So as many of you know I write a lot for this blog, for my work, books, text books etc. Much of this writing requires contracts, copyright, waivers, certifications, attribution, financial disclosures etc etc. I have about 100 peer reviewed articles, about 50 other articles, 4 different books, book chapters, blogs, podcasts all out there in the public domain. I also write a tremendous number of grants that are submitted to various funding agencies. That is a lot of writing.

With all this writing and publishing I have a bit of experience looking at publishing contracts. Recently one came to me with an interesting indemnification clause. Indemnification “As a legal concept … it means to compensate another party to a contract for any loss that such other party may suffer during the performance of the contract” (Wikipedia). If something in a contract screws up and it is my fault I guess I should be responsible. But indemnification in a publishing contract can have results that are quite broad.

For example, if I were to sign a publishing contract for a medical article, where I agree to indemnify the publisher for a liable suit, I would have to pay for damages to someone who randomly decides to sue. Remember anyone could sue any other person for any reason. Say in this medical article, I use fake medical scenarios with fake patients; but a person with a disease reads it and thinks a hypothetical patient reflects them and they sue me and the publisher. I will fight the suit because the scenario is made up. But if I signed an indemnification clause in a publishing contract, the publisher could unilaterally decide to plead guilty, settle the case and pay any damages. It makes no difference to them, I’m paying. By signing the indemnification clause, I am basically writing the publisher a blank check.

What astonishes me is that publishers, in a difficult publishing market, put such things into contracts and call them, “standard” contracts. When I write an article, accepting no payment, while trying to educate medical professionals in saving lives; I should not be expected to take on an unlimited financial liability. I guess some people sign off on them, but I will not. It is pretty much caveat emptor.