My Portrait Photography Contract

I'm warning you never work without a contract I've said it before in videos and I'll say it until the day I die you need a contract if you're doing work even if you're doing free work you should be using a contract definitely model release a model release is a form of a contract a contract is simply an agreement you're saying here's what I'm going to deliver here's what you're going to get here's what you're going to give me in exchange for what I'm going to deliver it's that simple but I see people telling people not to use a contract because they don't use a contract don't take that it like that's the worst advice you could ever get or give someone so recently my friend Eric has said to me that he wants to start taking this more seriously and he's starting to use a sprout Studio that handles all the booking process the contracts payments everything all within uh that system so I sent him over a copy of my contract what I use there are contracts that are built into it but he said hey is this uh is this good it's fine my contract like most contracts is written blood my contract uh there has Clauses in it that are uh Clauses that I found uh online that I'm like oh that's smart I should have that and uh other Clauses that are like I've been burned by this so I need to add a clause into my contract that uh addresses this situation and I'll talk about it I'm going to go through everything bit by bit and uh I'm going to explain what it means why it's there and why why I have it there I'm not going to tell you that this is a contract that you should use I'm not going to tell you anything because I'm not a lawyer and uh little disclimer this is not legal advice so we'll we'll start there I'm not a lawyer this is not legal advice this is just my contract this the contract I use I will also say that all of the text in this contract I have found uh from other sources that I have not paid for I have not paid four copies of contracts from anyone these are all uh text that I have found in other contracts online so I'm going to go through my entire contract clause by clause and uh line by line and so buckle in cuz this one is going to be exciting so in order for a contract to be legal you need the names of the parties you need the signatures of the parties you need an explanation of what the contract is and you need a date the very first thing at the top of my contract is the date of the contract what you're going to see here as well is you're going to see some variables only on this page um that are in Brackets square brackets and those are variables that are used by the Sprout Studio system and they are automatically replaced and updated every time the contract goes out so these variables are updated with the client information my brand information the details of the package that we've agreed to for that and the payment schedule and um whatnot so we'll go through so Contracting parties these are the two parties who are entering into this agreement and it says this agreement is made and entered into between client name client address phone number email and business name business address business phone number business email herein after referred to as the Creator that is me I am the Creator and so anytime you see the Creator referenced in the contract that's referring to me job description job date with the shoot date and job time the shoot time the details which include the package that they've ordered what's included in that it's all put into the contract automatically by Sprout studio and then the payment schedule whether there's a deposit on that so for a wedding there might be a 50% deposit and then uh a payment of 25% later and a final payment of 25% later or there might be a uh deposit uh flat fee deposit of $1,500 or $2,000 or whatever that is the balance is automatically calculated out by Sprout and the payment schedule and it's all put in there and then there's a little box that says accept and that puts a check box into the contract that they have to click on to show that they have agreed to those terms if that box is not clicked they can't sign the contract then we go on to the terms and conditions and we start with the agreement and this Clause basically says that the contract is an agreement between the above referenced Creator that's me and the undersigned client herein known as client or agency representative here in agency constitutes the entire agreement between the parties the fees and expenses are based on the job description as presented by the client or agency and summarized herein that's why we had the job description in there previously that is referencing that information what this is saying is that the agreement is is between me and a client or me and an agency representing that client and this agreement is the entirety of the agreement this is it this is all of it here everything that's laid out here in the event that any part of this agreement is found to be invalid or unenforcable the remainder of this agreement shall remain valid and enforceable so if a clause you know if the laws change and a clause has been deemed to be unenforcable that doesn't void the entire contract it will just void that little clause and that's it and that little part of the agreement any agreement to wave one or more provisions of this agreement or any failure by one or both parties to enforce a provision of this agreement shall not constitute a waiver of any other portion or provision of this agreement same thing so if we decide okay well we are agreeing that this part of the agreement we are going to wave that that doesn't mean we're waving the entire agreement we're just agreeing to wave that part of the agreement and it won't affect the rest of the agreement at all any changes whether made orally or in writing may result in additional charges and this is important because if there are changes made to the scope of the project and they require more images the the price that's set out and the details that are listed in this agreement may result in additional charges they likely with this if the scope is increasing and they need more images there's there are going to be more charges what this does is say that just because you change the scope doesn't mean you get to keep it at the same price the expenses outlined in the agreement are estimated in good faith and 10% variance applies to project total of 10% Like leeway of 10% so if an agreement uh to use a round number is for $10,000 that means we can have a variance in the final cost up to $11,000 anything beyond that then we want to change the agreement we want to redo the project details the project scope and we got to we need to get it signed off and and get a new contract updated and and have it like done on site during the shoot and get that uh going at that time sales taxes is not included in the estimate any applicable sales tax will be added at the time of the invoice um and estimates are valid for 15 days the estimate that they're getting and the price that they are agreeing to does not include sales tax sales tax should be calculated at the appropriate level and passed on to the client the next section is definitions and this is a longer section this is the longest section of the agreement because we need to spell out exactly what it is the terms mean within the contract actually I took this section of the video and I put it in its own video which I released right before this so if you haven't watched that video yet go back and watch that it deals with all the definitions and terms that exist within this contract it was such a lengthy portion of the video that I decided it would be better on its own so go check that out and then come back and watch this and this video will be linked at the end of that video so uh you can just uh continue watching and and click right through I hope this video is helpful for you if it is please give it a thumbs up that really helps me subscribe to the channel if you want more videos but for now let's get back to the contract and uh we're going to start that off with the model release all right the model release every contract if you're photographing a person should include a model release again not legal advice the client hereby assigns the Creator and its legal Representatives airs and assigns the irrevocable and unlimited consent to use the photographs and video of the client for editorial trade competition advertising education and any other purpose and in any other manner or medium to alter the same without restriction and to copyright the same without restriction this means that my work and my body of work can carry on after I die I can use my images however I want my images that contain people in them and the people who have consented to and and and signed my contract so if I wanted to publish a book of images I've created then I could do so I would not have to compensate the people in the book for the images of them if I want to sell prints of people or or if I take a photo and I want to sell it as artwork they aren't going to be compensated it's my work and it's a representation of me and the work that I do and it is being uh presented and sold capitalized on uh in a way that I as an artist see fit the client releases all claim to profits that may arise from use of images any right to payment royalties or any other consideration for creators use of such images client hereby agrees to release and hold the Creator harmless from all claims and demands and causes of action which client its contractors and their heirs Representatives Executives administrators or any other persons acting on client's behalf or on behalf of the client Estates have or may have by reason of this authorization if somebody dies and I somebody maybe maybe I photographed somebody wellknown a celebrity or personality and they pass on and their imag is used um maybe in a collection of images sold as a magazine that means the people who uh inherit their estate don't have any claim to money that I as an artist have made from that work in the same way that the client had signed that way they're saying that yes I I give that and also don't ever expect that my children will come after you or the executive of my estate or or anybody else who represents me you're free to use the images however you wish artistic style I have an entire video on this called the Spielberg clause and uh here's what it says on its own behalf and on behalf of the subject client acknowledges that it is familiar with the Creator's portfolio and is requesting services with the knowledge of the Creator's style that the Creator's work is constantly evolving that the Creator's services are of unique and artistic nature that the photos may be different from photographs taken by the Creator in the past and that in creating the photos the Creator shall use its artistic judgment to create images consistent with its personal vision of the event which Vision may be different than the clients and for the subject's vision of the event accordingly the client acknowledges that the photo shall not be subject to rejection on the basis of taste or aesthetic criteria the final post- production of editing Styles effects and overall look of the images are left to the discretion of the creator that means your client cannot uh reject your images because they they thought they were going to be getting something that looked like a past session that you've done and maybe you've evolved as a photographer you evolve as a photographer after every shoot that you do you are continuing to grow and to develop as an artist as a Creator a crafts person every time you take a photo and you are evolving and this paragraph is the client acknowledging that you as an artist as a creative are evolving and that they are hiring you because they trust your artistic Vision not because they want you to replicate something that you've done in the past often times that's the case but they can't reject the images on the basis that they don't like us they can't just say and we don't like the way this looks we're not paying you so this Clause is in there to protect you uh on that ground copyright and Licensing under the laws of the land the copyright of all work created by the Creator remains with the Creator you own the copyright and they're acknowledging that the law of the land in my case the Canadian Copyright Act says that all the work that's being created is mine person hiring me does not get the copyright of the images the work produced by the Creator is property of the Creator protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in any manner without the Creator's explicitly written permission outside the confines of what is permitted under Federal copyright law I own the copyright they can't just do whatever they want with the images and they need my written permission to do so and I will charge them for that permission the Creator shall retain copyright and all the material produced by the Creator and this right shall acre to the benefit of his or her successors legal representatives and assigns so if I die the people who come after me uh my children if I had any would inherit my copyright up until the point where that copyright expires and the work becomes public domain sale of the images by the client is strictly prohibited so I take images the client cannot sell the images that I create all work created by the Creator and the associated copyright is the sole and exclusive property of the Creator Grant of any reproduction rights to the client is conditioned upon receipt of payment in full from client this means they do not have the right to use the images until I have been paid in full if they have not paid me they cannot use the images All rights not expressly granted shall be reserved by the Creator that means if I have not given you the right to use an image in a specific way such as out of home use then you cannot use the images in that way unless you pay me for usage uh under those terms and conditions modification of work and or incorporation of work in any layout or concept shall not constitute a joint work or derivative work this is important this is an indemnity clause if if if my images are used to say promote God forbid fascist or Nazi propaganda and someone decides to Sue that organization I as a photographer am not seen as a contributing person to that layout or that design I am not creating a joint work with these people I am not to be held liable for how they use the images all licensing options quoted are valid for 15 days from work delivery date if I give them a quote then that quote is is good for up to 15 days from the date uh the work is delivered if payment is delayed then terms and payments uh the cost the quote can be uh changed and renegotiated likely won't be but that's what that means client Andor agency hereby indemnifies and holds Creator harmless against any in all liabilities claims and expenses including reasonable attorneys fees arising from clients or agents use of the work this is the indemnity so again if there's a a claim or something that is the client uses my work and they get sued for for something for the message as as an example constituted as hate speech then I am not tied to that I made sure that I indemnified from their use of the images reservation assigned contract and fee are required to reserve the dates and times of the event if the event is rescheduled postponed or canceled or if there is a breach of contract by the client the fee is non-refundable and shall be liquid ated damages to the Creator this term liquidated damages is incredibly important liquidated damages means that any money that they have given me is to be considered damages that they cannot recoup a damages that they have caused my company and the money uh from their perspective has been liquidated and they do not have access to it anymore again I'm not a lawyer liquidated damages probably has a more specific meaning but if you do not have those two words if I do not have those two words in my contract I do not feel good about my contract the client shall also be responsible for payment for any of the creators materials charges incurred up to the time of cancellation so if I have to order equipment if I have to order uh backdrops seamless backdrops or if I have to order props things like that if I have to buy things I'm not going to be on the hook for those costs and those expenditures those costs the client will have to pay for if the client has purchased Digital Image proofs from the Creator the Creator grants the client permission to share the images on social networking site and with family and friends client is not allowed to provide images to other vendors or contractors uh for example in the case of like a wedding if I give you images for your wedding you can't just give those images to the vendors the florist or or the venue they don't have a right to those images you as a client cannot just give out my work to other people to use for free that's not how copyright works I have the copyright for example if you're an interior photographer and you uh come and photograph the work of an interior designer but they hired uh someone who does like incredible mill work to work on fireplace or do some amazing doors they can't give your images to those businesses to use to promote their work on their social media platforms those businesses would have to license the images from you for their use of the images so you could take an image and then that image you could get paid uh by the interior designer you can get paid by uh the architect you could get paid by the person doing the mill work you could get paid by the Mason uh there are a lot of people who may want to license your images to help promote their business they cannot just take your images for free not pay you and make money from your work they can't do it and you should not allow it schedule the client and the Creator agree that cooperation and punctuality are essential to accomplish the goals and wishes of all parties shooting commences at the scheduled start time if the client does not arrive at the appointed time for the event shooting will commence at the scheduled start time all additional time beyond the scheduled time will be build to the client notification of any changes in the event schedule or location must be made in writing in a timely manner and confirmation of receipt must be obtained from the Creator by the client this contract covers the hours specified on a continuous basis so if you book a shoot with me that is 3 hours long and you show up an hour and a half late don't expect to get a 3-hour shoot you have booked 12:00 p.m. to 3 p.m. you are getting 12:00 p.m. to 3 p.m. one of the reasons that this is included is this could be used uh for a wedding um but it also could be used for a commercial shoot on Commercial jobs if the job runs over then we have to pay overtime you have to like rework the estimate and the client needs to sign off on that over time but that's what has to do or they'll have to like trim back and and scale back what they're getting in the end if the time is exceeded by the client I don't have to then allow them to be late and uh honor the 3 hours I have to honor the time that they booked if you are doing Minis and and people can book on the half hour so at noon 12:31 1:32 2:30 and somebody has booked a time for 1 p.m. and they show up at 1:15 expecting uh a 20 or 25 minute session but you have somebody coming at 1:30 they get a 5 minute or 10-minute session that's it cancellation and postponement the client acknowledges that in the event that there is a postponement of the event the Creator will be harmed you will have caused me harm um by canceling or postponing the event uh Financial harm and that the client will notify the creator of a postponement as soon as possible in order to minimize the Creator's damages if um a wedding is cancelled or postponed the date has changed that's that's going to affect you if any shoot that you are doing if the date is canceled or postponed that can cause you harm if you're shooting work in which you need that time to go somewhere else if you are shooting advertising work but you have a lot of leeway in your schedule you know be an accommodating person and an accommodating professional safety the Creator reserves the right to terminate coverage and leave the location of the event if any person from The Creator experiences inappropriate threatening hostile or offensive behavior from persons at the event or in the event that the safety of the person from The Creator is in question the client will not be entitled to any refund and the client will agree to relieve and hold Creator harmless as a result of incomplete photography coverage or for a lapse in the quality of work so that means if someone is getting up in my face and threatening me for example when I was shooting weddings if a guest was drunk or not drunk and being inappropriate towards an assistant and that assistant felt like they were no longer comfortable being present at that event then I would allow them to go home and that that would not affect my contract or my coverage or if I feel threatened I am allowed to leave the space so that I am no longer in a position of threat the client cannot sue me they can sue me they can try but they're not entitled to any refund if I have to leave an event because I do not feel safe that doesn't need to be threatened either that could just be the conditions on the job site are unsafe as well if I don't feel safe and I wish to leave I can do so without any Financial uh harm being caused to me so this just communicates with your client that safety is a concern and it should be a a concern for them as well permits this one is pretty simple when required the client is responsible for acquiring all permits and necessary permission for all locations on which the Creator will be performing Services the Creator will notify the client of any permit requirements by the Creator within two business days of Discovery so if you book me for a shoot and you want it to be at a specific location but that location requires a photography permit I will notify the client within two business days of discovering that that a permit is required the client can then decide if they want to pay the permit and they will have to handle that on their own I'm not going to handle that that's their responsibility to get the permit and then they will take care of that that's that's something that they need to pay for I don't want that funneling through me and for me having to deal with that not on a portrait shoot on a commercial shoot where everything funnels to me completely different story location permits everything I end up handling all of that unless there's a producer on the client's side who's producing the shoot and will be handling all of that which is uh the way things tend to be going these days responsibilities this is a big part of a contract the client or agency is responsible for the presence of an authorized representative at the shoot to approve Pro the Creator's interpretation of the project if a client or agency rep is not present the Creator's interpretation shall be deemed acceptable those people need to be on location if it's a commercial shoot if they're not on location and they're not sending a client representative or an agency representative if the client's not going to be there then they are agreeing that my interpretation of what I'm photographing is fine they have every opportunity not even an opportunity they have the responsibility to be present and to be uh part of the process the Creator is not responsible for compromise coverage due to causes beyond the control of the Creator including but not limited to the lateness of the client weather conditions schedule complications incorrect addresses provided to the Creator it happens uh the client's physique or the client's self-image the Creator is not responsible for photos that are not completed due to the possibly uncooperative nature of the individuals to be included in any photographs in a family session if someone's not being cooperative children can be very uncooperative and then it is not my responsibility as a photographer to get images of a an uncooperative individual whether that person is a child or an adult I've also included in here that I'm not responsible for compromised coverage that is due to the client's physique or the client's self-image this means that they cannot reject the images on the basis of the fact that they don't like how they look in the photos the Creator is not responsible for backgrounds or conditions beyond the control of the creator that may negatively impact or restrict the photo coverage the Creator is not held liable for any coverage expectations not communicated by the client to the Creator in writing and agreed upon by the Creator in writing the Creator reserves the right to discard any images that are not deemed presentable discarded images are not available to the client at any time this is when your clients Say Hey I want to see all of the photos I want I want the Raw photos you don't have to give them to them you should never give them to them anyways discarded images where their face like throw them away delete them get them off your hard drive you're never going to use them you're never going to look at them the line here that says the Creator is not held liable for any coverage expectations not communicated by the client to the Creator in writing and agreed upon by the Creator in writing is an example of how when I did a a shoot and I photographed people the way that I normally would which is now why the artistic style Clause is in there as well because they wanted things shot in a way that they did not communicate to me yeah they can't hold me liable for that you didn't tell me you wanted things done in a specific way that's their responsibility as a client that's why it's in here in responsibilities to tell me what they want what they need and to communicate that to me clearly I'm not a mind reader so what I'm going to do is I'm going to create images the way that I normally create them and if they don't like them it's their fault for not communicating what they were looking for in the unlikely event that digital files have been lost stolen or destroyed for reasons beyond the Creator's control including but not limited to camera hard drive or equipment malfunction the Creator liability is limited to the return of all payments received for the event if God forbid you get into a car accident and the cards are destroyed then I would only be responsible for returning the payments that I had received for the event I wouldn't be responsible for any further damages beyond that the liability is lied the limit of liability for a partial loss of original shall be a pro-rated amount of the exposures Lost based on a percentage of the total number of Originals so if I'm photographing at over five cards and one of the cards gets corrupted I'm not responsible for 100% of the shoot I'm only responsible for 20% assuming an equal number of exposures across all the cards but you know obviously we have measures in place to mitigate that and to make sure that we have uh redundancies for our redundancies so that that never happens the Creator is not liable for the loss of images beyond the lesser of the final delivery of all products included in the package or one year if after the images are are delivered or after a year the images are deleted from a hard drive I'm not responsible for maintaining an archive of the images that I've created post-production and retouching work will be delivered in a timely fashion within a mutually agreed upon schedule any additional retouching requested by the client or agency Beyond beond the scope of the job description will be quoted on a case-by Case basis that's it I'm going to deliver your images to you on time and if you want additional images and additional retouching I will quote that on a case-by Case basis I mean it's it's self-explanatory this one storage of files once the files are delivered to the client it is the client's sole responsibility to protect and retain their images for the future it is highly recommended that the images be duplicated and stored in multiple locations All Digital files are only guaranteed by backup storage for 6 months from the event date after that time the Creator will not take responsibility for any potential loss of digital files for any backup Solutions used by the Creator so that just means after 6 months I'm no longer obligated to store their files I will do it for 6 month I never delete anything but if something happens and has I have accidentally deleted an entire month's worth of photos and I managed to get some of them back I thought that's the reason I've like developed a backup system that is multiple redundancies I have a video on that too which I will uh link to in the comments and you can watch that as well non-disparagement for the purposes of this section disparaged shall mean any negative statements reviews comments or feedback whether written or oral about the Creator or Services provided by the Creator client agrees that they will not disparage the Creator or post any negative statements reviews comments or feedback about the Creator or Services provided to any third party whether orally or in any written publication or online Forum chat room or message board including but not limited to Google Facebook Facebook Twitter Tik Tok and Yelp parties agree that it would be impractical and extremely difficult to ascertain the amount of actual damages caused by a failure to comply with this provision parties agree that in the event it is established that the client has failed to comply with this provision liquidated damages shall be payable that means you can't trash me if you don't like your images you can't just go and trash me on social media which is what the worst client of mine that I've ever had they threatened to do it was two women real estate agents they did not like their images but they threatened to go destroy all of my social medias and uh review bomb my page because they failed to communicate to me how they wanted to be photographed they just threatened me they extorted me and I have a lot of paperwork uh and I have like an entire file from that specific case so this entire Clause exists because of that horrible client that I had pricing services or merchandise not included in this initial contract will be sold at the price current when the order is placed all prices are subject to change at any time without notice prices for all work services and or product are in Canadian currency it just means all my prices are in Canadian dollars my prices can change and if it's not in the contract my prices can be different if you want to do something in the future or buy more images if it's not outlined in this contract what the prices will be then they're subject to change inflation's been crazy so prices have had to go up payment the client agrees to pay the Creator according to the amounts and dates outlined in the payment schedule above remember at the beginning I showed you that there's a payment schedule attached to the contract in the event the client fails to remit payment as specified the Creator shall have the right to immediately terminate this agreement with no further obligation retain any monies already paid and not attend the event if you don't pay me I'm not showing up client's failure to pay the final balance shall be deemed a material breach of this agreement shall result in damage to the Creator and shall relieve the Creator from performing any Services Under this agreement so if you don't pay me and my final payment for larger contracts is due prior to me shooting you don't make that payment don't expect me to show up don't expect people to pay you afterwards on Commercial shoots you're going to be looking at like net 30s net 60s but this is a Porche contract so this is what I'm dealing with consumer consumer clients payments can be made via electronic bank transfer credit card check or Bank draft payments via credit card and Bank drafts will be considered paid upon receipt payments via check will be considered paid upon clearance at creators financial institution just because you hand me a paper check does not mean I am going to consider the contract paid or the shoot paid it will only be paid once the check clears if you give me a bad check and it doesn't clear you know the session's not booked the session's only booked when the money's in the bank returned checks will be assessed uh $100 non-sufficient funds fee if you bounce a check on me it's going to cause me a lot of problem take me a lot of time to deal with so what I try to do now is do electronic fund transfers as much as I can instead of getting paid by check or bankd draft if you do pay by check or Bank draft make them payable to Kevin Patrick Robbins travel to remote locations a remote location is defined as a location with the distance further than 100 km from Creator's address my address is at the top of the contract if the distance I'm traveling is further than 100 kilm then there are going to be travel fees attached to that all travel expenses are based on the distance between the event and the Creator's address client is responsible for all travel accommodation meal and transport costs unless provided by the client so if the client is not feeding me or providing me with a location to stay for example if I was going to photograph a head shot at a conference and they were supplying me with a hotel room that's fine but if they weren't supplying me with a hotel room and then they would have to cover the costs of me renting a hotel room client agrees to reimburse creator for any travel related out-of-pocket expenses that have not been provided by client and that will be itemized on Final invoice that might include a perdum for me to eat client will reimburse cre for roundtrip air transportation unless assignment is better served by utilizing the Creator's vehicle in which case customary travel and fuel charges apply on-site transportation and accommodation while on remote location including one day prior to production and one day after production for example if production days are scheduled for Monday Tuesday and Wednesday accommodations will be made for check-in on Sunday and check out on Thursday if I have to fly somewhere the the client is paying for it what I will do is I will book the flight then I will build that back to the client that's a better thing for me to do the credit card that I can use would gather points for me all fuel charges will be invoiced at 150% of the Canada Revenue agency's reasonable per kilometer allowance rate for the year in which the event takes place you just Google reasonable per kilometer allowance rate Canada Revenue Agency if you're in Canada if you're elsewhere then you're government would probably have a reasonable per kilometer allowance rate or per mile termination by the Creator in addition to any other obligations set forth in this agreement upon termination if Creator terminates this agreement for any reason other than breach by client Creator will refund any unearned fees to the client that had been paid to the Creator as of the date of such termination so if I have to terminate the shoot I uh will have to refund any of my unearned fees if I cancel then I have to refund the money for example if this were for a wedding and I decided no longer wanted to work with this couple then I would have to refund their money to them obviously or if something came up I knew that maybe I was going to have to have surgery and I would no longer be available to photograph I would have to either refund or find someone else which the next part of this says in the unlikely event that the creators unable to form the guidelines of disagreement due to but not limited to injury illness or other cause beyond the control of the Creator the Creator will make every effort to secure a replacement if I have to go in for surgery you know I hope not if something like that were to happen then I would find someone to do the job for me instead of just cancelling and doing the refund then of course I would pay that person who did the job for me if the situation should occur and a suitable replacement is not found responsibility and liability are limited to refund of any payments received for the event if I have to cancel and I can't find a replacement then the liability that and exposure that I am limited to is just what has been paid to me for example if it were a wedd the couple could not then sue me for further money beyond what they had paid me I just have to pay them back and that's it termination by the client the client acknowledges that in the event that there is a cancellation of the event the Creator will be harmed and the client will notify the creator of a cancellation as soon as possible in order to minimize the Creator's damages if there is a cancellation the Creator and the client agree that the client shall be responsible for the payment to the Creator within 10 days of any cancellation as liquidated damages there's that term again and not as a penalty money is paid to the date of the cancellation which represents a compromise portion of the actual damages sustained by the Creator due to a cancellation this sum shall be in addition to any retainer paid if the client terminates that damages have been done I need to recoup my costs I need to recoup my expenses the money that they are paying to me or have paid to me will not be returned and it is not uh a penalty it is just that they have damaged my Financial stability they are compensating for that Force meure this is a clause and a term that we all came to know and love when covid hit neither Creator client or agency shall be liable for failure of either party's obligations caused by any circumstances Beyond reasonable control including but not limited to acts of God epidemics pandemics floods riots fires civil unrest acts of war or terrorism or failure of energy sources so if the power grid goes down nobody's responsible for that the client's not responsible the client didn't cause the problem I didn't cause the problem the agency didn't cause the problem nobody's at fault this is a force measure and it just means that nobody is liable for the failure of anybody's obligations collection in the event that the Creator is required to file a legal action to collect fees due from the client under this agreement or to otherwise enforce this agreement then the Creator shall be entitled to recover all costs and expenses incurred by the Creator in relation to such legal action including but not limited to an award of reasonable attorney fees and legal dispersements this basically means if I have to hire a lawyer or a collection agency to hunt you down and get the money from you as a client then I am also entitled to be compensated or reimbursed for the fees that I have to pay to a lawyer and finally this is the last clause and you will need to customize this for your uh area and region that is the jurisdiction and venue this agreement shall be construed according to the laws of the province of Ontario and the nation of Canada that's where I live and that's where I work the client acknowledges that this agreement was entered into in Hamilton Ontario and that at least a substantial portion of this agreement will be performed in the country of Canada and that the proper venue for any legal action related to this agreement is in the Superior Courts of Canada if somebody wants to sue me then the jurisdiction will be in Canada in Ontario and the agreement was taken into effect in Hamilton this is an issue where with contracts that you might find online and just borrow the text from but not customize if especially in the US if you get a contract that says the jurisdiction is California and you live in Virginia and there's a legal dispute you're going to have to go to California because that's what's in your contract as the jurisdiction and you will be subject to the laws of California as opposed to the laws of uh Wyoming or Virginia or wherever it is that you live and the event has taken place so make sure that your contracts list of jurisdiction and venue and make sure that that is local to you look this was a long video and I'm glad you stuck around I really appreciate it if you found this helpful please subscribe to this channel it really helps me out hit the like button what I would love to know in the comments what are clauses do you have in your contract that you think that I've missed out especially let me know if you're a lawyer I I mean I know it's not going to be legal advice but I I definitely want to hear your thoughts on this contract and on on the terms and conditions that you have in your contract thanks for sticking around uh have a great day