Re: Service Contracts

At 09:02 AM 3/15/2003 +0000, Heather Wright wrote:
>Hi, since having a baby I've only done some occasional freelance work
>that was with established business partners of mine and was kept pretty
>informal. Now (after months of searching) I'm starting to get flooded
>with freelance work. Seeing as the customers are getting bigger and
>bigger I'm a bit concerned about having service contracts in place.
>
>Could someone recommend some books, website, or general contracts
>available online for me to get started putting together something. I'm
>in the UK (in case anything is country specific).


There are many, many articles on my site for web designers.  Click on 
"Articles for Web Site Designers and Site 
Owners."  http://www.ivanhoffman.com/web.html One that all designers should 
particularly read is "Dignity for Designers" 
http://www.ivanhoffman.com/dignity.html since it talks about not trying to 
create your own agreements in this very complex and rapidly changing area 
of the law.

Keep in mind that in the business of intellectual property rights, which is 
the business you are in even though you are a web designer,  legally 
appropriate contracts are *not* add-ons to your business, something you do 
*if* you have any money left over; legally appropriate contracts *are* your 
business.  Without a thorough and valid contract, what you have is nothing 
but an illusion.  It only *appears* you are in business but in reality, you 
are not since given a controversy between you and the other party, you risk 
losing your rights and the money that goes along with those 
rights.  Further, you may put yourself in a *lose-lose* situation:  if your 
project is a failure, you lose.  But if your project is a success, you may 
find that the other party, NOT YOU, ends up making all the money or you may 
open yourself up for more claims than you can even imagine and in which 
event, you lose because you pay all your profits to lawyers and/or damages 
to the offended parties.  What kind of a way is that to run a business?

All my articles are based on United States law, however, and you should 
consult with an attorney in your country with experience in these areas of 
the law.

This reply is not intended as legal advice and is not legal advice.  This 
reply is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. 
This reply does not create any attorney client relationship.


IVAN HOFFMAN, B.A., J.D.
Attorney at Law
Lawyering With Integrity
Internet Law, Publishing Law, Copyrights, Trademarks, Web Design Law, Fine 
Art Law, Corporate Training and Online Education Law, Music and Recording 
Law.  *The Winner of 8 Prestigious Web Site Awards.* http://www.ivanhoffman.com

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