drawing up a contract?

[gnomatron]

I need to draw up a contract for some work I've done (after the fact, ironically... very much cart before horse). I really don't have the budget to pay for a lawyer or whatever, so does anyone have any good advice?

Basically I need it to set out the ownership of 3 short music promos we made; I want to keep ownership of the footage so I can use it for Vjing, but license the band & record company for unlimited online redistribution of the promos.

An alternative is to give them ownership of the promo clips, which looks to be less hassle, but in that case how do i retain the right to use the footage for vjing?

Argh! It's nice to be doing stuff properly, but a lot of hassle...

[SteveG]

PM Deepvisual. I know Gary does a lot of video/band work, doesn't do much VJ'ing now tho so I'm not sure what sort of contracts he uses. I'm sure he'll be able to advise tho.

[sleepytom]

their are some example contracts on www.shootingpeople.org

[SteveG]

I've used example contracts in the past and although a good guide sometimes you never know if all is covered correctly in Law. If it's business that you're going to do a lot of I'd think about paying a solicitor to draw up one that suits you personally and you'll know legally it's good.

[sleepytom]

just coz a solicitor draws it up doesn't mean it's legal..

the contract that gnomatron wants is very standard and shouldn't need a solicitor to get involoved.

[SteveG]

Of course...just an option after all you can perhaps add something in there that cannot stand up in Law. I can tell you about someone who used an example contract....it was written for US Law and was worth less than a roll of toilet paper......that's another story tho. Did I tell you I now do aftershave & lollypops aswell as cleaning :)

[Rovastar]

I need to draw up a contract for some work I've done (after the fact, ironically... very much cart before horse). I really don't have the budget to pay for a lawyer or whatever, so does anyone have any good advice?

Basically I need it to set out the ownership of 3 short music promos we made; I want to keep ownership of the footage so I can use it for Vjing, but license the band & record company for unlimited online redistribution of the promos.

An alternative is to give them ownership of the promo clips, which looks to be less hassle, but in that case how do i retain the right to use the footage for vjing?

Argh! It's nice to be doing stuff properly, but a lot of hassle...

Always try and keep ownership if you can. Licensing your content out always the best option.

If you have to give ownership make sure before you give ownership that you are licensed minimum unlimited promo use, etc include in this your VJ work if you wish to use it. Nothing more annoying that decent work you have done that you are not show anyone. :/

If you have the ownership it is easier then licensing your work from them as you will have to cover all exceptions.

They may worry about reselling rights if you still have ownership and want an exculsive deal. That is still more desirable then giving ownership. I am presume you were not going to resell or commerically reuse the content/footage/programming/etc if so this isn't really a problem....otherwise things can be more complex.