Linear Feed” means the programmed linear or live programming service or feed that you authorize for distribution by Amazon, and make available, via Ad-supported Access through the Program, including the audio-visual programming in the Linear Feed. You will program, schedule, and provide the Linear Feed in its entirety to Amazon, meaning that the programming provided by you on the Linear Feed as received by each customer to whom Amazon makes the Linear Feed available at a given point in time shall be the same as the programming on the Linear Feed that is received by all other individuals with access to the Linear Feed on and off of the Service in the Territory at the same time. You may update and customize the Linear Feed for the Service such that the Linear Feed differs from the feeds that you provide to other services solely to the extent that you reasonably believe, based upon available data, that those updates and customizations will improve the Linear Feed as compared to your offerings on other services. Should we determine, in our sole discretion, that any updates and customizations made by you to the Linear Feed do not perform at least as well as the Linear Feed would have performed without the updates and customizations, we may provide written notice to you thereof (email is sufficient), and in that case you will remove all such updates and customizations from such Linear Feed within 7 days of receipt of said notice. |
7. General Description of the Service; Distribution Modes |
Content Provider, in its sole discretion, may authorize Amazon to allow customers to access Titles in the following ways (each, a “Distribution Mode”): |
8. License Fee Payment |
Subject to the limitations set forth in this Section, Amazon will pay you license fees based on the Distribution Mode(s) by which Amazon distributes the Titles under this Agreement, as set forth below (“License Fees”). Such License Fees are the only compensation payable to you under this Agreement and constitute full and complete compensation to you for all rights granted under and actions taken in connection with this Agreement. |
8.1 Digital Purchase, Digital Rental and Channels Access License Fees |
Amazon will pay to you (i) 50% of the applicable Purchase Price for Titles accessed via Digital Purchase or Digital Rental and (ii) 50% of the applicable Purchase Price for Titles accessed via Channels Access. |
8.2 SVOD Access License Fee |
For Titles made available for SVOD Access, Amazon will pay you according to the rate card available below (or such other royalty rates notified to you in accordance with Section 2) on a per Title basis (for standalone Titles and seasons), based on Hours Viewed by customers in the applicable Territory: |
8.3 Ad-supported Access License Fee |
For Titles made available for Ad-supported Access, Amazon will pay you according to the rate card available below (or such other royalty rates notified to you in accordance with Section 2), based on Hours Viewed or Net Advertising Receipts, as indicated for the applicable Territory on the rate card: |
9. Taxes |
As between the Parties, Amazon will be solely responsible for collecting and paying to the appropriate taxing authorities any national, state or local sales or use taxes, value added taxes (“VAT”) or similar taxes (collectively “Transaction Taxes”) applicable to purchases by customers. Amazon will not be required to pay any taxes imposed on or measured by your net income, net profits, income, profits, revenues, gross receipts, franchise, doing business, capital, intangible, value added (other than value added tax in the nature of sales or use or similar taxes), net worth, all real property and ad valorem taxes imposed by any governmental authority on the fees payable to you under this Agreement, or similar taxes or taxes in lieu thereof, whether collected by withholding or otherwise. |
10. Delivery of Content |
For each Title, you will deliver to Amazon the Delivery Materials in accordance with the Content Delivery Specifications (including, without limitation, the requirement that the Title not contain any advertisements, bugs, visible on-screen logos, or tracking tags) at your sole cost. The “Content Delivery Specifications” are those technical delivery specifications available at the following URL - https://videocentral.amazon.com/home/help), as updated from time to time during the Term or such other technical delivery specifications that Amazon may provide from time to time. |
11. Representations and Warranties |
You hereby represent and warrant that (i) you have the sole, full and unencumbered right to grant to Amazon and its Affiliates, and have obtained all necessary clearances and releases to grant to Amazon and its Affiliates, all of the rights set forth herein (excluding public performance rights for the communication to the public of the musical compositions contained within the Titles), (ii) such public performance rights are either (a) controlled by the relevant dominant local collection society or music copyright society for rights in musical compositions and lyrics for each jurisdiction in the Territory, (b) controlled by you (in which case, such rights are hereby granted to Amazon), or (c) in the public domain, (iii) any information and documentation you provide to us will be current, complete, and accurate, (iv) the Licensed Content and Promotional Materials will not contain any subject matter or materials that are defamatory, libelous, obscene, or otherwise illegal under the applicable laws of the Territory, and (v) none of the following will violate any law; require us to obtain any license, authorization, or other permission from any governmental agency or other third party; contain any defamatory material; or violate or infringe any intellectual property, proprietary, or other rights of any person or entity (including contractual rights, copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade dress, trade secret, common law rights, rights of publicity, or privacy, or moral rights): (a) the exercise of any rights granted under this Agreement; (b) any materials embodied in your Titles; (c) the sale, distribution, or promotion of the Titles as authorized in this Agreement; or (d) any notices, instructions or advertising by you for or in connection with any Titles. |
12. Closed Captions; Subtitles |
You will deliver closed captions for all Titles in accordance with the Content Delivery Specifications and with applicable law for the Territory. You may not be able to publish a Title via one or more Distribution Modes in certain Territories until Amazon has received closed captions from you. |
13. Geo-filtering; Access Controls |
Amazon will utilize industry standard geo-filtering techniques and digital rights management technology in a non-discriminatory manner in relation to similarly situated content providers. Content Provider agrees that Amazon shall be deemed to be exercising the rights granted herein solely within the Territory as long as Amazon complies with the foregoing. Content Provider acknowledges that Amazon makes no representation as to the efficacy of any geo-filtering technique or digital rights management technology it employs and agrees that Amazon shall not be responsible for the failure of such. |
14. Content Requirements |
You must ensure that all of your Titles and Subscriptions comply with our policies for content at the time you submit them to us. If you discover that content you have submitted does not comply, you must immediately withdraw the content and otherwise bring such Title or Subscription into compliance if it is to be distributed via the Service. If you discover that any information you have provided to us for a Title or Subscription is inaccurate or incomplete, you must promptly submit corrected information to us. We will determine what content we accept and distribute on the Service in our sole discretion. |
15. Title Withdrawal |
You may withdraw your Titles from distribution on the Service at any time upon 30 business days’ advance notice by following the then current Program procedures for Title withdrawal or un-publishing via the Program Site; provided that you may not remove a Title within a Subscription unless you either (i) lose any rights or other licenses, consents or permissions relating to any specific Title that are necessary for you to grant the rights granted hereunder or (ii) receive written notice of a third-party claim relating to a Title, which reasonably could result in legal liability for you; provided that Amazon will only be obligated to withdraw the Title from a Subscription if you also concurrently obligate other services to withdraw the Title. |
16. Ownership; Feedback |
Subject to the rights you grant us under this Agreement, as between us and you, you retain all ownership rights in and to the copyrights and all other rights and interest in and to your Titles, Licensed Content, and Subscriptions. We retain all ownership rights in and to the copyrights and other intellectual property rights, and all other rights and interests in and to the Program, the Program Site and all Amazon properties, and any materials we use or provide to you for use relating to the Program, including your Titles and Subscriptions (such as a generic cover image used for your Titles or Subscriptions if you do not provide one). We are solely responsible for, and will have full discretion with respect to, the terms, features, functionality, and operation of the Program, the Program Site, any other Amazon features or offerings, and related marketing, but our use of the Titles, Promotional Materials, Licensed Content, and Subscriptions will be subject to the terms of this Agreement. You agree Amazon may use the Licensed Content to develop and improve Amazon technologies and services, including the Program. You may provide suggestions, ideas, or other feedback to Amazon or any of its Affiliates in connection with the Program or the Service, the Program, the Program Site or anything on the Program Site (“Feedback”). You acknowledge that Amazon and its Affiliates will be free to use and exploit any Feedback in any manner without restriction and without any need to compensate you. This Agreement does not grant you any license or other rights to any intellectual property, proprietary information, or technology owned or operated by us or any of our Affiliates, including any trademarks, trade secrets, or trade names. You agree not to use any trade name, trademark, service mark, logo or commercial symbol, or any other proprietary rights of Amazon or any of its affiliates in any manner without prior written authorization from us. Nothing in this Agreement restricts any rights we may have under applicable law or a separate agreement. |
17. Termination of Agreement |
We may suspend or place your Account on hold for any period of time, or terminate your Account and this Agreement by providing notice to you at any time for any reason. You may terminate this Agreement, effective 30 days following your delivery of written notice of termination to us, in the event that we commit a material breach of this Agreement and fail to remedy such breach (if capable of remedy) within 30 days after receiving written notice to do so; provided that if you distribute Titles via Channels Access, you may only terminate this Agreement by provision of notice of termination to us given not later than 90 days prior to the conclusion of the then-current term. Following any termination or expiration of this Agreement, any provision which, by its nature or express terms should survive will survive such termination or expiration, including, but not limited to, Sections 17 through 21. |
18. Indemnification |
You will indemnify, defend and hold harmless Amazon, its officers, directors, employees, shareholders, affiliates, subcontractors, successors and assignees, from and against any and all third-party claims, actions, causes of action, demands, judgments, liabilities, damages, losses, injuries, costs and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs) (individually, a “Claim”, and collectively, the “Claims”) brought against Amazon that arise from or relate to: (a) any breach or alleged breach by you of any of your representations, warranties or obligations set forth herein, including any failure to deliver closed captions, audio descriptions or ratings information for any Titles in compliance with applicable law; (b) Amazon’s exercise of the rights granted by you under this Agreement, including, without limitation, that such exercise violates any law or regulation or the right(s) of any third party; or (c) the Licensed Content, where used in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. You will not consent to the entry of a judgment or settle a Claim without our prior written consent, which may not be unreasonably withheld. You will use counsel reasonably satisfactory to us to defend each Claim. If we reasonably determine that a Claim might adversely affect us, we may take control of the defense at our expense (and without limiting your indemnification obligations). |
19. Limitation of Liability |
AMAZON WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO THE CONTENT PROVIDER FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY OR SPECIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT, EVEN IF AMAZON HAS BEEN ADVISED OR IS AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. AMAZON WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO CONTENT PROVIDER FOR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER THEORY) OR OTHERWISE, FOR AN AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN EXCESS OF THE AMOUNT OF FEES DUE AND PAYABLE BY AMAZON UNDER THIS AGREEMENT FOR THE TWELVE-MONTH PERIOD PRECEDING THE CLAIM. NOTWITHSTANDING THE FOREGOING, THIS SECTION WILL NOT BE DEEMED TO WAIVE ANY OF CONTENT PROVIDER’S RIGHTS AT LAW OR IN EQUITY TO ENFORCE THIS AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO UNDISPUTED LICENSE FEE PAYMENTS DUE TO CONTENT PROVIDER BY AMAZON HEREUNDER. THE SERVICE IS MADE AVAILABLE ON AN AS IS BASIS AND AMAZON MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE SERVICE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, (I) THAT THE SERVICE WILL ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE, ACCESSIBLE, OR OPERATE WITHOUT ERROR OR (II) AS TO THE VOLUME OF SALES OR LICENSE FEES THAT WILL BE GENERATED BY LICENSED CONTENT ON THE SERVICE. TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY LAW IN THE RELEVANT JURISDICTION OF THE PARTIES, THE PARTIES DO NOT EXCLUDE OR LIMIT LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY, FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION OR ANY OTHER LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED BY SUCH APPLICABLE LAW. |
20. Confidentiality |
You will not, without our express, prior written permission: (a) issue any press release, media pitch or make any other public disclosures regarding this Agreement or its terms; (b) disclose Amazon Confidential Information (as defined below) to any third party or to any employee other than an employee who needs to know the information; or (c) use Amazon Confidential Information for any purpose other than the performance of this Agreement. You may however disclose Amazon Confidential Information as required to comply with applicable law, provided you: (i) give us prior written notice sufficient to allow us to seek a protective order or other appropriate remedy; (ii) disclose only that Amazon Confidential Information as is required by applicable law; and (iii) use reasonable efforts to obtain confidential treatment for any Amazon Confidential Information so disclosed. “Amazon Confidential Information” means (1) any information regarding Amazon, its affiliates, and their businesses, including, without limitation, information relating to our technology, customers, business plans, promotional and marketing activities, finances and other business affairs, (2) the nature, content and existence of any communications between you and us, and (3) any sales data relating to the sale of digital videos or other information we provide or make available to you in connection with the Program. Amazon Confidential Information does not include information that (A) is or becomes publicly available without breach of this Agreement, (B) you can show by documentation to have been known to you at the time you receive it from us, (C) you receive from a third party who did not acquire or disclose such information by a wrongful or tortious act, or (D) you can show by documentation that you have independently developed without reference to any Amazon Confidential Information. Without limiting the survivability of any other provision of this Agreement, this Section will survive three years following the termination of this Agreement. |
21. Miscellaneous |
All rights granted to Amazon under this Agreement may be exercised by Amazon, its Affiliates, and subcontractors providing services in connection with the Service. Any Amazon Affiliate may join as a party to this Agreement and will notify you if it does so. The joining Amazon Affiliate will be entitled to exercise the rights that you grant under this Agreement. Each Amazon party is severally liable for its own obligations under this Agreement and is not jointly liable for the obligations of other Amazon parties. In addition, each Amazon party is solely responsible with respect to its exercise of its rights and compliance with its obligations in connection with the territory or territories for which it is responsible, as determined by Amazon in its sole discretion. You may not assign, novate, or otherwise transfer any of your rights or obligations under this Agreement without the prior written consent of Amazon, except that you may assign, novate or otherwise transfer any of your rights or obligations under this Agreement without such consent to (a) any of your Affiliates (provided that any such assignment will not relieve you of your obligations hereunder), or (b) in connection with any merger, consolidation, reorganization, sale of all or substantially all of your related assets or a similar transaction (provided that any such assignment will not relieve you of your obligations hereunder). This Agreement will be binding upon, inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by and against Amazon, you, and our respective successors and assigns. A waiver by either party of any breach or default by the other party under this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of any other or subsequent breach or default by such other party. The failure of either party to enforce any term of this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of such party’s rights to subsequently enforce the term. The remedies specified in this Agreement are in addition to any other remedies that may be available at law or in equity. For the purposes of this Agreement, Amazon and you are independent contracting parties, and nothing herein will be construed as creating an agency relationship, a fiduciary relationship, an employer-employee relationship, a partnership, a joint venture, or an obligation to form any such relationship or entity between Amazon and you. You will not represent yourself to be an employee, representative, or agent of Amazon or misrepresent the nature of your affiliation with Amazon or the Program Site. You will have no authority to enter into any agreement on Amazon’s behalf or in Amazon’s name or otherwise bind Amazon to any agreement or obligation. |