Contract Critique

jarboedoggart

Didn't get any feed back in the thread in the wedding forum...so figure this is the right place. I have a bunch of weddings booked this year and figured it was time for a contact so I put this together yesterday. I didn't like the 3 pages of fine print on other contracts, so I tried to condense it down to one and still cover what needed to be said. anything I am missing? Thoughts?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/47005311/J%26D%20Wedding%20Contract.pdf

Art Scott

You may not be getting any critique to the fact that it is not complete... that is my .00000¢ worth ....

jarboedoggart

Art Scott wrote: »

You may not be getting any critique to the fact that it is not complete... that is my .00000¢ worth ....

obviously it is a template that will be customized and printed for each customer.......

johng

you really need to have a lawyer look. I see you have verbiage in there that says you are not responsible for equipment failure. I'm not sure how well the "gee, my camera stopped working" will work when you go to court.

You have payment terms and model release which is fine - as far as it goes: remember, the bride and groom have no legal authority to sign a model release for other people. Not a problem when it comes to portfolio work as you really don't need a model release for that. Just be sure you do educate yourself on when a model release is actually needed as the bride/grooms signatures don't matter for other people.

Now, as Art has said - there's a lot missing. You really want to give some thought to how many meetings / length of time with the couple is included. You should have a starting point documented and know how much you're going to charge when that increases so you can tell them. You also want to have information around travel and # locations and time. Also language around meals for you/assistants at the reception.

You also need to indicate length of time for delivery of products

jarboedoggart

johng wrote: »

you really need to have a lawyer look. I see you have verbiage in there that says you are not responsible for equipment failure. I'm not sure how well the "gee, my camera stopped working" will work when you go to court.

Obviously not, and I always have a second shooter with at least 1 back up camera each...but just in case. It may not hold up in court but I think wording on a signed contract will resolve issues 95% of the time without getting laywers involved. Simply saying "you signed the contract, see?" will solve a lot.

johng wrote: »

You have payment terms and model release which is fine - as far as it goes: remember, the bride and groom have no legal authority to sign a model release for other people. Not a problem when it comes to portfolio work as you really don't need a model release for that. Just be sure you do educate yourself on when a model release is actually needed as the bride/grooms signatures don't matter for other people.

Yeah, like the above clause, why not? It is pretty standard wording and just lets the customer know I will be using their pictures for other reasons so it doesnt come up later.

johng wrote: »

Now, as Art has said - there's a lot missing. You really want to give some thought to how many meetings / length of time with the couple is included. You should have a starting point documented and know how much you're going to charge when that increases so you can tell them. You also want to have information around travel and # locations and time. Also language around meals for you/assistants at the reception.

You also need to indicate length of time for delivery of products[/QUOTE]

The whole first page will be the details of the event. Those bullet points will be filled with all that info as well as the package/services they chose. Thank you for the detailed reply and the good points.

ian408

You might want to specifically include employees and contractors in the copyright section. Like
"created by JDP, it's employees and contractors.". Which brings up another question and that is
do you have a contract for your contract shooters? If not, you should-just so you don't get burned.

This contract should have the services you provide listed. You might have the B&G initial the correct
"package" for them and have any services over and above your basic packages defined on an addendum
which you include by reference.

I would add language regarding number of meetings, time line for payment(s), decisions, etc. and I would
also spell out what happens if those milestones are not met.

I'd lose the sprinkled liability clauses and make one specific clause.

If you say you'll hold the images for a year, then it's up to you to make that happen even if it
takes redundant backups in diverse locations-your b&g shouldn't have to worry about your computer
skills and they shouldn't have to pay extra to guarantee it (that's just my $.02 worth).

I'd also second the recommendation about having an attorney look through the completed contract.
Remember, if you're gonna be sued, it's an attorney who will read and deconstruct your contract

Good luck!

jarboedoggart

Thanks for the replies everyone, it was helpful. I of course will have an attorney take a look at it before use. I have cleaned up alot of working, andded and removed a few things to get this second revision.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/47005311/WeddingContract%20%282%29.pdf

And to clarify, the package details will be filled in where the bullet points are on the first page. Any other thoughts? Anyone use a contract that has anything different on it?

moose135

jarboedoggart wrote: »

It may not hold up in court but I think wording on a signed contract will resolve issues 95% of the time without getting laywers involved. Simply saying "you signed the contract, see?" will solve a lot.

You don't know much about the legal system, do you? If someone wants to sue you, they will, and even if they don't win, the cost and inconvenience of defending yourself can be substantial. I'm glad you will have an attorney review your contract, that will be money well spent.

jarboedoggart

moose135 wrote: »

You don't know much about the legal system, do you? If someone wants to sue you, they will, and even if they don't win, the cost and inconvenience of defending yourself can be substantial. I'm glad you will have an attorney review your contract, that will be money well spent.

Yes, I am very dumb...thank you for your observation.

I was merely stating that a clear and well worded contract will help resolve a lot of problems that may arise without going to the next step of legal action. If someone intends on suing me, they will, with flawless contract or no contract at all.