Chewing Pencils

I encountered a copyright issue today that has been a problem for me every so often. It has to do with ’standard’ contracts that many large corporations use.

What has happened is that a client approached me to do some work. I outlined the conditions for what I thought was a suitable contract, which included me retaining copyright, and the client agreed. The project was completed in the set time.

My invoice is sent to the acocunts department, who then proceed to list me as a ’supplier’ for the organisation. To become a supplier you have to sign an agreement which states, as you’ve probably guessed, that all work produced for the organisation by any supplier remains the property of the organisation.

Well, not in the contract I entered into with the project manager it doesn’t!!

What I neglected to do was to ask upfront if the organisation had a standard contract. I assumed that as I entered into negotiations with the person that contacted me intially, that they would be aware of any points where our contract and the standard contract differed. Bad move.

The drawings are finished and I am expecting to be paid. But I can see that there will be a delay now as the legal people debate for weeks about what they should do. I have offered to sell tham copyright for ten times the agreed fee - hoping that it will scare them into agreeing to my terms or that they’ll pay the big bucks! 

It will all work out, but it is a good reminder (for me at least!) to be thorough about covering all my copyright bases at the beginning of a project by asking to SEE a copy of any standard contract before starting work.