Absolutely true, and good point.
But, since we are not privy to the actual contract and the reporting cannot be relied upon in terms of accuracy, the default condition here is that S&S wrote a big fat check to take a bet they’re not going to collect on. EVEN IF the black letter of the contract was an “advance against” that had to be paid back w/sales. That will never happen.
Yes....you give your money to a grifter, you’ll never see it again - no matter what kind of paper you have on them.