Submission Terms
These terms apply when you send a story to Ministry of Misguided Messages through ministryofmisguidedmessages.com (the “Show”). The Show is produced by Spread Media Studios and RWS Films in Ontario, Canada (“we”, “us”). By ticking the box and submitting, you agree to them.
1. Who can submit
You must be 18 or older. The story must be your own true experience, or one you have the right to tell.
2. What you give us (the licence)
By submitting your story, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use, edit, adapt, dramatise, animate, publish, distribute and monetise your story, in whole or in part, in any media now known or later invented, and to let our partners and distributors do the same. You keep ownership of your story; we get the right to use it.
The Ministry translation: Once you file it, we can turn it into an episode, a historical figure or a Limp Saber. You can’t ask for it back once we’ve spent the animation budget on it.
3. Credit and the Creator Royalty
If your story is selected as the basis of a main episode (about 15 minutes) or a milestone special (about 42 minutes), you will receive a Story Credit, unless you asked to stay anonymous, and a flat-fee Creator Royalty. Before that episode is released, we will contact you with the amount and a short agreement to sign. Stories used only in short clips, trailers or social posts receive a credit where practical, but no fee.
The Ministry translation: If your case makes a main episode, you get your name in the credits and a thank-you cheque. If it only becomes a 60-second Short, you get the glory of seeing the offender processed in public.
4. No obligation, no confidentiality
We receive many stories and can’t use them all. We aren’t obliged to use, reply to or return your submission. Submissions are not confidential, and we may already be developing ideas similar to yours, which we remain free to use.
5. Your promises to us
- The story is true to the best of your knowledge and you have the right to share it.
- It doesn’t include anyone’s address, phone number, workplace, social media handle or other identifying details, and you haven’t included or attached any images.
- It doesn’t break any law or anyone else’s rights, including privacy rights and any confidentiality agreement.
- You are responsible for your submission, and you agree to cover our costs if a claim arises because one of these promises wasn’t true.
The Ministry translation: Don’t lie, don’t file someone else’s case, and leave the actual picture out of it. If the offender recognises himself, that’s between you and him.
6. Names and identifying details
We change names, places and identifying details of everyone in a story before it’s used, to protect the innocent (and ourselves). You can ask to be credited anonymously, and we will honour that.
7. What we won’t accept
We delete, without reading further, anything that sexualises anyone under 18, includes or describes intimate images of a real person shared without consent, threatens or harasses a real person, or promotes hatred. Where the law requires it, we report illegal content to the authorities.
The Ministry translation: The Ministry processes words, not exhibits.
8. Privacy
How we handle your name, email and story is explained in our Privacy Policy.
9. General
These terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. We may update them; the version you agreed to is recorded with your submission. Questions: [email protected].