Query about contract...

[blueocto]

Yes I made the foolish mistake of working with my first company without one, but I now have a new client for several months and have been given a contract.

My question is, is it normal for all "drawings, specification, software, designs, data such as working documents, maps, photographs and intellectial property" should be the property and copyright of the client?

Would this not mean that I cannot use this work in say my portfolio or have any rights?

It also states further down...

"For the avoidance of doubt, said-company shall be entitled to use the resulting Intellectual Porperty Rights or any part thereof for any purpose whatsoever without limitation or licence."

I'm a tad confuzzled...

[PR Design]

Well whatever happens, you have the right to display work in a portfolio. If they want intellectual rights though, I'd bump the price up a little (or lot).

[blueocto]

Well, I dont have my degree yet, and I'm working on getting experience whilst I save to complete my final year, so god nars where I fit in terms of what I should be getting, but he is offering:

"Total Contract Value: Maximum of £1,000 (£10 per hour plus VAT if applicable)
Payment terms are 30 days"

Which I see as, I'll do a max of 100 hours per month, in order to get £10 p/hour. But I would have thought that was sufficient for my experience/talent?

[katrina_suzanne]

Hey Bluocto,

The contract will have been drawn up in favour of the client, it's not uncommon for this to happen.

Terms & conditions vary but generally you're best to keep intellectual property rights if you can. This gives you more leverage for future, and protects the assets you create.

Example of why it's useful for you:

One company went into liquidation before paying for design services. The liquidators bought the assets of the company and continued to run business. They weren't intending on paying the design bill arguing that the contract was with the closed business. But luckily, because the designers had ownership of intellectual property they were legally entitled to take down the website until they were paid...

Another thing - you need to be careful if you're using stock photography - you might not be entitled to sign over unconditional property rights and copyright...

It sounds like you've got limited room for bargaining in this instance, but I would agree with Harry (PR Design), and raise your price if a client insists on full IP rights.

For future reference, use a template for writing a contract in your favour : Terms and conditions in favour of the designer.

As for charging, mad.co.uk did a salary survey this year which included averages for the UK, but they don't break it down by length of time in the industry. (beware - it's a PDF!). Nice as a guide, but this link may be more useful - How much to charge as a freelance designer.

Hope that helps,

K

[katrina_suzanne]

One of the links I've referenced is broken, sorry :-(
Try it tomorrow,
k