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Terms of Service Agreement
dawnhutchinson
Messages count : 4
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16 November 2007
Hi all,
I'm a freelance 3D animator and regularly work for small production companies. I've only been freelancing for 3 years and i'm still learing the 'rules' as far as the industry politics and legal matters are concerned. A few months ago I had my first really difficault client and so decided it was time to come up with a Terms of Service Agreement to clearly explain the level of service I am providing.
I have drafed an agreement by copying the format of example areements that i have found on the internet, however there are a couple of things i'm still unsure of....
1. With small businesses in the creative industries i find that there seems to be quite an informal system. I'm a little concerned that having formal documents to sign will be off-putting to the client. Is it possible to have a set of terms and conditions which don't require signing and posting back or are signatures the only way to make the document valid.
2. If signatures are required then do they have to be original or can the document be scanned and emailed or faxed?
If anyone has any thoughts on the subject i'd be greatful to hear from you.
Many thanks,
Dawn
I'm a freelance 3D animator and regularly work for small production companies. I've only been freelancing for 3 years and i'm still learing the 'rules' as far as the industry politics and legal matters are concerned. A few months ago I had my first really difficault client and so decided it was time to come up with a Terms of Service Agreement to clearly explain the level of service I am providing.
I have drafed an agreement by copying the format of example areements that i have found on the internet, however there are a couple of things i'm still unsure of....
1. With small businesses in the creative industries i find that there seems to be quite an informal system. I'm a little concerned that having formal documents to sign will be off-putting to the client. Is it possible to have a set of terms and conditions which don't require signing and posting back or are signatures the only way to make the document valid.
2. If signatures are required then do they have to be original or can the document be scanned and emailed or faxed?
If anyone has any thoughts on the subject i'd be greatful to hear from you.
Many thanks,
Dawn
- Contact in PM
SPS
Messages count : 11Likes count : 0Registration : 9 December 2007You have a business mind on you. Don't let it die.
- Even your smaller companies will have documents to sign. A T+C is a way to protect yourself and it's entirely up to you (is a small job worth a contract?). If you can judge who's going to do a runner and who's going to be a pleasing and easy client, it's your call who you give the documents to. Verbal is exactly the same as signed, except verbal is very hard to prove. Perhaps you could record a phone call?
- Not 100% sure on this one, but having the original is much better than a scanned version for purposes of validity.
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dawnhutchinson
Messages count : 4Likes count : 0Registration : 16 November 2007Thanks for your reply SPS
You say a verbal agreement is as valid as a signed document but it's harder to proove - That's interesting to know as I have ocassionaly verbally agreed to do a job without any official written quote and then found that the client keeps me hanging on for a start date which makes it very hard to plan other work around it and accept other contracts. I had wondered if simply saying 'yes' to a job means i'm tied to it.
I think it may be worth attaching my terms and conditions to a written quote each time and adding something in about agreeing a start date once the quote is accepted.
Good advice SPS. Cheers.