I was recently contacted by an agency I’ve worked with on numerous projects. Their client disappeared mid-project and had been in touch to ask abou...
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Forget clauses about copyright and IP, nobody really understands these and the ambiguity it brings can worry clients.
I really prefer your specific and actionable clauses. This is great.
Definitely something for me to think about. Funnily enough, the rest of the contract is in plain-English – maybe this bit should be, too. 🙌
Thanks for sharing this story - and the page with the contract. I never really had a case when the client disappeared like that, as most of my work has been either recurring work with people I trusted, done via referrals or (a long time ago) via freelancing platforms.
But that's something to always have in mind when providing services to clients.
Yes, definitely. This was the first time I’d experienced it, too. I was really surprised it wasn’t in their contract, but now it is – lesson learned!
I think it's like insurance. You hope you never need it, you think it can't really happen to you. But you're grateful to have it when the manure hits the fan.
Absolutely – it’s the same with professional indemnity insurance.
This is great insight, thank you! A real shame to hear about your colleague's experience, though :(
As someone looking to do more freelance work, I'm going to make sure I have a clear, concise contract that includes these clauses!
Yes, definitely! Ultimately, the client paid up, but it was difficult for my colleague and these clauses would have made those conversations much easier. :)
Damn.
Ha, yeah! I’d only heard about this happening before. Horrible!
Wow this is eye opening 😳. Thanks Smyth
Thanks, Adrian. Glad it was useful. 🙌
Nice post. The part about ownership of IP is really important. I think many new freelancers don't realize they can still own some IP even if they doing the work for someone.
Thanks, Jen. Yes – I hadn’t thought about it until I saw this contract, and I didn’t really understand the point of the IP licensing until it was explained to me in the terms of a graphic designer licensing an image for certain usages. A really useful clause to have in any freelance contract.