TDK MEDIACTIVE, INC. INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT
Exhibit 10.7
TDK MEDIACTIVE, INC.
This Indemnification Agreement (“Agreement”) is effective as of March 27, 2001, by and
between TDK Mediactive, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and Xxxxxx Code (“Indemnitee”).
proceeding, alternative dispute resolution mechanism, hearing, inquiry or investigation), judgments, fines, penalties and amounts paid in
settlement (if such settlement is; approved in advance by the Company, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld) of such Claim and any federal, state, local or foreign taxes imposed on the Indemnitee as a result of the actual or deemed
receipt of any payments under this Agreement (collectively, hereinafter (“Expenses”), including all interest, assessments and other charges paid or payable in connection with or in respect of such Expenses. Such payment of Expenses shall
be made by the Company as soon as practicable but in any event no later than five days after written demand by Indemnitee therefor is presented to the Company.
2
the Company and Indemnitee as to whether and to what extent Indemnitee would be permitted to be indemnified under applicable law and the Company
agrees to abide by such opinion. The Company agrees to pay the reasonable fees of the Independent Legal Counsel referred to above and to indemnify fully such counsel against any and all expenses (including attorneys’ fees), claims, liabilities
and damages arising out of or relating to this Agreement or its engagement pursuant hereto.
3
The Company shall thereafter take all necessary or desirable action to cause such insurers to pay, on behalf of the Indemnitee, all amounts
payable as a result of such action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation in accordance with the terms of such policies.
(a) Scope. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the Company hereby agrees to
indemnify the Indemnitee to the fullest extent permitted by law, notwithstanding that such indemnification is not specifically authorized by the other provisions of this Agreement, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, the Company’s
Bylaws or by statute. In the event of any change after the date of this Agreement in any applicable law, statute or rule which expands the right of a Delaware corporation to indemnify a member of its Board of Directors or an officer, such changes
shall be, ipso facto, within the purview of an Indemnitee’s rights, and the Company’s obligations, under this Agreement. In the event of any change in any applicable law, statute or rule which narrows the right of a Delaware corporation to
indemnify a member of its Board of Directors or an officer, such changes, to the extent not otherwise required by such law, statute or rule to be applied to this Agreement, shall have no effect on this Agreement or the parties’ rights and
obligations hereunder.
(b) Nonexclusivity. The indemnification provided
by this Agreement shall not be deemed exclusive of any rights to which an Indemnitee may be entitled under the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, the Company’s Bylaws, any agreement, any vote of stockholders or disinterested
Directors, the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, or otherwise, both as to action in Indemnitee’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. The indemnification provided under this Agreement
shall continue as to Indemnitee for any action taken or not taken while serving in an indemnified capacity even though Indemnitee may have ceased to serve in such capacity at the time of any action, suit or other covered proceeding.
4. No Duplication of Payments. The Company shall not be liable under this Agreement
to make any payment in connection with any Claim made against Indemnitee to the extent Indemnitee has otherwise actually received payment (under any insurance policy, Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaw or otherwise) of the amounts otherwise
indemnifiable hereunder.
4
5. Partial Indemnification. If
Indemnitee is entitled under any provision of this Agreement to indemnification by the Company for some or a portion of Expenses incurred by him in connection with any Claim, but not, however, for the total amount thereof, the Company shall
nevertheless indemnify Indemnitee for the portion of such Expenses to which Indemnitee is entitled.
6. Mutual Acknowledgment. Both the Company and Indemnitee acknowledge that in certain instances, Federal law or applicable public policy may override Delaware law and prohibit the Company from
indemnifying its directors and officers under this Agreement or otherwise. For example, the Company and Indemnitee acknowledge that the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken the position that indemnification is not permissible for liabilities
arising under certain federal securities laws, and federal legislation prohibits indemnification for certain ERISA violations. Indemnitee understands and acknowledges that the Company has undertaken or may be required in the future to undertake with
the Securities and Exchange Commission to submit the question of indemnification to a court in certain circumstances for a determination of the Company’s right under public policy to indemnify Indemnitee.
7. Officers and Director Liability. The Company shall, from time to time, make the good faith
determination whether or not it is practicable for the Company to obtain and maintain a policy or policies of insurance with reputable insurance companies providing the officers and directors of the Company with coverage for losses from wrongful
acts, or to ensure the Company’s performance of its indemnification obligations under this Agreement. Among other considerations, the Company will weigh the costs of obtaining such insurance coverage against the protection afforded by such
coverage. In all policies of director and officer liability insurance, Indemnitee shall be named as an insured in such a manner as to provide Indemnitee the same rights and benefits as are accorded to the most favorably insured of the Company’s
directors, if the Indemnitee is a director; or of the Company’s officers, if the Indemnitee is not a director of the Company but is an officer; or of the Company’s key employees, if Indemnitee is not an officer or director but is a key
employee. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall have no obligation to obtain or maintain such insurance if the Company determines in good faith that such insurance is not reasonably available, the premium costs for such insurance are
disproportionate to the amount of coverage provided, the coverage provided by such insurance is limited by exclusions so as to provide an insufficient benefit, or Indemnitee is covered by a similar insurance maintained by a subsidiary or parent of
the Company.
8. Exceptions. Any other provision herein to the contrary
notwithstanding, the Company shall not be obligated pursuant to the terms of this Agreement:
(b) Claims Initiated by Indemnitee. To indemnify or advance expenses
to Indemnitee with respect to Claims initiated or brought voluntarily by Indemnitee and not by way of defense, except (i) with respect to actions or proceedings brought to establish or enforce a right to indemnification under this Agreement or any
other agreement or insurance policy or under the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws now or hereafter in effect relating to Claims for Indemnifiable Events, (ii) in specific cases if the Board of Directors has approved the
initiation or bringing of such Claim, or (iii) as otherwise required under Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, regardless of whether Indemnitee ultimately
5
is determined to be entitled to such indemnification, advance expense payment or insurance recovery, as the case may be;
9. Period of Limitation. No legal action shall be brought and no cause of action shall be asserted by or in the right of the
Company against Indemnitee, Indemnitee’s estate, spouse, heirs, executors or personal or legal representatives after the expiration of two years from the date of accrual of such cause of action, and any claim or cause of action of the Company
shall be extinguished and deemed released unless asserted by the timely filing of a legal action within such two-year period; provided, that if any shorter period of limitations is otherwise applicable to any such cause of action, such shorter
period shall govern.
(a) For purposes of this Agreement, references to the “Company” shall include, in addition to the resulting
corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its officers and directors,
so that if Indemnitee is or was an officer or director of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture,
employee benefit plan, trust or other enterprise, Indemnitee shall stand in the same position under the provisions of this Agreement with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as Indemnitee would have with respect to such constituent
corporation if its separate existence had continued.
(b) For purposes of this Agreement, references to
“other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on Indemnitee with respect to an employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the
Company” shall include any service as an officer or director of the Company which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such officer or director with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or its beneficiaries and if
Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner Indemnitee reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan, Indemnitee shall be deemed to have acted in
6
a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the Company” as referred to in this Agreement.
(c) For purposes of this Agreement a “Change in Control” shall be deemed to have occurred if
(i) any “person” (as such term is used in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended), other than a trustee or other fiduciary hold ing securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company or a
corporation owned directly or indirectly by the stockholders of the company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of stock of the Company, (A) who is or becomes the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of securities of the
Company representing 10% or more of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding Voting Securities, increases his beneficial ownership of such securities by 5% or more over the percentage so owned by such person, or (B) becomes
the “beneficial owner” (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under said Act), directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing more than 20% of the total voting power represented by the Company’s then outstanding Voting
Securities, (ii) during any period of two consecutive years, individuals who at the beginning of such period constitute the Board of Directors of the Company and any new director whose election by the Board of Directors or nomination for election by
the Company’s stockholders was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds of the directors then still in office who either were directors at the beginning of the period or whose election or nomination or election was previously so approved,
cease for any reason to constitute a majority thereof, or (iii) the stockholders of the Company approve a merger or consolidation of the Company with any other corporation other than a merger or consolidation which would result in the Voting
Securities of the company outstanding immediately prior thereto continuing to represent (either by remaining outstanding or by being converted into Voting Securities of the surviving entity) at least 80% of the total voting power represented by the
Voting Securities of the company or such surviving entity outstanding immediately after such merger or consolidation, or the stockholders of the company approve a plan of complete liquidation of the Company or an agreement for the sale or
disposition by the Company of (in one transaction or a series of transactions) all of substantially all of the Company’s assets.
(d) For purposes of this Agreement, “Independent Legal Counsel” shall mean an attorney or firm of attorneys, selected in accordance with the provisions of Section 1(c) hereof, who shall not have
otherwise performed services for the Company or Indemnitee within the last three years (other than with respect to matters concerning the rights of Indemnitee under this Agreement, or of other indemnitee under similar indemnity agreements).
(e) For purposes of this Agreement, a “Reviewing Party” shall mean any appropriate person or
body consisting of a member or members of the Company’s Board of Directors or any other person or body appointed by the Board of Directors who is not a party to the particular claim for which Indemnitee is seeking indemnification, or
Independent Legal Counsel.
(f) For purposes of this Agreement, “Voting Securities” shall
mean any securities of the Company that vote generally in the election of directors.
11. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall constitute an original.
7
12. Binding Effect; Successors and
Assigns. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by the parties hereto and their respective successors, assigns, including any direct or indirect successor by purchase, merger,
consolidation or otherwise to all or substantially all of the business and/or assets of the company, spouses, heirs and personal and legal representatives. The Company shall require and cause any successor (whether direct or indirect by purchase,
merger, consolidation or otherwise) to all, substantially all, or a substantial part, of the business and/or assets of the Company, by written agreement in form and substance satisfactory to Indemnitee, expressly to assume and agree to perform this
Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the Company would be required to perform if no such succession had taken place. This Agreement shall continue in effect regardless of whether Indemnitee continues to serve as a director or
officer of the Company or of any other enterprise at the Company’s request.
13. Attorneys’ Fees. In the event that any action is instituted by Indemnitee under this Agreement or under any liability insurance policies maintained by the Company to enforce or
interpret any of the terms hereof or thereof, Indemnitee shall be entitled to be paid all Expenses incurred by Indemnitee with respect to such action, regardless of whether Indemnitee is ultimately successful in such action, and shall be entitled to
the advancement of Expenses with respect to such action, unless as a part of such action a court of competent jurisdiction over such action determines that each of the material assertions made by Indemnitee as a basis for such action were not made
in good faith or were frivolous. In the event of an action instituted by or in the name of the Company under this Agreement to enforce or interpret any of the terms of this Agreement, Indemnitee shall be entitled to be paid all Expenses incurred by
Indemnitee in defense of such action including costs and expenses incurred with respect to Indemnitee’s counterclaims and crossclaim made in such action), and shall be entitled to the advancement of Expenses with respect to such action, unless
as a part of such action a court having jurisdiction over such action determines that each of Indemnitee’s material defenses to such action were made in bad faith or were frivolous.
14. Notice. All, notices, requests, demands and other communications under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed
duly given (i) if delivered by hand and signed for by the party addressed, on the date of such delivery, or (ii) if mailed by domestic certified or registered mail with postage prepaid, on the third business day after the date postmarked. Addresses
for notice to either party are as shown on the signature page of this Agreement, or as subsequently modified by written notice.
15. Consent to Jurisdiction. The Company and Indemnitee each hereby irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Delaware for all purposes in connection with any
action or proceeding which arises out of or relates to this Agreement and agree that any action instituted under this Agreement shall be commenced, prosecuted and continued only in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware in and for New Castle
County, which shall be the exclusive and only proper forum for adjudicating such a claim.
16. Severability. The provisions of this Agreement shall be severable in the event that any of the provisions hereof (including any provision within a single section, paragraph or sentence)
are held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void or otherwise unenforceable, and the remaining provisions shall remain enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law. Furthermore, to the fullest extent possible, the provisions
of this Agreement (including, without limitations, each portion of this Agreement containing any
8
provision held to be invalid, void or otherwise unenforceable, that is not itself invalid, void or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to
give effect to the intent manifested by the provision held invalid, illegal or unenforceable.
17. Choice of Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and its provisions construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, as applied to contracts between Delaware
residents, entered into and to be performed entirely within the State of Delaware, without regard to the conflict of laws principles thereof.
18. Subrogation. In the event of payment under this Agreement, the Company shall be subrogated to the extent of such payment to all of the rights of recovery of
Indemnitee, who shall execute all documents required and shall do all acts that say be necessary to secure such rights and to enable the Company effectively to bring suit to enforce such rights.
19. Amendments and Termination. No amendment, modification, termination or cancellation of this Agreement shall be effective
unless it is in writing signed by both the parties hereto. No waiver of any of the provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed or shall constitute a waiver of any other provisions hereof (whether or not similar) nor shall such waiver constitute a
continuing waiver.
20. Integration and Entire Agreement. This Agreement
sets forth the entire understanding between the parties hereto and supersedes and merges all previous written and oral negotiations, commitments, understandings and agreements relating to the subject matter hereof between the parties hereto.
21. No Construction As Employment Agreement. Nothing contained in this
Agreement shall be construed as giving Indemnitee any right to be retained in the employ of the Company or any of its subsidiaries.
TDK MEDIACTIVE, INC. |
|
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx Chief
Executive Officer |
AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED |
INDEMNITEE: |
|
9