Safeguarding Your Creative Work with Solid Agreements

Ever wondered how to shield your freelance photography or videography business with the armor of ironclad contracts? Tune in to the latest edition of the Elevate Media Podcast, where I, Chris Anderson, walk you through the must-have legal documents that fortify your creative endeavors. Discover the ins and outs of service agreement contracts that establish clear terms and keep you and your clients on the same wavelength. I'll even touch on the nitty-gritty of model and property release forms, essential for safeguarding your commercial use rights, and the strategic use of nondisclosure agreements to protect sensitive project details.

This episode isn't just a rundown of legal jargon; it's peppered with real-life insights drawn from my own experiences, like the time I navigated the complexities of proprietary information while collaborating with industry giants like Apple. Whether you're just kicking off your freelance journey or you're a seasoned pro looking to bolster your business practices, this episode is crammed with practical advice to ensure your projects glide forward without a hitch. So, plug in, listen up, and equip yourself with the knowledge to professionalize your freelance business. Remember, while this isn't legal counsel, it's a treasure trove of wisdom from our playbook that could be just what you need.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Welcome back to the Elevate Media Podcast. I'm Chris Anderson, your host Today. I'm going to dive into some forms and contracts that you, as a freelance videographer or photographer, could find beneficial if you're not using them already. But before I dive into this, a quick disclaimer. I'm going to navigate through some of these forms and contracts for you all, but please remember, this is not legal advice. All right, this is just guidance, suggestions, things that we've used. It's always best to consult with a legal professional to ensure that your business is fully compliant and protected. So, with that out of the way, let's go ahead and jump into it. All right. So forms and contracts they are super important for any freelancer in their business. It not only protects you and your clients, but it also provides a clear framework for your projects. This ensures that everyone is on the same page from the beginning. So, whether you're just starting out or you're looking to tighten up your business operations, understanding the various types of contracts and forms is essential, and these are only a handful that we've used that we found helpful and we thought you might as well. So here are some of the ones that you could look at if you haven't already.

Speaker 1: 1:27

The service agreement contract this is the bread and butter. This is, you know, the main documentation. This just outlines the services you're going to be providing, the scope of the project, the payment terms, deadlines and any other expectations between you and your client. It's the foundation for a clear professional relationship, so it ties everything together. You also have the model release forms. So if you're working with models or anyone who will be recognizable in your work, you probably want to look into a model release form. It grants permission to use the images or footage you capture for commercial purposes. And then you have property release forms. So it's like model release forms, except it's for property. When you work at recognizable private properties, this form just makes sure that you have the owner's permission to use the images of their property, which is really crucial for commercial use. So again, you want to just cover your T or you want to cover all your bases when shooting at any location. Some places actually make you have to buy the commercial use of their images and things as well. So think about that by talking to these locations beforehand, because if that's the case, you have to include that into your quote for the project itself, especially if the client wants that specific location. You have to make sure there's no fee for the commercial use of their image and things like that of the property which, if there is no big deal, just add it to the quote. Let them know. That's why and shouldn't be a big deal.

Speaker 1: 3:02

Then you have the non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs. Some people say they never signed an NDA. Some people you know swear by them and NDA is important when you or a client wants to keep certain aspects of the project confidential. So we've used NDAs before. We use these with some of our contracted employees, because clients we work with they don't want some of the information they're putting out there or that we're going to know about behind the scenes to be broadcasted. Again, this is kind of used more in commercial projects like what we've done and it involves proprietary information. You've got to think about that as well, because it's used before discussing potential work to protect both parties involved. Discussing potential work to protect both parties involved.

Speaker 1: 3:48

And again, some people don't, some people aren't for NDAs because they say you know we're going to be doing anything like it should already be out there, I don't know. So you have to. You have to walk that line before we've done it. Obviously, you just cover our bases and to work with some of the clients we've worked with. We have to because of some of the information that we're going to be learning about. That isn't going to mean the video production necessarily, but we're going to know about um that they don't want getting out.

Speaker 1: 4:14

For example, we apple hired us to help them during the nba all star weekend here in indianapolis. We had to sign ndas and things of that nature to work with them because we were working with proprietary information and equipment. And that's all I can say. Because it's brand new things. They don't want anyone knowing anything about it or what it is or how it works. Like we couldn't make any pictures of it. So it's just some of the stuff is because there's competition and people. It's just part of it, especially when you work with bigger brands like Apple and things of that nature.

Speaker 1: 4:49

So another one is cancellation policy and also retainer agreement, because, let's be real, life happens right and sometimes projects get delayed or canceled. So if you have a clear cancellation policy and retainer agreement, this helps manage those situations professionally. You can detail the refund policy in that if there's rescheduling fees and any retainers required to book your services. So how do you implement contracts. You can use templates, which are great to start, but try to personalize them for a project, unless you just have the same project over and over. That doesn't have much personalization. That's okay too. It just helps provide or it helps avoid potential disputes and ensure both parties are clear on the project scope. So the more detailed to the project itself, the clearer, concise, the better it's going to be.

Speaker 1: 5:44

Always review and negotiate. Don't be afraid to negotiate terms with your clients. A contract is just a mutual agreement and it's important that it works for both parties involved. So going back and forth, it's okay. It might not be perfect right out the get-go and make sure you get everything in writing. Verbal agreements are hard to enforce, so you want to make sure all agreements, changes, additional requests are documented in writing and signed by both parties with dates. So there is no. You know, he said, she said thing. It's in writing. You have signatures and things like that. And then make sure you're doing regular updates. Laws change, business practices evolve regularly. Review and update your contracts to reflect these changes and ensure they remain compliant and relevant.

Speaker 1: 6:32

So incorporating these forms and contracts into your freelance business, especially if you want to grow into an agency, is crucial for protecting your work. It helps set up clear expectations and it helps build professional relationships with your clients. So remember, this is just an overview, an idea, some things we've done. It's not a substitute for legal advice, so consult with legal professionals to tailor these documents to your business specific needs and get connected with them in your area. But again, thanks for tuning into the Elevate Media podcast today. If this episode has been helpful at all to you, don't forget to go subscribe and share this. Leave us a review wherever you listen to your podcast. But until next time, continue to go out there, elevate your life, elevate your brand. We'll talk to you again soon, thank you.