Automatic Renewal Provisions May Not Be So Automatic…

Recent developments in New York law may cause you to think twice before placing an automatic renewal provision in your contract. In 2008, Isaac Asimov's daughter, Robyn Asimov, and widow, Janet Asimov, hired Trident Media Group (TMG) to represent the Asimov's estate as its exclusive literary agent. TMG was engaged to "maintain, sell, license and otherwise exploit" Asimov's work. After the relationship between the two began to deteriorate, Asimov's estate sent a letter to TMG stating its "services were terminated as of the end of the original term of the agreement and that TMG was in breach of its duties and obligations."

TMG then called attention to the automatic renewal provision in the contract. The contract provided that the two-year agreement would be automatically renewed for successive two-year periods, unless one side gave written notice of termination 120 days before the next renewal date. In response, Asimov's estate asserted that the agreement should be