| abstract
| - Before signing or agreeing to something, you really should read through the contract. However, being a doorstopping Wall of Text, most people and characters just skip to the end and sign it, either trusting or rationalizing no one would be slimy enough to sneak in something they wouldn't have agreed to in previous talks. Oh those poor, deluded souls. Whatever contract, Deal with the Devil, electronic End User Licensing Agreement or Magically-Binding Contract the character speedily signed will have one or more clauses in the fine print designed to screw them over, remove all liability from the other party, or nullifying the whole thing. The sneaky party will use this to coerce the signer into doing their bidding or taking their stuff, while simultaneously avoiding all consequences. Most stories with this plot usually center on the signer trying to find a loophole to escape the contract, or otherwise live up to the much steeper conditions in order to finally complete it and render it fulfilled. On the positive side, if the series enforces Laser-Guided Karma, then you can expect the contract to get destroyed and/or overruled due to even more obscure legalese by a friendly Rules Lawyer. Tropers should rest (mostly) assured that civil code contract law has clauses against "obviously Egregious" terms written into a contract. That said, there's plenty of non-egregious ways a contract can harm you -- not to mention what counts as legally "egregious" is only extremely outrageous things or something specifically mentioned in law. Judges don't like to overturn a contract unless it is clearly illegal. And the law very often does not prevent "unfair" contracts. After all, unnecessary technicalities are bad for business, right? Also rest assured that in common law jurisdictions (basically in any English-speaking country outside the heavily French-influenced Quebec and Louisiana), courts will exclude anything in the fine print that the signor shouldn't expect and are generally more favorable to signors than drafters when it comes to standard form contracts. In fact, U.S. law prevents disclaimers from having any actual force in law. However, if it's not a standard form contract, expect this trope to be the case, since both parties should have been paying attention when it was written. This is also an example of Eagleland Osmosis. Courts in non-common law jurisdictions are even more hostile to fine print, and will likely rule **any** fine print clauses in standard form contracts to be unenforceable. In countries based on Roman law, the civil code heavily restricts the types of clauses that can be put into these sorts of contracts. In any case, one can contractually rescind any of one's legal rights except for bodily freedom. Joining the military, working for the government (FBI, CIA), or just agreeing to arbitration (giving up your right to sue in court) in a contract, are ways you can give up your rights. In fiction, the law is pretty clear though -- if you signed it, then you agreed with it. Otherwise you wouldn't have signed, right? No one held a gun to your head (if they did, then it is void, if you can prove that). Long story short; read the damn contract. Compare Unreadable Disclaimer. Favored by the Morally-Bankrupt Banker. Examples of Read the Fine Print include:
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