Contracts – You Want WHAT?

I was recently approached by a publisher of several software/tutorial magazines about doing a 6-page technical illustration primer. The pay was laughable, but the contract was downright insulting:

3.2 Anything that you […] produce or invent for [us] as part of, or in connection with, the Contract shall be [our] property absolutely and you shall assign or procure the assignment of all Intellectual Property in such things (whether existing now or arising in the future) free from all encumbrances to [us]. You also agree to obtain all releases that are necessary to enable [us] to exploit the Work as it sees fit. If you provide any of your own pre-existing Intellectual Property as part of the Contract you hereby grant [us] and, if relevant, Clients to whom the relevant Work has been provided, an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free licence to use such Intellectual Property in relation to Work similar or equivalent to the Work.

Worse, still:

3.3 Where you are the author of the Work, you waive absolutely your right to be identified as the author of the Work […] and your right to object to derogatory treatment of it (granted by section 80 of that Act) and, so far as is legally possible, any broadly equivalent rights you may have anywhere in the world. Where you are not the author of the Work you undertake to obtain equivalent waivers from the authors.

…and in case they missed anything:

7.6 This contract may be reviewed and/or amended at any time by [us].

[Emphasis is mine]

Even if I was ready to work for next to nothing, even if I was willing to hand over all rights to whatever I created, even if I convinced myself that the exposure from a project like this was worth the work involved, they wanted me to waive my right to be identified as the author of the work. Oh and they could modify the contract at any time.

Illustrators — Read your contracts. Understand them. If they have bogus clauses, ask for changes or reject them outright.

What bogus clauses have you gotten on contracts? Let us know in the comments!

Non-Disclosure Agreements

Technical Illustration Non-Disclosure Agreements

Technical Illustration and Non-Disclosure Agreements

Almost every project I take on involves signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement of some sort. An NDA is a contract that protects the client as well as the illustrator from legal and financial liability should confidential information related to the project fall in the hands of a third party.

A client with a patent pending wouldn’t want their illustrator disclosing details of a project to a competitor (or anyone for that matter). On the other hand, the illustrator needs to show work in their portfolio in order to bring in more work. The NDA contract ideally strikes a balance between the needs of the two parties.

For example, they may agree that everything is to be kept under wraps until the project is completed and published by the client. After that, the illustrator is free to use the sketches, roughs and finals for promotional purposes or even reuse or resale. This is a typical NDA clause for magazines

They may agree that all roughs, reference materials and correspondence be kept confidential, and that the illustrator can use only the final image. This is typical when working with science and technology firms.

Or the client may insist that the project be kept strictly confidential in perpetuity (Forever. Forever ever.). Because an illustrator needs to show work to get work, a clause like this seriously restricts future work opportunities. This factor must be taken into consideration when negotiating a fee for the project.

How to Get the Most out of NDA Negotiations

  • Understand your client’s needs. Clients often use boilerplate NDAs, meaning they’re often more restrictive than they need to be. Figure out what aspects are important to the client, and propose that the other restrictions be loosened.
  • Explain your needs. The client most likely hired you because of the work they saw in your portfolio. You might be missing out on the next job because you can’t show your work from this one. Explain to the client how that affects your fees.
  • Just ask. A contract usually states that changes can be made with express written consent. Once a project concludes, send the client a friendly follow-up email expressing your pride in the work and your desire to include it in your portfolio. Keep a copy of the email along with the NDA contract.
  • Deal with it. Sometimes a client really really needs absolute confidentiality. Try to work it into your fees – you don’t want this becoming standard practice. Use self-assigned projects to keep your portfolio updated and keep getting the work you want.

A non-disclosure agreement can work for you or against you. Read it. Understand it. Negotiate it. Abide by it!

How do you deal with non-disclosure agreements? Let us know in the comments!