AI Training — Pippa Rafferty

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Lesson 1

Copilot in Word

Work with your eMedia contracts in plain English — interrogating documents, comparing versions, and filling templates.

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Before we start

The reason AI makes lawyers nervous is hallucination — it can invent cases, cite clauses that don’t exist, and sound completely confident while being wrong. What makes Copilot in Word different: it’s reading the document in front of you. When you tell it to work only from the open file, it can’t hallucinate facts that aren’t on the page. The line that does this is:

“Base your response only on the text of this document — do not draw on general legal knowledge.”

Always verify dates, party names, clause numbers, and monetary figures directly in the document. Copilot reads accurately but not perfectly — verification is not optional for legal work.

Understand a contract fast

When you need to know what a document says — quickly and reliably. Open: Content Licence Agreement.

Watch — Steven shows

What does this contract say about renewal and termination?

Prompt

What does this contract say about renewal and early termination?

Base your response only on the text of this document — do not draw on general legal knowledge.

If a provision is missing, say so.

Answer in plain language: Renewal (how, when, who triggers it), Termination (grounds, required notice, consequences of early exit), and one flag for the commercial team if anything needs attention before negotiations.

What you’ll see

A structured answer drawn from the document only — not from general contract knowledge.

“If a provision is missing, say so” turns a gap into a finding. Silence on a clause needs to appear in the output, not just be absent from it.

The format spec means you can paste the output directly into an email to the commercial team.

Notes

Do this together

What are the confidentiality obligations in this NDA?

Type this into Copilot

What does this NDA say about who qualifies as a Receiving Party and what their confidentiality obligations are?

Base your response only on the text of this document — do not draw on general legal knowledge.

If a definition or obligation is missing or unclear, say so explicitly.

Answer in plain language: Definition (who qualifies), Obligations (what they must and must not do), Duration (how long obligations last after disclosure).

What you’ll see

A plain-language breakdown useful for briefing a counterparty or a business team member who isn’t a lawyer.

Notice the grounding instruction is identical to the Watch exercise. Once you have it, it goes in every prompt.

Notes

Your turn

IP ownership and payment terms in the Services Agreement

Write your prompt

The Services Agreement template is open. You need to brief the commercial team on IP ownership and payment terms before their call with the service provider.

A good prompt

What does this Services Agreement say about intellectual property ownership and payment terms?

Base your response only on the text of this document — do not draw on general legal knowledge.

If either provision is missing or ambiguous, say so.

Answer in plain language: IP ownership (who owns what, when, under what conditions), Payment (amounts, timing, invoicing requirements), and one flag for the commercial team if anything needs clarification before signing.

What you’ll see

Same structure as the Watch and Together exercises. The only things that change are the agreement type and the specific topic.

Once you have the pattern, it takes 30 seconds to adapt for any question about any document.

Notes

Compare ours vs. theirs

When a counterparty sends their version and you need to know what changed. Files: eMedia NDA template + counterparty version in OneDrive.

Watch — Steven shows

How does the counterparty NDA differ from ours?

Prompt

Compare the NDA open in Word with [/ counterparty NDA].

List the differences in a table: Provision / Our version / Their version.

After the table, add a second section: anything in their NDA not in ours at all, and anything in ours they have removed.

Flag any provision that could create risk for eMedia.

Base this only on the text of both documents.

What you’ll see

A three-column comparison table plus a second section calling out what they stripped without replacing.

Counterparties often remove clauses rather than replace them — that second section is what most people miss.

Type / in the Copilot sidebar and start typing the filename to reference the counterparty file without opening it.

Notes

Do this together

Production company amendments to our Commissioning Agreement

Type this into Copilot

Compare the Commissioning Agreement open in Word with [/ production company version].

List differences in a table: Provision / Our version / Their version.

After the table: anything in their version not present in ours, and anything in our template they have removed.

Flag any change affecting IP ownership, delivery obligations, payment terms, or termination rights.

Base this only on the text of both documents.

What you’ll see

Agreement-specific risk areas (IP, delivery, payment, termination) mean the flag section surfaces what actually matters for this contract type.

The output is ready to bring into a negotiation call or share with the commercial team.

Notes

Your turn

A streaming platform has sent their preferred Content Licence template

Write your prompt

Your standard Content Licence Agreement is open in Word. A streaming platform has sent their preferred version. Write the comparison prompt — include the format spec and the risk areas that matter most for a content licence.

A good prompt

Compare the Content Licence Agreement open in Word with [/ streaming platform version].

List differences in a table: Provision / Our version / Their version.

Add a second section: anything in their version not in ours, and anything in ours they have removed.

Flag any change affecting licensed territory, content scope, exclusivity, fee structure, or termination rights.

Base this only on the text of both documents.

What you’ll see

Territory, exclusivity, and content scope flags — the provisions typically negotiated hardest in content licence deals.

Same structure every time. Only the agreement type and risk areas change.

Notes

Fill a template for a new deal

When a new show, agreement, or partnership needs a contract drafted fast. Open: Commissioning Agreement (series) template.

Watch — Steven shows

Fill the Commissioning Agreement for a new series

Prompt

This is our standard Commissioning Agreement template.

Fill in all variable fields: Show title: [X], Production company: [Y], Commissioning entity: eMedia Holdings, Commencement date: 1 August 2026, Delivery date: 30 November 2026, Commission fee: R500,000 (inclusive of VAT), Territory: Republic of South Africa, Episodes: 8 × 48 minutes.

Keep all other clauses exactly as they appear in the template.

Do not reformat the document or change the layout.

If you are unsure which field a detail belongs to, flag it with a comment rather than guessing.

What you’ll see

A filled template that preserves the original formatting — no reformatting required.

“Do not reformat the document” keeps Copilot in-place. Without it, Copilot may restructure the layout.

Flagged uncertainties appear as Word comments you can review — not silent assumptions buried in the text.

Notes

Do this together

Fill the NDA for a new streaming partnership

Type this into Copilot

This is our standard NDA template.

Fill in all variable fields: Effective date: 1 September 2026, Disclosing party: eMedia Holdings, Receiving party: StreamVault Ltd, Purpose: Evaluation of potential content distribution partnership, Duration of obligations: 2 years from the effective date.

Keep all other clauses exactly as they appear in the template.

Do not change the formatting, layout, or any clause language.

If you are unsure which field a detail belongs to, flag it with a comment rather than guessing.

What you’ll see

The two critical instructions: “keep all other clauses exactly as they appear” and “flag rather than guess.” Without these, Copilot may silently rewrite adjacent clauses or skip unfilled fields.

Scan the template first and list every variable field before you write the prompt — your prompt covers everything in one pass.

Notes

Your turn

Fill the Services Agreement for a new production deal

Write your prompt

The Services Agreement template is open. New deal: Provider: MediaCraft SA · Service: Social media content for eTV channels · Start: 1 July 2026 · Term: 12 months · Fee: R85,000/month · Territory: Republic of South Africa. Write the fill prompt — include the two instructions that make it safe.

A good prompt

This is our standard Services Agreement template.

Fill in all variable fields: Service provider: MediaCraft SA, Services: Social media content production for eTV channels, Commencement date: 1 July 2026, Term: 12 months, Monthly fee: R85,000 (exclusive of VAT), Territory: Republic of South Africa, Commissioning entity: eMedia Holdings.

Keep all other clauses exactly as they appear in the template.

Do not reformat the document or change any clause language.

If you are unsure which field a detail belongs to, flag it with a comment rather than guessing.

What you’ll see

Same structure as the Watch and Together exercises. Only the deal details and agreement type change.

Once you have the template, adapting it for any new deal takes about 2 minutes.

Notes

A few things to remember

“Base your response only on the text of this document” is the line that keeps Copilot grounded. Include it whenever accuracy matters.

If Copilot fills in a gap you didn’t ask it to fill, add “if a provision is missing, say so” and run it again.

To reference a second file, type / in the Copilot sidebar and start typing the filename — it searches your OneDrive.

All files must be saved to OneDrive before Copilot can read or reference them.

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