3. Licensed Content and Period of Licensing
3.1 In consideration of the undertakings of Party A contained in this Agreement and subject to the payment by Party A of the remuneration to Party B pursuant to Clause 6, Party B hereby grants to Party A and its Affiliates, and Party A and its Affiliates accept, a worldwide, exclusive (to the exclusion of any and all third parties including Party B), perpetual, irrevocable, freely transferable and sublicensable license of the entire copyright subsisting in the Work, including, without limitation:
(i) the New Works Rights;
(ii) the Audio Adaptation Rights;
(iii) the English Paperback Publication Rights;
(iv) the Distribution Rights; together with
any and all intellectual property rights in and to the Works for any purpose, including, without limitation, for promotion, marketing, sales and any other forms of commercial or economic exploitation.
(This will be long but we have to define these 4 terms. Per the definition of terms attached to the contract they are as follows:
Audio Adaption Rights means the rights to adapt the Work into any audio formats in any media whatsoever, now know or hereinafter invented.
English Paperback Publication Rights means the right to publish the Work in paperback format in English
Distribution Rights means the right to distribute the Work, any New Work and all ancillary or subsidiary rights (including music recording) related thereto and therein that are necessary for such distribution in all media and for all windows, now known or hereinafter invented including but not limited to Internet Rights, theatrical, video, television, airline and other common carrier distribution.
Internet Rights means digital or other new media transmission means now known or hereinafter devised (including via Internet, wired, wireless and mobile transmission), whether done by any form of streaming or encrypted download that is not a permanent copy.
New Works Rights means the exclusive right to create, produce, develop, publish and otherwise make any derivative works in whatever media or format (including, without limitation, films, online games and/or merchandises) based on adapting, deriving from, or incorporating elements of the Work (including characters, props, plot, framework or background) and/or containing story elements and leading characters materially similar to the story elements and leading characters in the Work )
(PER 3.1, as mentioned back in 2.5 and 2.6 comments made, this is essentially what makes you a fanfic writer of your original work. Remember, you are excluded as mentioned in the contract when it comes to the copyright. It is forever with Webnovel. It is not a limited copyright use, it is perpetual. And as a plus, webnovel specifically gives themselves the right to create a plagiarized version of your "Work" to make it brand spanking new as a new story and you have no claim to that both in royalties as well as the derivatives. You also signed it off WORLDWIDE, so your claim that it is not applicable in your side of the world is not true based on this contract. Food for thought then. Moving on...)
3.2 Party A shall use commercially reasonable endeavours to promote and market the Work. With a view to better implement promotional strategies and improve sales via digital communication channels, Party B agrees that Party A, or other third parties commissioned by Party A, may produce covers, illustrations, and the like for the Work (based on, but not limited to, the characters, scenes, storyline, and items of the Work), add text-to-speech functions to the Work or produce promotional videos for the Work.
3.3 Party B hereby waives all his/her moral rights (including rights to object to derogatory treatment) under the applicable laws, except for the right to be identified as the author of the Works.
(PER 3.3, they can be as mean, hurtful and demeaning to you as much as they want because you agreed to this contract. You have no right to complain for whoever is your handler on webnovel for any abusive behavior, except to be identified as the author)
3.4 For the avoidance of doubt, in view of the license of the New Works Rights pursuant to Clause 3.1, Party A has the full right to create, or designate a third party to create, other works incorporating elements of the Work (such as creating sequels, prequels, continuations, expansions or to peers works) based on the characters, plots, props, concepts and backgrounds of the Work; the copyright to such New Works shall exclusively belong to Party A, and Party A may deal with such New Works as it wishes without any necessity for any permission or consent from Party B.
(PER 3.4, we would like to repeat fellow author, if you signed, you are a contractor of your own work. After the contract expires, you have to seek permission to write that "fanfic" of your own original work that you signed off on, be it an ending to the unfinished work or a spinoff, sequel etc)
3.5 The term of the exclusive license granted in Clause 3.1 shall be from the date of signing of this Agreement until the last date in which the protection period for all copyrights in the Work has expired.
(PER 3.5, Even after your death, they own copyright. The period after your death where copyright is recognized to possibly earn any royalties, they still get since you signed off on it. You never get it back no matter what. While alive, per google, the minimum period of copyright is 25 years. However it's signed off to a company, so the 120 year maximum may apply. Regardless of the actual duration, it's no longer yours. Keep this in mind for later)
3.6 After the expiration of the copyright protection period of the copyrights subsisting in the Work, Party B agrees that Party A may still retain and publish the contents of the Work on Party A's Web Channel(s), but, on or after such expiration, Party A is not entitled to charge any fees for the sales of the Work. Party B agrees that, if for any reason any part of the licence granted herein has expired or the Agreement has been terminated, Party A and the operators of the relevant platforms shall have the right to continue to publish the contents of the Work to customers who have purchased and paid for the Work (including but not limited to readers on Party A's Web Channel(s) and related websites authorized by Party A).
(PER 3.6, assuming you magically get back your copyright, they are not required to retain any fees to pay you for the work you've done and can actually make it free.)
3.7 For the avoidance of doubt, any reference in this Clause 3 to any rights granted by Party B to Party A for the publication, reproduction and/or adaption of the Work:
3.7.1 includes not only publication, reproduction and/or adaption of the Work itself, but also any interim drafts or previous versions of the Work;
3.7.2 includes Party A's right to adapt the Work into any media or any form.
(PER 3.7, they'd just like to remind you unless you forgot for the nth time, it's theirs, no longer yours.)