Comedy Central Wants to Eat Your Baby

Recently, I posted about how I was going to submit my 5-minute cartoon and (with my sketch comedy group) a sketch comedy show to Comedy Central's Test Pilot Contest.

After I finally sat down to read the guidelines of the agreement my friends and I would be signing, we realized (also after a chat with an entertainment lawyer) that it was NOT a good idea to participate in the contest because of how much we would be giving away. Here's what tipped me off:

You hereby grant to CP the non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable right and license to use and otherwise exploit the Materials, in whole or in part, which shall include, without limitation, the right to exhibit, broadcast, copy, reproduce, encode, compress, encrypt, incorporate data into, edit, broadcast, rebroadcast, transmit, record, publicly perform, create derivative works of, and distribute and synchronize in timed relation to visual elements, the Materials and/or any portions or excerpts thereof, in any manner, an unlimited number of times, in any and all media, now known or hereafter devised, throughout the world, in perpetuity.

So, for those of you considering submitting your work, just make sure you know what you're going to be giving up.