LEGAL: Do you use contracts for design work?

Do you use basic contracts?

  • Total voters
    25
darbsllim

darbsllim

New member
Mar 28, 2008
692
15
0
London, Ontario
Curious how many people on WF are using work for hire contracts and IP release contracts when they get design work done.

Do you cover your ass with a basic work for hire or IP release contract?

If a provider doesn't want to sign a work for hire contract, do you proceed anyway if they have good work?

Wondering what everyone here does with basic legal stuff when contracting people to do work for them on things like Landing Pages or other marketing materials.
 


Don't do contract work anymore. Last time I did any serious contract work, getting paid actually involved going to a local vegan cafe, and picking up a ziploc bag of $100s, lol.
 
For certain projects, contracts are helpful. But for daily tasks like for VA's, there are ways to monitor them. If you use oDesk, they have a team viewer. If outside oDesk there are other team viewers, and you can still know that your VA works even without a team viewer, you will see results.
 
I found that contracts stiffle business and open yourself up for a lot of problems down the road. Always been a fan of the 50/50 method. 50 upfront, 50 upon delivery. Seems to keep everyone honest and as long as a good plan is laid out there usually isn't an issue.

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2
 
No, I don't (I would, but no one's ever requested it).

I generally accept whatever payment terms the designer suggests. It's generally either all before, or all after. Last designer I hired it was all after.
 
I always have a contract in place. Always protect yourself, at least. You never know when something comes back to bit you 3 or 5 years from now. I'm dealing with a legal matter from a website I "supposably" created 5 fucking years ago. 2 years before my company was even around... These idiots...
 
Here OP, watch this. "Fuck you, pay me".

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkLVRt6c1U"]Mike Monteiro, Co-Founder of Mule Design Studio, Author of F*ck You, Pay Me - YouTube[/ame]

Thankfully, I'm a developer, not a designer, and only ever took on larger projects that consisted of entire back-end systems. So whenever I was doing contract work, I never had to worry about payment. If they didn't pay, I'd just make their business disappear from the internet. They knew I had more technical power over their businesses than they did, so that always seemed to be enough to make them pay without complaint. :)
 
As a designer, if someone is forcing me to sign a contract that usually sends up a red flag and I will deny the project. I have to ask myself WHY are these people asking for a contract? Is it really to "protect" themselves? Or is it because they know they're going to be a pain in the ass and want to hold me hostage?
 
Depends - if it's a simple job no, money up front, or 50/50.

If it's more complex yes - because contracts are about a lot more than just payment. If you're a freelancer working for a business of any substance and you don't have a contract or PI insurance, you're crazy imo. Shit goes wrong all the time with projects for reasons beyond your control, and the last thing you need is grief from a vindictive person spending someone else's legal budget.
 
I never use contracts for design work.
Just the usual 50/50 will work or for larger projects with serious coin, sometimes 40/40/20 will do the trick.
This way, you always get paid for your work regardless.
If they want a contract its usually because they are going to be a right pain in the arse.
If it was coding, it would be a completely different story and contracts would be needed for sensitive projects.
 
swiftmoney said:
I never use contracts for design work.
Just the usual 50/50 will work or for larger projects with serious coin, sometimes 40/40/20 will do the trick.
This way, you always get paid for your work regardless.
If they want a contract its usually because they are going to be a right pain in the arse.
If it was coding, it would be a completely different story and contracts would be needed for sensitive projects.
Click to expand...

Who owns the copyright to the work you produce after they've paid you for it?
 
amateursurgeon said:
Who owns the copyright to the work you produce after they've paid you for it?
Click to expand...

I think you know the answer to that question (and I'm guessing he does too and is trying to fuck people over) ;), because I came here to point it out when I saw the thread title.

If anyone creates something for you (e.g website, logos, content, etc) the creator retains the copyright unless otherwise stated in a contract.

So yeah, get a gd contract even if it's just so you really own what you pay for.
 
crackp0t said:
I think you know the answer to that question (and I'm guessing he does too and is trying to fuck people over) ;), because I came here to point it out when I saw the thread title.

If anyone creates something for you (e.g website, logos, content, etc) the creator retains the copyright unless otherwise stated in a contract.

So yeah, get a gd contract even if it's just so you really own what you pay for.
Click to expand...

Heh, you know me too well :D

He may not even have thought of that - a lot of people who make their living from IP are woefully ignorant of IP law.
 
Wtf are you people doing. As a designer/developer you should be coming up with the contracts. Clients should not be drawing up web development contracts from scratch. Imagine going to AT&T and asking for a plan, and they tell me to draw up the contract... You are the service provide, you provide the contract.

Some of you people are "playing business", like you used to "play house" when you were little kids.

Carry on...
 
I agree with the 50/50 method. Never fails to keep both me and the client happy. No need for contracts unless you're dealing with very large scale projects that will take more than a few weeks to complete.
 
As someone who was seriously burned by a friend no less, use contracts.

First up, small projects can result in large amounts of liability. Your site that makes 5 figures a month is now in jeopardy of being DMCA'd by a designer who isn't happy over a small dollar amount.

On the opposite end, you don't get paid for a project that ends up being much larger than you originally planned.

It's not like problems with designers/clients are rare. The cost of the contract is nothing compared to one really bad deal.
 
No, client always pays 50%.. That's usually $600+ min per job. Minus coding costs if anything goes wrong I'm still up $300, and own the website design.. Never had any issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back