Writing contracts
One of the important parts of your work as a web designer will be the development of contracts that are part of the legally binding information that you need top produce.
Contracts are often complex and difficult to understand, but they all seem to have common areas to be included.
We have discovered a number of points that need to be included into a contract, they are:
- they are legally binding
- disclaimer on site use
- payment details
- copyright statement
- services to be performed by contractor
- general provisions
- restrictions
- dealing with client delays
- dealing with contractor delays (your own)
- clients get limited ownership
- milestones and project completion
- obligations
and the second group of examples includes:
- maintenance and technical support
- code re-use
- Scope of work and scope creep (feature creep)
- Liability when things go wrong
- intellectual property
- domain names
- content provision
- insurance
- confidentiality
- advertising & linking to sites
- search engine optimisation
- limitations on liability
Any other areas, such as usability, accessibility requirements and so on may be added to this list.
As an exercise, you are now asked to investigate the areas listed, and submit comments on them as part of this blog. You can comment on other people’s entries as well, with an aim to improve our understanding of the subject.
You are to look at the ones numbered corresponding to the number you were given: 1. Di, 2. Samantha, 3. Peter, 4. Ben, 5. Naomi, 6. Rachel, 7. Erin, 8. Robyn, 9. Marc, 10. Alissa, 11. Brendan.
For each item you should write a short explanation of the subject (no more than 5 sentences) along with at least one reference to the subject material (site name, url and date visited).
If you locate sites with example contracts, then include these as a secondary comment.
Technorati Tags: contracts
They legally binding
information form the following website re a contract to be legally binding:
http://www.rurallaw.org.au/handbook/xml/ch06s18s05.php
Requirements for a contract to be legally binding
The common law has developed six fundamental principles needed for a contract to be legally binding. These are:
1. Agreement (where one party makes an offer and the other accepts it);(where one party makes an offer and the other accepts it);
2. Consideration (where one party gives something in exchange for something from the other party);(where one party gives something in exchange for something from the other party);
3. Intention (where both parties intend to abide by the contract);(where both parties intend to abide by the contract);
4. Capacity (where both parties are mentally capable of understanding a contract);(where both parties are mentally capable of understanding a contract);
5. Genuine consent (where both parties agree to the contract of their own free will); and(where both parties agree to the contract of their own free will); and
Legality (where all of the parts of the contract are legal).
Posted May 23, 2006, 1:54 pmCode re-use:
Code re-use is a clause for the developer. It regards the ownership of certain asspects of their code. The developers’ will aggressively ressit assigning ownership because it would prevent them from recycling and standardising the code for use later on.
Reference:
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:04 pmhttp://eric_goldman.tripod.com/articles/freshlookarticle.htm
23 May 2006
maintenance and technical support
The contract would have a section that states what agrement has been reached for the maintanence of the website and the technical support you will provide to the client.
The agreement should state the length of time and cost of maintenance and support.
A sample can be found at:
http://www.proposalkit.com/pdf/IT_web_software_hardware_contracts/MaintenanceAgreement_Sample.pdf
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:07 pmDealing with contractor (your own) delays
As long as you know how to organise your time schedule appropriately, and stick to it, you most likely won’t have to worry about this.. If the contract clearly states the web site would be done by xx/yy/zzzz, and you finished a couple of days late, in extreme circumstances the company may sue you for a loss of profits, revenue etc (especially if it had a marketing campaign advertising unfortunately advertising the currently incomplete site). To counter this, you can specify a section in the contact to exactly what you’d be liable to if your work is delayed, or not on time. You can also make mention that delays beyond your control, will permit an extension by the length of time that the delay was.
Bulletproof Web Design Contracts [Work Smarter]
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/bulletproof-web-design-contract/2
Tuesday, 23rd May 2006
Taleria Web Design
http://www.taleriawebdesign.com/legal.html
Tuesday, 23rd May 2006
Example of contacts ::
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:16 pm- http://www.walstonet.com/pdf/contract.pdf (Walston Net Design)
- http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=U&start=16&q=http://www.blarneystone.com/designbusiness/Blank%2520Website%2520Design%2520and%2520Hosting%2520Contract.doc&e=9797 (BlarneyStone Internet Services)
10. clients get limited ownership
You need to enable that you can retain the rights to your work that you need, and let the client get the rights they will be interested in. Whatever you develop, let it be code or design, if the client is given those rights then you may not re-use or re-cycle that design/code, even in the slightest. Often clients will want to be able to forbid you from doing that, so you do not sell a similar product to their competitors.
Reference: http://www.gussis.com/webdev.html
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:18 pmIntellectual property on the internet refers to all product names, designs, logos, titles, text, images, audio and video, trademarks and patents that are included within a site. Unless otherwise noted, all these elements are the intellectual property of the owner of the site.
(Sourced from: http://www.solecollector.com/terms.html)
In the context of a web designer’s legal contract with a client, the ‘services to be performed by contractor’ section refers simply to that; the services which the web designer agrees to, within the contract, complete for the client. In order to avoid any later disputes with the employer, these services should be written down in meticulous detail. This section of the contract may also include the methods/means which will be used in order to perform the services, and may also include a clause allowing the contractor to employ (usually at their own expense) any assistants deemed necessary in order to complete the task outlined and agreed upon in the contract.
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:18 pm(Sourced from: http://www.procopio.com/pdfs/sample2.pdf)
Disclaimer on site use:
A disclaimer on site use is used to protect the developer after the termination of the agreement has ended. This allows the developer to have limited liability for how the site may be used after it’s completion. If the site is adjusted after the agreement has terminated the liability of the developer is void.
reference:
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:19 pmhttp://www.gussis.com/wda.pdf
23 May 2006
POINT 11 – Brendan 23/05/06 MILESTONES
MILESTONES – A “Milestone” is a terminal element that marks the completion of a work package or phase of a project, typically marked by a high level event such as completion, endorsement or signing of a deliverable, document or a high level review meeting.
Any important part of the project should be considered a milestone.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milestone_(Project_management) ACCESSED 2PM
PROJECT COMPLETION
Project completion is simply the finished product, but there are several things to watch out for.
These are:
1) DO NOT accept payment “upon completion” – therefore eliminating the chance of project delay further delaying payment
1. Stipulate that content is due by a certain date and, if not received, the client is in breach of contract. (You’ll have to specify the ramifications of that breach, such as the client loses his deposit or a portion thereof, and the contract is voided.)
2. Stipulate that if content isn’t received by a certain date, the remaining balance of the project is due and payable. (This avoids calling delay a breach and canceling the contract outright, yet still spells out consequences and provides a motivation for the client to supply content in a timely manner.)
3. Instead of attaching payments to production milestones, stipulate that final payment is due within a certain number of days, regardless of whether the project is completed or not. You can specify the time frame roughly to correspond with the date you estimate that the project will be completed, were no delays to occur. (This also avoids a breach and cancellation of the contract, but also avoids the impression that you’re punishing the client for being late — and you still get your money on time! The client’s primary motivation to provide content in a timely manner is that he’ll have paid for a site that remains largely unfinished, due to his own inaction.)
http://www.sitepoint.com/print/bulletproof-web-design-contract ACCESSED 2.15PM
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:24 pmPOINT 11 PART 2 BRENDAN 23/05/06
Search engine optimization (SEO) – The act of altering a web site so that it does well in the organic, crawler-based listings of search engines.
http://www.thewebdivision.com/glossary.html ACCESSED 2.20PM
Search engine optimization tips listed in order of importance:
1. Potential site design/set up problems.
2. Selecting the correct keywords.
3. Your title tag.
4. Your copywriting.
5. Your meta tags.
6. Your images “alt” attribute.
7. What you should not do….
8. How long it takes to get listed.
Additional search engine optimization tips:
These tips are here because they can be useful to those that can implement them on their web site, but they are not necessary to achieve good listings in the search engines.
1. Hyperlinks.
2. Headings.
http://www.submit-it.com/subopt.htm
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:25 pmConfidentiality
Depending on your web design project or client, you may be revealed information concerning the company or organisation- such as methods of operation, employees, finances, and documentation or business affairs (all of which wether written or oral). Information of this nature should not be discussed without consent from both parties (client and designer).
contact.pdf
http://www.aswas.com/contract.pdf
Tuesday, 23rd May 2006
contact.pdf
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:45 pmhttp://www.walstonet.com/pdf/contract.pdf
Tuesday, 23rd May 2006
10. advertising and linking to sites
Linking to a site that holds questionable content cannot hold the web designer or company liable. There are exceptions, such as being forbidden from having such content on your website but instead linking to another one with such content.
As the refernece article gives an example:
“It would be very strange if a court ordered a defendant not to sell a product in his store, but then the defendant was allowed to place a sign in the store window saying, ‘We can’t sell the item, but here’s where you can get it,’” said Burk.
Linking is generally not a dangerous legal subject, but it is always a good idea to take caution.
Reference: http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/06/cyber/cyberlaw/16law.html
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:48 pmHere is a simple example of a contract:
‘Independent Contractor’s Agreement’
http://www.procopio.com/pdfs/sample2.pdf
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:55 pmAlissa and Sam:
A sample contract:
http://eric_goldman.tripod.com/articles/hostingagmt.htm
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:59 pm23 May 2006
Sample contract
I have found this sample contract:
http://www.gallantrywebdesign.com/contract.html
Posted May 23, 2006, 2:59 pmPosted by:
Rei Rei
Robyn
Naomi
Here is another example of a contract.
This one is tailored specifically to web design, rather than as a skeleton outline for a contract.
‘General Website Design Agreement’
http://www.orlandowebdevelopment.com/webdesign_agreement.htm
Posted May 23, 2006, 3:02 pmDealing with Client Delays
Delays can occur in the areas where the client needs to act, such as providing content and approving designs. The receiving of content will most likely be the major delay while working a project and complicate payment details. Make sure the contract provides a statement pertaining to the consequences on delays and payment.
Reference:
Posted May 23, 2006, 3:09 pmBulletproof Web Design Contracts
This isn’t a sample contract but does give you a guide as to what you should include in your contract.
http://graphicdesign.about.com/library/weekly/aa091400a.htm
Posted May 23, 2006, 3:19 pm