if you get fucked -it's your own fault for not doing enough research and understanding how things work.
i don't really get this
bands sign 'good' contracts all the time and get fucked
my only advice is: if you think you need a lawyer, ask yourself why you are hiring someone to tell you what's what:
1) if it's b/c you don't really understand what is being offered to you--go over it _on your own_ as much as is necessary until all the lawyer is doing is defining some words. yeah, it's boring, but read the thing a hundred times over the course of a couple weeks if you have to do so. the minute you start ignoring things that make you uncomfortable and taking 'oh, that's normal' or 'oh, nobody asks for that' as an answer (from either your potential business partner OR your lawyer), you are setting yourself up to do something you'll regret. early in our time together, my band avoided getting involved in at least two deals that would have been sure losers by just paying close attention and making people explain themselves.
2) if it's b/c you don't thoroughly trust the people you are dealing with--imagine the worst possible outcome of your relationship, assume they won't do anything the contract says they will do, and then count on that happening.
i have signed three record contracts in my life:
the first was with a label my band never trusted--we got out of the deal only b/c we had insisted on a 'key man' clause that the label owner assured us was trivial and unnecessary. that label has cheated us out of royalties, let the record go more or less out of print, and refused to release the record to our control. this is not a big record label--don't underestimate the extreme hassle of trying to make people live up to a contract. anyone can sign a fucking contract--if they don't want to honor it, there's rarely much you can do about it, realistically.
the second was with a label run by three friends whom we trusted implicitly--little about the arrangement went as planned, resulting in a fair amount of namecalling and tension. since these guys were decent people, they did the right thing (which they were not necessarily obligated to do in strict contractual terms) and gave us back our record once it became impossible for them to keep it in print.
the third was with a relatively large indie label, with one of the top guys being a friend and fan of the band for a while--we negotiated our own deal, on terms that we felt were greatly more than favorable to us, with our lawyer serving mostly to tell us what some strange words meant. the only bad thing about this experience was that the label, as stipulated in the contract, advanced to us and spent so much money (given our modest sales) that they were obligated to cut their losses and cut us loose after two albums. sometimes 'greatly more than favorable' terms will work against you.
right now, we work strictly with people we trust, with no contracts. they pay for making the records, period, within a strict budget. they put out and promote the records. we split the profits. it is by far the most easygoing and properly pitched situation we've been in.
we had a few major labels express varying degrees of interest, but they all gave us the fucking creeps in the end, however much we liked a few of their a+r guys. IF SOMEONE GIVES YOU THE CREEPS, RUN IN THE OTHER DIRECTION. that credo can get you far in life and keep you out of most if not all bad deals.
oh, and: 'in perpetuity' doesn't mean 'for a long time.' it means FOREVER.
hope that helps some
tm