CreatorsContract review
Contract review for creators and founders
Management agreements, agency deals, MCN and network contracts, podcast and licensing agreements, collaboration splits, client service agreements, and the terms of service behind every platform payout: creators and founders sign more contracts than most small businesses, usually without reading them. The terms that hurt are the ones that outlast the deal: commissions that survive termination, auto-renewals, IP assignments, non-competes, broad indemnification, and a choice-of-law clause that sends any dispute to another state's courts. Arizona gives a written contract six years to be enforced under A.R.S. § 12-548, so what you sign follows you for a long time. A licensed Arizona attorney can review the document before you sign, explain each clause in plain terms, and propose the edits, at a flat fee quoted first.
What Blueshoe does
The groundwork, in order, before you decide anything.
- 01
Map the document
Every clause sorted into what you get, what you give, what survives termination, and what happens in a dispute. Blueshoe turns a thirty-page agreement into a one-page picture of the deal before any opinion is given.
- 02
Flag what is off-market
Commissions on deals you sourced yourself, post-term commissions with no sunset, auto-renewals with short notice windows, assignment of your format or catalog, non-competes, and indemnity with no cap. Each is marked and explained.
- 03
Draft the redlines
Specific replacement language, not a list of concerns: a defined term, a carve-out for your existing clients, a commission sunset, a license in place of an assignment, mutual indemnity capped at fees paid, and a dispute clause you can live with.
- 04
An attorney can negotiate it
A licensed Arizona attorney can review the redlines with you and go back to the manager, agency, network, or client on your behalf, and tell you when a choice-of-law clause means another state's counsel would be needed, on terms stated in writing first.
What the law says
What the law says about creator and founder contracts in Arizona
How long am I bound by what I sign?
For the term the contract states, plus whatever it says survives termination, and the other side has six years to sue on a written contract under A.R.S. § 12-548. Post-term commissions, non-disparagement, confidentiality, and IP assignments commonly outlast the relationship by design. The survival clause is short and usually near the end; read it first.
What should a management or agency agreement say about commissions?
Which deals the commission applies to, at what rate, for how long after the agreement ends, and whether deals you sourced yourself count. The common trap is a commission on all revenue, including deals the manager never touched, with a post-term tail that has no end date. A defined scope and a sunset are the two fixes.
Can a contract take ownership of my content or my format?
Yes, if it says so in a signed writing. Under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 201, you own what you create unless you assign it or it is a work made for hire under § 101. Networks, labels, and some agencies draft for an assignment of your catalog or format. A license for a defined purpose is the alternative.
An assignment is sometimes the right trade at the right price. It should never be the default you did not notice. The word to look for is assign; the word to ask for is license.
Is a non-compete in a creator contract enforceable in Arizona?
Arizona courts enforce restrictive covenants only to the extent they are reasonable in duration, geography, and scope and protect a legitimate interest, and the analysis is fact-specific. A clause barring you from all sponsored work or an entire category for years after termination is the kind that draws scrutiny. Have it read before you rely on either assumption.
The contract picks another state's law. What does that do?
It usually means that state's contract rules govern the deal and its courts hear any dispute, which can put a fight over a Phoenix creator's fee in a New York or Los Angeles courtroom. Blueshoe is an Arizona firm; a licensed Arizona attorney can review the clause before you sign and say when a dispute would need counsel licensed there.
What it costs
Free to ask. A flat fee, quoted before any work.
Asking costs nothing, and a licensed Arizona attorney can review your situation before you decide anything. If you engage Blueshoe, the fee is a flat amount set out in a written engagement agreement before any work is billed. Some matters resolve with one letter; others need a filed claim; you know the price for each before you commit.
- Free to ask
- Written assessment before any fee
- Engagement terms in writing
- No billable hours
Questions people ask
Not for understanding what you signed, which is often the first step to renegotiating it. Many agreements have notice windows, renewal dates, and termination rights that only help if you know when they are. A review of a signed contract tells you what you can still change, what you cannot, and the dates that matter.
More under Creators
- Brand dealsUsage rights that run forever, category exclusivity, net-90 payment, unlimited revisions, an IP assignment where a license would do.Read more
- Didn't get paidYou delivered the content and the brand went quiet, the agency is holding your fee, or a platform froze your payout.Read more
- Starting a companyFiling with the Arizona Corporation Commission creates the entity; the operating agreement under the Arizona LLC Act (A.R.S.Read more
Legally reviewed by Catherine O’Grady, State Bar of Arizona No. 011647
Managing partner & chief compliance officer · 30+ years in practice · Reviewed 2026-10-08 · Full bio →