Take it from a viral media star: Stop signing away your ideas
Earlier this month, two favorites at Buzzfeed Video—my friend Brittany Ashley, who created, wrote, and acted in an LGBTQ series called “Lesbian Princess,” and Jenny Lorenzo, who wrote, produced, and acted for the company’s Latino channel, Pero Like—were abruptly fired. They were dismissed because they’d worked on the weekends as actors in America Ferrera’s “Gente-fied” web series, which was deemed in competition with a telenovela series Buzzfeed is developing. Ashley and Lorenzo, like most Buzzfeed Motion Pictures staffers, had been required to sign an agreement when they were hired that prevented them from doing anything that competed with their work at Buzzfeed.
These sorts of restrictions, once reserved for high-level executives to protect trade secrets and their investments in talent, have become increasingly common. Non-competes are just one corporate-friendly condition in documents creative people sign when they get hired by media companies. Many of us are also asked to sign away rights to the work we do for employers. Sometimes these clauses are incredibly broad, and they can last for a while after you leave the company. Not owning all of your ideas can limit a burgeoning career, especially in an era of job-hopping and layoffs—unlike in the old days, when employee loyalty could translate into a lifelong, unionized job. Even now, many creators in traditional Hollywood studios are protected by powerful unions. But the talent plucked for web series are usually young and inexperienced, and tasked with navigating this brave new world of digital video on their own.
I understand why companies ask all this of their employees. For certain industries or workers, these policies might be an okay trade-off in exchange for a regular paycheck, experience, and training. And for struggling artists and writers—especially the ones often excluded from mainstream media—being offered access to a giant audience may seem worth toiling away at a company for a starter salary. But the people signing these contracts should know what they’re up against. If you have dreams of, say, having your own show or writing your own screenplay, handing over your ideas to a media company could backfire.
I learned this the hard way.
Not too long ago, I was desperate for paid work, so I gave away a lot of my ideas and rights. In 2013 I was a staff writer for the website Thought Catalog and they asked me if they could publish a book of my previously published TC essays. An editor and I put it together while I was a salaried employee for no extra money. I did not receive any bonus or commission on sales of the book. But wow! I had gotten to publish a book! Incredible! Three years later, I no longer work at TC. I am more well-known and have more fans. These fans find the book and excitedly purchase it thinking they’re supporting me. But I don’t see any of that money. The more high-profile I become, the more the book sells for Thought Catalog.
When you’re 22, you’re so excited to be doing adulthood “right” that you go full-steam ahead, regardless of the company’s policy.
After that, I got hired at Buzzfeed, and it happened again. I was hired first as on-camera talent and then as a scripted series writer. I was excited to have a steady writing gig and thrilled by the $55,000 annual salary. Before being hired there, I had no idea the company had a huge YouTube presence, but I thought I’d stay a couple of months, find another industry gig, and peace out. I ended up staying eight months because the non-compete caused me to turn down other work and meetings that might have led to other work. There was a constant push-and-pull about how much we could do outside of Buzzfeed and how much other projects would take time from our full-time jobs. Even the concept of “time” was up for debate. I stayed because I felt trapped.
I left Buzzfeed in 2015, but they still own a Facebook fan page with my face on it. They can promote whatever they want there using my name and image. I still show up on their Snapchat account sometimes. They could conceivably cut together all the videos I made for them into a series, sell that series for millions of dollars using my work and my name and likeness, and not give me a penny or tell me about it at all. All of this is 100% legal.
I haven’t been shy in the past about publicly criticizing Buzzfeed and other companies. But to be clear, this is ultimately my fault. Back then I never read contracts. I signed them as fast as possible so I could cash my paychecks. I didn’t have a manager or a lawyer. Sometimes my mom would look them over but I’d resent having to send them to her; I worried if she took too long or wanted to make too many changes, the people hiring me would change their minds. The economy is such that college graduates will do anything to get a “good job.” A good job has benefits and a salary, even if that salary is low, even if there’s no union or industry standard rates. College doesn’t exactly prepare you for your first job’s paperwork. When you’re 22, you’re so excited to be doing adulthood “right” that you go full-steam ahead, regardless of the company’s policy. And some companies take advantage of that.
This system especially hurts women, people of color, and LGBTQ people. There are limited job options in the entertainment industry for these groups. Though “diversity” is a big buzzword, in practice nearly 80% of show runners are white men. So for marginalized artists, a creative job writing, directing, or acting seems like a godsend. This amazing company is going to allow you to do something you love for money! A major reason companies can get away with one-sided agreements is because we don’t know our own worth. We think we should be grateful for the chance—often given to us by straight, cis, white men—and when they underpay us or overwork us, we should be thrilled with our own exploitation.