5. Rights and Obligations of the Parties
5.1 On or after the date of this Agreement, Party A has the right to, depending on the sales of the Work, promote the Work on Party A's Web Channel(s) to help raise the reputation of Party B and the Work. To assist with promoting Party B and its reputation, Party B hereby authorises Party A to create, manage, and run personal websites or other social media accounts such as Twitter or Instagram in Party B's name for the purpose of marketing to promote the Work and highlight the achievements of Party B; Party A has the right to use Party B's portrait, name, alias, pseudonyms together with the characters, plots, props, backgrounds, and other necessary information at no cost for the purposes of promotion and marketing as stated in this Clause 5.1. Party B further authorizes Party A to use the first 200,000 words of the Work for the purpose of promotion and marketing at no cost via various channels, with a view to raise the profile of Party B and the Work.
(PER 5.1, it specifically indicated personal websites and soc med presence. Well, since the first contract has been signed and a few works have already gone premium, this soc med thing is a no-show. I guess we have to "wait and see" still? This comment was made as of mid September 2018.)
5.2 Party A may, during the term of this Agreement, require that Party B make reasonable revisions to the Draft and the Work.
(PER 5.2, they can require you to make reasonable revisions. That is all well and good. But what is the bounds of reasonable? We must not forget the derogatory clause exists and that makes any action reasonable, doesn't it?)
5.3 Party A may freely deal with the Work on Party A's Web Channel(s), and Party A may offer special promotions in respect of the Work from time to time, including but not limited to free offers for a limited period, discounted sales, issuance of complimentary tokens, and various other marketing and/or promotional events related to the Work.
(PER 5.3, initially this could have been understandable. Promos and marketing, right? The problem is the sales part of the locked chapters assuming it is based off spirit stones that are discounted or as is during the promo. Remember that there are 2 types of Spirit Stones on Webnovel's Channel. Paid and Free. Free is given by webnovel to any account around 30 per day as max. Author can only earn from the paid spirit stones. Since that is the arrangement, why has webnovel not cracked down on alt accounts that are used to boost free spirit stones earned by a reader or user. That is why I specified it as account. They wont crackdown on alt accounts as they can use it to brag of their false user base when marketing against other platforms. This action affects their authors' as well as translators' possible revenue and just encourages the creation of alt accounts.)
5.4 Party A, or 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 props described in the Work), add text-to-speech features for the Work, and produce promotional videos for the Work.
5.5 During the term of this Agreement, if the Work and other works created by Party B as assigned or licensed to Party A are faced with any infringement challenges taken by third parties, Party A has the right to, in the name of Party A, take actions to defend and safeguard its legal rights, including but not limited to lodging administrative complaints and commencing litigation and/or arbitral proceedings as appropriate, and Party B shall provide necessary assistance in connection therewith. In respect of any compensation and all monetary rewards ultimately obtained by Party A through taking foregoing actions, Party A and Party B agree and acknowledge that such compensation and monetary rewards shall solely belong to Party A.
(PER 5.5, Webnovel will fight for the copyright. You may think that is good but we have to continue reading. They will need documentation to prove they own the copyright as well as provide background and history of the creation of the work, most likely, and that's where you, as the original author, come into play. After using you to defend the copyright, which you signed over to webnovel, any monetary renumeration and compensation is solely on webnovel's account. You won't see hide nor hair of it.)
5.6 Party B shall take all necessary actions to maintain the image of Party A and Party A's Web Channel(s) and cooperate with Party A in promoting the Work through various means. Party A has the right to, through Party A's Web Channel(s) and/or Party A's business partners, make use of Party B's portrait and elements of the Work for arranging commercial promotions and marketing events for Party B and the Work, including promotion of Party A's brand, Party A's platform, and Party A's software. Party B shall cooperate and participate in any offline and online promotional events organized by Party A (including but not limited to book signings, meet and greets, press releases, etc.), and provide its promotional materials for such purpose as may be required by Party A.
(PER 5.6, this is the clause where the contracted author can't talk bad about webnovel, its actions, policies and even how broken the app or site is. They are legally obligated to say only positive things. This is why we have been saying the contracted author can't legally agree with the truth because they are obligated to protect webnovel. This is also where it specifically mentions a contracted author must go to a specific destination if required by webnovel. Remember all those clauses above that dictate their side of the demands along with how the wording is done here. PARTY B SHALL COOPERATE AND PARTICIPATE. There is no wiggle room to say no if they demand it. Based on the wording, it looks like webnovel has the right to demand the contracted author to appear in a said location/country and has no say in it.)