Hey, let's talk briefly about what it means to indemnify someone. This is a liability-shifting provision that means that if person A is used, and person B indemnifies them, person B is potentially on the hook for everything from lawyer's fees down through the judgment.

If you sign a contract with a trad publisher, you will often be asked to indemnify the publisher against copyright/defamation/etc.

Please read those clauses carefully because you want to make it clear that you're indemnifying someone against your actions only, and not for like, them getting sued because they use a picture they don't have the rights to.

There is almost zero reason for an author to ever indemnify anyone else in any other business context.

I mention this because a researcher (who is a great person!) asked me to sign a standard institutional release form, and that standard institutional release form said I would indemnify the researcher, publisher, and institution against any suits based on the researcher's work.

This is WILD institutional overreach. It is--how do I put this--completely and utterly ridiculous to create a legal obligation for the subjects you are researching to indemnify you if you are sued.

I'm mentioning this because I think a lot of people do not read releases. Please start.

There is no valid reason to include an indemnification clause in a standard release for a researcher. None. Zero. Zilch.

This is not the fault of the researchers, but if we don't push back, the institutions that are inserting these clauses are going to keep doing it.

If you commit a wrongful act in talking to a researcher, you can still be held liable. They don't *need* an indemnification agreement to hold you accountable.

This is an unconscionable use of institutional power.

Again: Not the researcher's fault, in any way. But please protect yourselves against institutional overreach!

And for the record, I contacted the researcher and we talked and I suggested striking the indemnity clause entirely, and that worked.

So it's okay to push back!