Legal Contract Swap Meet

[5Rock]

Hey... after reading and submitting posts in other threads about jobs gone awry, I thought it might be interesting (and potentially really helpful) to have people post examples of the legal contracts they use with clients to try to avoid being used and abused.

I am in the midst of wording my own contract now and will post it as soon as I am done.

Any takers?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 5Rock on 2002-05-21 10:42 ]</font>

[dekim]

i'm in - great suggestion -

[kevin jones]

please do, that would be very helpful to me personally.

[backdraft]

poachers beware. i think any good commerical gig you get. you wouldnt post here. not good business. (in my opinion)

[5Rock]

These should be blank contracts, and SHOULD NOT contain client names, dates or particulars other than legal-ese about not getting screwed.

[art chantry]

the 'graphic artists' guild handbook" has dummy contract in the back that can be used as guides for your own paperwork. hell, you can just photocopy them and fill in the blanks if you want.

art

[kevin jones]

who can afford books

hey art, why dont you come down here and lecture? yer soo close.

[kevin jones]

oh and i found a sample here:
http://www.gag.org/contracts/agreement.html

[Finch]

Anybody want to follow up and post and/or attach their "template" contracts?

[j]

My dad's a lawyer and I just took one of the gag's contracts that I always use and we modified it to include certain things like usage clauses (posters are for promo use only), my intent to sell extra posters, copyright restrictions (bands/promoters can't use the art for anything else), and so on. Another thing we did was add some verbage to say that basically the promoter has the responsibility to inform the bands, their management and or subcontractors (merch people) of the terms of the contract since I rarely have any contact with them or even know who they are or where to find them if they are already on the road.

I also added a part at the end that says if the posters are accepted and used as promotion the client agrees to the terms. I put that one in there because I can't always get a signature on the thing. It's not a bulletproof defense but then again nothing is, and it certainly can't hurt.

Basically, it was nothing more than adding a few poster specific safety valves to the gag contract that gives full disclosure of my intentions and deflects liability if someone has a problem. If you don't like the contract, don't use the posters. I'm going to give the promoter a few copies too so he can have a model to follow when contracting with the bands. I don't want him in hot water either. You can get sued for any reason really but you can make it more difficult for them to peg you specifically.