本帖最后由 歪 歪 于 2013-3-25 19:32 编辑
I agree with sinjj.
As usual, he was right,
this time, he was right, too.
Okey,
If you persist in doing this project,
I can give you some advices on how to write contract.
When you're new,
it's easy to get excited when a new invite.
Before you know it you're saying,
"Yes, yes, pick me!"
Then you realize you have no clear idea what you just agreed to.
So don't accept it until you've clearly defined the project, deadline, materials required, and pay.
It's easy to just jump up and do a happy dance when someone tells you wanting your services.
But think ahead to when it's time to sign.
Without a written contract,
they has no legal obligation to pay you. Ever.
If you don't create a paper trail,
you couldn't even sue to get your money.
You don't have a legal leg to stand on.
Aside from this scary prospect,
there are a lot of details to hammer out in a typical contract.
For instance, if you're an engineer,
Do you retain ownership of the work,
or are they buying all rights? What happens if there's a dispute?
The contract is where all these niggling fine points get clarified.
If all you can get is a short email that summarizes the terms,
have them reply with "I agree" and you will be able to document the basics of your agreement and the date it was made.
I know major corporations that do their contracts this way now,
and an email paper trail should be fine.
But if you're the worrying type,
have an attorney review your contract.
Engineers' organizations are a good resource for sample contracts and referrals to an attorney.
You need to specify two key things to get paid:
the payment trigger, such as "on delivery of first product".
the payment terms, how long they have to pay you after that the trigger happens.
It's a common problem that they get your final draft and then sort of disappear.
They stop returning your phone calls.
They may just be busy or they may be trying to dodge their final payment.
That's why you need to create a trigger on your final payment with terms such as,
"payable upon finalization or within 30 days of turn in of final draft, whichever is sooner."
This way,
they can't drag out finalization forever,
and you know the end point by which you should be paid.
Don't Jump the Gun!
This is another over excitement problem.
You dash off and start working.
Then you hear nothing from them,
and eventually discover the project has fallen through.
Now, you've wasted hours of time on the project they don't want to pay you.
This problem is fairly easy to prevent:
Don't start working until your signed contract.
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