4. Party B's Warranties and Representations
4.1 Party B warrants and represents that:
4.1.1 the Work is original and created independently without the assistance of any other parties;
4.1.2 Party B has not plagiarized any third-party works and the contents of the Work do not infringe upon the rights and interests of any third party (including but not limited to any third-party copyrights and any other intellectual property rights, reputation rights, name rights, portrait rights or other relevant rights and interests as prescribed under the applicable laws);
4.1.3 Party B is not, and has not been, involved in any legal disputes concerning intellectual property rights;
4.1.4 previous versions of the Work have not been previously published in any location;
4.1.5 the rights granted to Party A under this Agreement are free from any encumbrances, including but not limited to any security interests, options, mortgages, charges, or liens in favour of third parties; and
4.1.6 the Work does not violate any laws or regulations of the applicable laws.
(PER 4.1, remember, they took everything from you. But, this is one of the big catches. They have all the positives but once there is a negative, you are all at fault and they are not to blame for not doing their due diligence for whatever reason. There is no legal protection that they give you nor assistance. Basically, they throw you under the bus. But this could be a standard everywhere in the publishing industry so just thought I'd bring it up.)
4.2 Party B undertakes not to include any contents that are not permitted by Party A in any chapters of the Work, and Party B also undertakes not to take any actions to distort, slander, or damage the image of Party A or Party A's Web Channel(s) or other contracted authors or works on Party A's Web Channel(s) and shall not publish any statements that may cause others to have a negative impression of Party A or Party A's Web Channel(s). Party B shall not take or engage in any action that may compete with Party A (including publishing promotional contents of Party A's Competitors or participating in promotional activities organised by Party A's Competitors etc.) on any platforms or channels (including but not limited to any websites, Twitter, Instagram, etc.).
4.3 Party B undertakes not to enter into any electronic, verbal, written, or other forms of agreement with any parties relating to the Work or other works for the duration of this Agreement. Moreover, Party B promises not to participate in any commercial activities carried out by Party A's Competitors, including but not limited to acting as a spokesperson, promoting, working for, investing in, or incorporating new companies or studios in any way in connection with Party A's Competitors during this Agreement.
(PER 4.3, this is another underhanded move. The original contract as advertised was a work exclusivity contract. Meaning only 1 story and possibly its derivatives would be exclusive. This clause is basically cutting you off from doing any "other work". Keep this idea of "other work" in mind for later as well. There are other things they have tied you down with as well.)
4.4 Party B shall not provide any money, gifts, or other tangible or intangible benefits to the editors, employees and/or family members of any staff of Party A or Party A's Affiliates that have actual or potential business relationships with Party B.
(PER 4.4 seems easy to understand. But you have to keep in mind, the mother company is tencent. How do you, as Party B, know that someone you know or planning to give a gift to is not connected in anyway to a Tencent affiliate, partner or subsidiary? They can use it as a way to terminate you for violating the contract)