AI Contract Checklist
A working checklist covering scope, disclosure, rights, revisions and exit
Related
The problem
AI speeds up production while contracts stay on old templates. Those templates assume a human author, a finished deliverable and a finite number of revisions. All three assumptions have loosened, and disputes now settle on whether this counts as a revision or a new version, whether delivery means stems or a mixed stereo file, and whether the client may use the material for training.
How it works
A contract cannot predict everything, but it can fix the foreseeable ambiguities. Five are most often left vague in AI work. Scope, how many pieces, how long, what instrumentation, whether stems and MIDI are included. Disclosure, whether generation is allowed and whether the finished piece must be labelled. Rights, licence or assignment, exclusivity, whether the client may sublicense or train on it. Revisions, how many rounds, what a round contains, how overruns are billed. Liability, who handles similarity claims, platform takedowns and third-party demands. Add an exit clause, covering payment already made and files already delivered if the project stops.
Practice
Put each point on paper. List deliverables and formats, sample rate, channels, stem count, whether project files are included. State how generation is used and disclosed, with the date of the terms snapshot you relied on. State the licence and its limits, including that the client may not train models on the delivery without a separate agreement. Define revision rounds and the test, for example "a structural change to the same section counts as one round, level and balance adjustments do not". Say who runs the similarity check and to what extent. Set an acceptance period and a rule for deemed approval. Name the governing law and forum, and confirm it for cross-border work. Have a lawyer read it before signing, since a template is not advice.
What to listen for
In the game loop, how length and loop points define acceptance. In the samba loop, how small units make revision boundaries obvious. In the first movement of the Beethoven symphony, why a long work must be accepted in sections. In the Ballade recording, how format and version shape delivery. Hear these clearly and the clauses become specific.
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- 音乐委托制作合同的常见条款，依公开合同通识整理，未抄模板原文
- 生成内容的使用与标注要求，依公开平台规则归纳，未作法律判断
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.