call for templates at DVinfo.net

Stu Minnis · October 29th, 2003, 08:48 PM

Like may others, I've been looking though this forum for examples of contracts, releases and the like. I can find many instances where someone has said, "Yeah, I'll mail that to you." But I hate to bother people for such personal favors. It seems to me that some generous soul might post a variety of templates for legal documents so that we newbies wouldn't have to be be so, well, bothersome.

Maybe such a web site already exists. If so, does anyone know where?

Thanks in advance to any takers,

Stu

Peter Jefferson · October 30th, 2003, 08:47 AM

Hey stu,
i got your email and will respond when i get a chance, however, many contracts and t&Cs are different.

Mine for example cover many aspects such as permission, copyright, styles, techniques, ownership, time delays, system failures etc etc...

see, theres no real way to say this will work for me, coz everyone runs their business differently.

For example, as i have a Dolby Digital TSA License, i have certain criteria which i must put forward to the client to let them know the structure of the produciton they want.
This criteria must be met if i am to keep my license and the ability to advertise the fact that all my Audio and Visual work is Dolby Encoded and to use Logos, trademarks, Intros and pass their quality assurance requirements.
Put it this way, if a client asks me to fit 4 hours on a DVDr, and they want the Dolby Digital trademarks and intros, they can forget it... I wont risj my license and reputation for someone who doesnt want to spend extra on better quality.

another aspect is music. I have a broad range of my own music which i use within a produciton alongside copywritten commercial work, which in turn requires another license.

then there is editing etc etc...

best thing to do is sit down and write down everythign it is you want to offer. then list clauses to detail the requirements you need to be able to offer your product in the way in which you are advertising.

like i said, ill send you my T&Cs which my clients sign alongside an information sheet which they MUST submit. this in turn forms the basis of the material included within the finished product.

Stu Minnis · October 30th, 2003, 10:16 AM

Peter,

Thanks for the input. That's a pretty enlightening perspective.

What I meant, though, in the original post was for the basic sorts of contracts that beginner-level freelancers are likely to need, modified by circumstance, of course.

I'll use myself as an example. I've been doing solo avant-garde video for years, so I never really had clients in the traditional sense. This spring, I shot a wedding for a friend of a friend...an informal handshake kinda job. It got me thinking that I could do weddings on an occasional basis to earn some extra money ("selling out"...as they say), but I am not very knowledgeable about contracts in general and would like some basic templates to get me started.

My impression is that there are many other people like me on the forum. They're just getting their feet wet and need a little PDF-formatted guidance.

But certainly I don't mean to say that your input isn't valuable. Your post was a real eye-opener about how complex this subject can be.

Thanks again,

Stu

October 29th, 2003, 08:48 PM	#1
Stu Minnis Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 44	call for templates Like may others, I've been looking though this forum for examples of contracts, releases and the like. I can find many instances where someone has said, "Yeah, I'll mail that to you." But I hate to bother people for such personal favors. It seems to me that some generous soul might post a variety of templates for legal documents so that we newbies wouldn't have to be be so, well, bothersome. Maybe such a web site already exists. If so, does anyone know where? Thanks in advance to any takers, Stu

October 30th, 2003, 10:16 AM	#3
Stu Minnis Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 44	thanks Peter, Thanks for the input. That's a pretty enlightening perspective. What I meant, though, in the original post was for the basic sorts of contracts that beginner-level freelancers are likely to need, modified by circumstance, of course. I'll use myself as an example. I've been doing solo avant-garde video for years, so I never really had clients in the traditional sense. This spring, I shot a wedding for a friend of a friend...an informal handshake kinda job. It got me thinking that I could do weddings on an occasional basis to earn some extra money ("selling out"...as they say), but I am not very knowledgeable about contracts in general and would like some basic templates to get me started. My impression is that there are many other people like me on the forum. They're just getting their feet wet and need a little PDF-formatted guidance. But certainly I don't mean to say that your input isn't valuable. Your post was a real eye-opener about how complex this subject can be. Thanks again, Stu

October 30th, 2003, 08:47 AM	#2
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	Hey stu, i got your email and will respond when i get a chance, however, many contracts and t&Cs are different. Mine for example cover many aspects such as permission, copyright, styles, techniques, ownership, time delays, system failures etc etc... see, theres no real way to say this will work for me, coz everyone runs their business differently. For example, as i have a Dolby Digital TSA License, i have certain criteria which i must put forward to the client to let them know the structure of the produciton they want. This criteria must be met if i am to keep my license and the ability to advertise the fact that all my Audio and Visual work is Dolby Encoded and to use Logos, trademarks, Intros and pass their quality assurance requirements. Put it this way, if a client asks me to fit 4 hours on a DVDr, and they want the Dolby Digital trademarks and intros, they can forget it... I wont risj my license and reputation for someone who doesnt want to spend extra on better quality. another aspect is music. I have a broad range of my own music which i use within a produciton alongside copywritten commercial work, which in turn requires another license. then there is editing etc etc... best thing to do is sit down and write down everythign it is you want to offer. then list clauses to detail the requirements you need to be able to offer your product in the way in which you are advertising. like i said, ill send you my T&Cs which my clients sign alongside an information sheet which they MUST submit. this in turn forms the basis of the material included within the finished product.