Working internationally with and without a contract
polycounter lvl 10
Some people I know had problems with international clients not paying them and using their work nonetheless. Apart from not sending anything except jpegs and gifs until you are paid in full how do you protect yourself from various abuse and set your legal relationship with a client from another country? Do you ask them to sign your standard contract and do it by snail mail? Or is there some other way? And do you set up an individual contract for clients from abroad since they may have different laws, etc
Replies
In my experience contracts are not as useful for forcing bad clients to be good. They do however really excel at keeping your relationship with your client in good standing - by setting terms, by knowing what is expected of whom, and when. When things move smoothly, both parties are much more likely to do business again.
To keep from getting cheated, you have to think ahead and use common sense.
-Research everyone you deal with via. google and facebook. Research the companies along with the individuals.
-Make Skype contacts with the other freelance artists working on the project and keep in contact with them.
-Never hand over work until you've been paid, or at least until you're being paid regularly.
-Don't agree to strange contract structures unless you're certain about what you're doing. I see a lot of 'paid 50% after kickstarter' - 'Paid at milestone X' etc. Just don't do it.
I always hand over work when they need it , can't see the value in withholding stuff if they need to test it in game etc. As I say, if you are working for an established company they are very rarely going to rip you off , but I have had this happen 'once' since I started freelancing in 2008. In This case a really famous company did not pay me at all for a 5 day block of work.
I suggest keeping scope of work per milestone/paycheck very small, especially at first. If they don't pay the first time, stop working with them. If you keep working with them, and they keep paying the invoices, you will trust each other more and more, and have a good basis for an ongoing relationship.
It's pretty hard to get money from people who are basically refusing to pay you, and if they are in another country, it's probably not worth the struggle.
is there any sort of black list of people/companies which don't pay? I know some local lists but no international ones.
Stating on a forum that so-and-so doesn't pay their bills might get someone in legal trouble, so people probably shouldn't name names in this case.
With first time clients I always make sure there is a contract written up and signed by both parties so that we know:
What to expect from working with each other, how to expect communication to happen etc.
The scope and length of the project.
The agreed rate of pay.
A bunch of other small things.
While this doesn't do shit if I have to go chasing payments legally, it does mean there is minimal chance of any bad surprises happening to either party. If a client signs off on your hourly rate at the start of a project and you've agreed on how to record your work hours/days then the chances they will refuse/be slow to pay is low.
When I've worked with a client before and they have a new project for me, I wouldn't bother with a contract again, as we are already in agreement over how to go about business with each other.
So yea, like Ysalex said, use the contract more of a damage control thing which is going to lower the chances of misunderstandings and surprises. It won't do you much good legally.
I think contracts are just a formality that some companies insist on , but you have to be fluid in your approach or you risk pissing off the client.
But yeah, a contract isn't going to help you, the small business owner (freelancer). There has to be a liberal helping of trust involved.
You're going to get burned at some point. With a new client, it's best to get paid half up front, deliver screenshots only, then get paid remainder before delivery. After that first job, then payments can be every 2 to 4 weeks, per milestone, per invoice, etc.