Hggdjessica, post: 227445, member: 64136 a écrit : Hello freelancers,
How do you protect yourself from an early termination of a contract especially when you have invested significant work and energy into an agreed project timeline?
There are cases where the company could unfairly take freelancer's ideas and take their work in-house at certain phase of a project where there is no breach of contract from the freelancer side.
I wonder is anyone has good ideas to protect freelancers' rights? I found the following research online:
4. Termination
Finally, you need to set out what happens if you or the client want out of your arrangement.
The obvious scenario is one where you have a long-term contract for ongoing work and the client no longer needs your services, or you’re no longer available. A simple sentence requiring the party who wishes to terminate to give x amount of notice should work fine.
Unfortunately, it’s not always this clear cut. This is where things can get sticky.
You’ll want to include a kill-fee, which will cover you in case the client decides to cancel the project after you’ve invested a significant amount of time. This can be either a flat fee or a percentage of the final amount due. You should also set out what will happen in case of a professional dispute which makes it impossible to carry on with the work.
Round the contract out with an arbitration or mediation clause. Arbitration and mediation are faster, more flexible and a lot cheaper than taking a dispute to court.
In my experience, this following is pretty much a standard clause in freelance contracts:
"Intellectual Property. The Consultant assigns to the Company, without any further payment, all rights known as ‘intellectual property rights’ (such as copyrights, or rights in designs) which arise in relation to any work prepared by the Consultant in the course of carrying out the Services (called ‘Works’) and any ideas or inventions or innovations (called ‘Inventions’) they come up with in the course of carrying out the Services. This applies whatever form those Works or those Inventions take. The Consultant agrees that if they are prevented by law from transferring these things to the Company, they will hold them on the Company’s behalf, on the basis that the law calls ‘on trust’."
Even if you have a term (brief or long-term) of freelance employment sans-contract, it's implicit in your 'verbal' agreement (to engage in the paid work) that you agree to the client using your work as they see fit. Good luck arguing the opposite, especially if you have been paid for the work.
As to termination clauses, from a client perspective they run counter to the attractiveness of employing a freelancer in the first place, unless you are a 'special' talent that warrants them going the extra mile to secure you, and lets be honest most freelancers are not in that category.
AFAIK if it isn't signed, it isn't binding.....which makes giving good advice on your exit strategy a little complicated. If you're convinced that upsetting the applecart will mean not getting paid at all, perhaps work until the next paycheck is made & then be prepared to walk the same day.
which reminds me:
"I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations - one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it - you will regret both."
Soren Kierkegaard
Always be looking for a new job. Gifting clients is a bad idea unless there's some quantifiable benefit to you, seems like there is none in this case......keep 'em close & work for them on evenings/weekends. Can you afford to walk away from this job? If not, tread carefully on those egg-shells & begin to repair the damage.....Smile, be competent in your responsibilities & avoid flashpoints -at least until you have an exit strategy.
Dcmtr - You are not alone, there's a lot of it about right now.
I've recently had a number of invoices stretching back six to eight months, all one can do is keep politely asking & reminding.....even that, in the current climate, makes you look like 'a pain' when all you want is the money you rightly earned. Even this softly-softly approach can make the client go elsewhere, which seems to be happening to quite a few small design Co.s at the moment.
Difficult times, but if you follow the markets, that 'light at the end of the tunnel' is a freight train with your name on it.
jf - Getty have their t&c's clearly stated on their website, if I were you I'd check there first, pull the works in question from your website, then contact Getty to see if they are willing to come to an arrangement.
Alternatively, you could replace the offending images with others & re-host?
However, does this mean you have 'variable' fees for different clients?
This is a hard one to justify, it smacks of 'charging according to the size of your wallet'.....no-one likes to be on the recieving end of that.
I'm used to seeing some pretty unbelieveable jobs on this batsh*t crazy site, but this takes the effing biscuit:
_________
"I am designing a website for a fishing bait company. They would like a stylish animation featured on their home page, which will be embedded into the websites design. The animation needs to be pretty short - it is an opening intro to the website.
The animation is to look real life, as if you are looking down into a lake, with a rippling effect in the water and boilies (fishing bait) positioned at the bottom of the lake. A carp swims along and eats the bait - leaving an smooth imprint of the companies logo at the bottom of the lake."
Budget Range : £50 - £100
Budget Type : Fixed Fee
...within two hours it even has a clutch of bids!
___________
UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2)
Jeremy Paxman: What is another name for 'cherrypickers' and 'cheesemongers'?
Contestant: Homosexuals.
Paxman:No. They're regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you.
BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (BBC2)
Jamie Theakston:Where do you think Cambridge University is?
Contestant:Geography isn't my strong point.
Theakston: There's a clue in the title.
Contestant: Leicester .
BBC NORFOLK
Stewart White: Who had a worldwide hit with What A Wonderful World?
Contestant:I don'tknow.
White:I'll give you some clues: what do you call the part between your hand and your elbow?
Contestant: Arm.
White: Correct. And if you're not weak, you're...?
Contestant:Strong.
White:Correct - and what was Lord Mountbatten's first name?
Contestant:Louis.
White:Well, there we are then. So who had a worldwide hit with the song What a Wonderful World?
Contestant: Frank Sinatra?
LATE SHOW (BBC MIDLANDS )
Alex Trelinski:What is the capital of Italy ?
Contestant: France .
Trelinski: France is another country. Try again.
Contestant:Oh, um, Benidorm.
Trelinski:Wrong, sorry, let's try another question. In which country is the Parthenon?
Contestant:Sorry, I don't know.
Trelinski:Just guess a country then.
Contestant: Paris .
THE WEAKEST LINK (BBC2)
Anne Robinson:-Oscar Wilde, Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Archer have all written books about their experiences in what:- Prison, or the Conservative Party?
Contestant:The Conservative Party.
BEACON RADIO ( WOLVERHAMPTON )
DJ Mark:For ten pounds, what is the nationality of the Pope?
Ruth from Rowley Regis:I think I know that one. Is it Jewish?
UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE
Bamber Gascoigne:What was Gandhi's first name?
Contestant:Goosey?
GWR FM ( Bristol )
Presenter:What happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963?
Contestant:I don't know. I wasn't watching it then.
RTE RADIO 2FM ( IRELAND )
Presenter:What is the name of the long-running TV comedy show about pensioners: Last Of The ...?
Caller:Mohicans.
PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC RADIO MANCHESTER)
Phil:What's 11 squared?
Contestant: I don't know.
Phil:I'll give you a clue. It's two ones with a two in the middle.
Contestant:Is it five?
RICHARD AND JUDY
Leslie:On which street did Sherlock Holmes live?
Contestant:Er .. . .
Leslie:He makes bread . . ..
Contestant:Er .. . ..
Leslie:He makes cakes . . ...
Contestant: Kipling Street ?
LINCS FM PHONE-IN
Presenter:Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world?
Contestant: Barcelona .
Presenter:I was really after the name of a country.
Contestant:I'm sorry, I don't know the names of any countries in Spain .
NATIONAL LOTTERY (BBC1)
Question:What is the world's largest continent?
Contestant:The Pacific
ROCK FM ( PRESTON )
Presenter:Name a film starring Bob Hoskins that is also the name of a famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Contestant:Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
THE BIGGEST GAME IN TOWN (ITV)
Steve Le Fevre:What was signed to bring World War I to an end in 1918?
Contestant:Magna Carta ?.
JAMES O'BRIEN SHOW (LBC)
O'Brien:How many kings of England have been called Henry?
Contestant:Er, well, I know there was a Henry the Eighth .... ER .. ER ... Three?
CHRIS SEARLE SHOW (BBC RADIO BRISTOL )
Searle:In which European country is Mount Etna ?
Caller: Japan .
Searle:I did say which European country, so in case you didn't hear that, I can let you try again.
Caller:Er ..... Mexico ?
PAUL WAPPAT (BBC RADIO NEWCASTLE )
Paul Wappat: How long did the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel last?
Contestant (after long pause): Fourteen days.
DARYL DENHAM'S DRIVETIME (VIRGIN RADIO)
Daryl Denham:In which country would you spend shekels?
Contestant: Holland ?
Denham:Try the next letter of the alphabet.
Contestant: Iceland ? Ireland ?
Denham (helpfully):It's a bad line. Did you say Israel ?
Contestant:No.
PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC GMR)
Wood:What 'K' could be described as the Islamic Bible?
Contestant:Er .. . .
Wood:It's got two syllables . . . Kor . . ..
Contestant:Blimey?
Wood:Ha ha ha ha, no. The past participle of run . . .
Contestant: [Silence]
Wood:OK, try it another way. Today I run, yesterday I . . .
Contestant:Walked?
THE VAULT
Melanie Sykes:What is the name given to the condition where the sufferer can fall asleep at any time?
Contestant:Nostalgia.
LUNCHTIME SHOW (BRMB)
Presenter:What religion was Guy Fawkes?
Contestant:Jewish.
Presenter:That's close enough.
STEVE WRIGHT IN THE AFTERNOON (BBC RADIO 2)
Wright:Johnny Weissmuller died on this day. Which jungle-swinging character clad only in a loincloth did he play?
Contestant:Jesus.
WIPs urgh.....I had forgotten those...pet hate of a Monday morn'!
Another: Not having to endure co-worker's 4hr house-mix mpgs all day....& I'm sure they'd say 'not having to endure bach all afternoon'...swing & roundabouts. :fight
Your past work [quality] is what gets you future work.....you can make a living without qualifications [if you have skill] but without a portfolio it's a big ask.....
If they've paid for the work & you've accepted the money [& day-rate], then you've effectively given your client an 'open licence' to use the works produced for their commercial purposes.
You retain artistic copyright of your designs, so unless you've signed a NDA you can use them in your portfolio.
I disagree with 'Ansar' having any low-quality connotations whatsoever, the quality of work on your portfolio will show the quality one-way or another.
I get a steady trickle of RP projects over time but outsource final stage production from my models........plenty of good firms out there that will help you.
