contract-law licensing music
Contract termination in distrokid -
<p>It looks like from the big four (ditto, distrokid, tunecore and cdbaby) the only ones that do not want my rights forever (irrevocably) are distrokid and cdbaby (for more information have a look at my previous two questions) and I have two questions. In <a href="https://cdbaby.com/membercontract.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CD Baby</a> it is quite explicit, I have to send them an email containing specific information and they then send a &quot;Takedown Notice&quot; to the stores.</p>
<p>However in <a href="https://distrokid.com/agreement/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DistroKid</a> it is not.</p>
<p><em><strong>Termination</strong></em></p>
<p>there is this section:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a. The term of this Agreement and our Services hereunder (the “Term”)
will begin on the Effective Date and will continue for one (1) year,
unless renewed or terminated earlier.</p>
<p>b. The Term will renew automatically at the end of each annual
contract period (and your credit or debit card will be charged
accordingly) unless you terminate your account prior the end of the
then-current contract year via your account on the user dashboard in
the DistroKid site.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Should I read that as:</p>
<p>(1) &quot;you commit to a year each time, but we can pull out any time&quot; or</p>
<p>(2) &quot;you commit to a year, but either of us can pull out any time&quot;.</p>
<p>In which case what is the point in specifying a year? so that it auto-expires?</p>
<p><em><strong>Notice to the stores</strong></em></p>
<p>In Distrokid there is section</p>
<blockquote>
<p>d. After the end of the Term, we will notify all applicable Digital
Stores to remove your Recordings and will have no further obligation
to you other than to account and pay for monies earned during the
Term. Customers who downloaded or otherwise accessed your Recordings
may be able to retain and continue listening to your Recordings even
after the Term of this Agreement is over.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why do they say &quot;applicable&quot;? Should I be worried that for some stores this is not applicable? There is no definition of what is applicable (otherwise it would be Applicable wouldn't it?).</p>
<p>I should add that distrokid is much cheaper than CD baby, that is the reason I don't just go with cd baby. also I need to read other parts of the contract and ask questions about those too.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Should I read that as (1) &quot;you commit to a year each time, but we can pull out any time&quot;. or (2) &quot;you commit to a year, but either of us can pull out any time&quot;. In which case what is the point in specifying a year?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I read that as &quot;You pay for services by the year. You can cancel at any time, but won't get a refund for the current year.&quot; There is no provision quoted that allows the company DistroKid  to terminate the contract. Presumably they can decline to renew it at the end of any year, and they may be able to terminate it for a breach of the terms. And I suppose non-payment at renewal time would terminate it.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why do they say &quot;applicable&quot;? Should I be worried that for some stores this is not applicable?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While I cannot be sure, I would take &quot;applicable stores&quot; to be those stores to which they have supplied your recordings, and which were currently offering them for sale.</p>
