This agreement has been made on 06/03/2026 05:07:35
By and between
A PIXEL HOUSE, having its registered office at 2 Church Lane, Dalhousie, Kolkata:70001, which expression shall include its assigns, administrators, representatives, liquidators, successors (herein after referred to as “APH”)
And
, resident of “” which expression shall include her representatives, successors, administrators and assigns (herein after referred to as “Freelancer”)
WHEREAS APH desires to write articles on various topics/ genre/ kinds (hereinafter called as “the Work”) for and on behalf of its media clients (herein after referred to as “APH’s Client”) and for such purpose wishes to appoint/retain, on contractual basis, certain persons/corporations/companies/firms capable of writing such work.
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AND WHEREAS the Freelancer has approached APH offering his/her/its services for writing the Work for and on behalf of APH and devolving/renouncing/granting, on exclusive basis, all the Intellectual Property rights and other rights in such Work in favour of APH; and APH hereby accepts such offer on the terms and conditions and on the consideration as detailed out herein below.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants and promises herein contained, the Parties agree as follows:
1. Scope of Work
The Work that is the subject matter of this Agreement concerns the idea generation and, writing and/or creation and/or development, completion and delivery in completed useable form of articles or a combination thereof by Freelancer.
2. Period of Contract
This contract is for a period of 06/03/2026 + one year.
3. Delivery Schedule
The Work written, created or developed under this Agreement and complying with the acceptance test criteria as mentioned in the communication shall be delivered to APH on or before the delivery date/period as specified in each communication.
The Freelancer will have to adhere to the timelines decided upon mutually for each article.
Any delays in intermediate submissions should not affect the date of final submission.
4. Quality of articles
The Freelancer will adhere to the guidelines and requirements specified as per the briefing sheet and deliver well-researched, high-quality articles that target readers find immensely valuable and immediately useful. If the articles do not meet these standards, APH will share feedback with the Freelancer to modify the article, within the purview of the briefing already shared. If the Freelancer is unable to modify the article as per changes asked for, APH reserves the right to reject the article, for which no payment will be made.
The Freelancer is also to ensure that the articles meet the SEO focus mentioned in the briefing shared.
5. Iterations
The Freelancer is expected to do up to 3 rounds of iterations for each article to ensure that it adheres to the briefing.
6. Changes as to the work specification, delivery schedule and consideration
To consistently improve the quality of writing, APH’s Client expects to give feedback and some new requirements in line with current expectations. Freelancer agrees to accommodate these changes.
Any and all changes in the content, work specification, delivery schedule, charges, consideration or any other specifications as set forth in this Agreement and in the SOW (Sheet of work) shall be mutually agreed upon by the parties in advance and documented in writing executed by both parties hereto. Without such approval and in addition to its rights under this Agreement, APH shall not be responsible for any direct, indirect or consequential costs, expenses or charges incurred by the Freelancer for the benefit of APH under this Agreement in excess of the total consideration payable to the Freelancer as set forth in Clause 3 above.
7. Intellectual Property
7.1. Grant of Intellectual Property Rights and other Rights in the work
On and upon the signing of this Agreement, the Freelancer hereby relinquishes in favour of APH, on exclusive basis, his/her/its entire Intellectual Property Rights including, but not limited to, copyright, trademark, trade secret, database right and all other rights in the work delivered by the Freelancer under this Agreement.
APH shall have all the legitimate rights, to the exclusion of all (including the Freelancer), in the Work so delivered to it by the Freelancer. APH may deal with or exploit the Work to any extent and in any manner whatsoever and without requiring the permission/licence/approval/consent from any natural or juristic person. APH shall also have the power and the right to further grant/license/relinquish or to deal in any manner with any or all Intellectual Property Rights and other rights acquired by it in such Work.
7.2 Indemnification for infringement of Intellectual Property Rights
Freelancer warrants and represents that it has the full right, power and authority to enter into this Agreement and to grant/licence/relinquishment of the rights mentioned herein. The Freelancer further warrants that he/she/it has not previously licenced/granted/relinquished all or any Intellectual Property Rights and other Rights in such work to any third party; and that APH’s inclusion and use of such work will not violate any rights of any kind or nature whatsoever of any third party.
Freelancer shall indemnify and hold harmless APH, its successors, assigns, liquidators, administrators and licensees, and the respective officers, directors, agents and employees and also APH’s Client, from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees, court fees and all other direct and indirect costs and charges), arising out of or in any way connected with any breach of any representation or warranty made by the Freelancer herein.
8. Non-Compete
The Freelancer shall not, directly or indirectly, deal or enter into any contract, agreement or arrangement, whatsoever, or solicit any business or profession with APH’s Client in relation to any kind or nature of business or activities carried on by APH or its affiliates or any group companies, during the course of, and under, this Agreement and one (1) year after the termination hereof, without the previous written consent of APH.
The Freelancer agrees that he/she/it shall not project/claim/identify itself in front of any third party including the APH’s Client as APH’s agent/ consultant/ employee/ contractor/ sub-contractor.
In case of any breach of this Non-Compete clause, the Freelancer shall pay APH the entire gross amount or revenue it has earned or derived out of any business transaction or other dealings with any one or more of APH’s clients.
9. Non Disclosure
Freelancer shall hold all confidential information in trust and confidence for APH and shall take all necessary precautions to protect such confidential information including, without limitation, all precautions Freelancer employs with respect to its own confidential material, except as may be authorised by APH in writing. Freelancer shall not use any confidential information except as authorised under this Agreement and shall not disclose any confidential information to any person(s) except on a ‘need-to-know’ basis for purposes contemplated under this Agreement and under a written obligation of confidentiality. Upon termination or expiration of this Agreement, Freelancer shall return to APH all written or descriptive materials including, but not limited to, images, photogrAPHs, drawings, descriptions, drafts, manuscripts, software and other papers and documents that contain confidential information.
10. Penalty/Damages on account of plagiarisation by the Freelancer
APH defines plagiarism as outright copy of text or structure of an already existing article; and in the case of images, it is the use of images which are the copyright of someone, without seeking permission from the owner of copyright. Images from the official websites of celebrities and movies can be used by giving proper credit. The other acceptable images are those that available for free use in the public domain. APH expects the Freelancer to have read the copyright notes available with such images, videos and GIFs.
Should APH or APH’s Client at any point of time during the period of this Agreement or for a period of three (3) months after the expiry or termination of this Agreement, notice that the Freelancer has committed an act of plagiarism, APH may call upon the Freelancer to refund all the moneys he/she/it has earned out of such plagiarised work. Any damages that APH and APH’s Client have to bear on cause of the plagiarised content would be passed on to the Freelancer of the work. The Freelancer and/or the Freelancer’s agents, representatives, employees will indemnify APH and any of its directors, officers or other authorised agents and APH’s Client, to the fullest extent and shall further pay liquidated damages of Rs. 20000/- without any demur.
In addition, APH shall have the right to cancel the agreement with the Freelancer and any damages that may come to the account of APH by this cancellation would be borne by the Freelancer.
11. Requirements on quality, interviews, images
All changes asked by APH on an article submitted by Freelancer should be made within 1 working day.
Freelancer will ensure that they submit copy-edited articles, that are ready for use by APH.
Freelancer will source real-life quotes for feature stories from people relevant to the articles and add them with prior permissions from the people quoted.
Freelancer is expected to adhere to the writing style defined in Quality of writing, and articles submitted to Freelancer as samples.
12. Termination of Agreement
Either party may terminate this Agreement by giving written notice of one calendar month and explaining in writing the reason of termination. Thereafter, upon mutual agreement, a valuation of the partly completed work shall be made by both the parties and payment released by APH, after deducting penalties under clause 8 and subject to tax deduction at source (TDS) within 30 days of the date of termination.
If the Freelancer exits the Agreement without following the notice period, he/she stands to lose all pending amount for which invoices may or may not have been raised.
13. Refund of Materials
All the materials/items/documents or any other thing, more specifically described in each SOW, provided by APH to the Freelancer for the performance of Freelancer’s obligations under this Agreement should be immediately returned, in original, by the Freelancer to APH without retaining any copy or copies including in electronic form.
Freelancer shall use and/or exploit the aforesaid material only for the purpose and under the authority of this Agreement. Freelancer shall not use and/or exploit any of these materials for any other purpose whatsoever.
14. Arbitration
All the disputes and differences arising between the parties hereto, including any dispute or difference in regard to the interpretation of any provision or term or the meaning thereof, or in regard to any claim of one party against the other or in regard to the rights and or obligations of any party or parties hereto under this Agreement, shall be first referred to a common arbitrator if agreed upon by all the parties hereto or to two arbitrators, one to be appointed by each of the parties to the dispute or difference, who shall among themselves agree on a third arbitrator, and such arbitration shall be governed by the provisions of The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and any amendments / re-enactments made thereto, for the time being in force. Such award shall be final and binding upon all the parties to the arbitration. The place of such arbitration proceedings shall be Kolkata.
15. Jurisdiction
Judicial proceedings for the review of any arbitration decision or proceeding or of any other matter arising under the terms of this Agreement shall be brought in the courts at Delhi / New Delhi only. The parties hereto consent to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts at Delhi / New Delhi only in connection with any judicial action or proceeding instituted by either of the parties pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties hereto have put their hands on the day, month and year first hereinabove written
