Stiffed by Client
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- luckyorphan
Hey folks,
I just found out that a former client has published a series of ads in a national publication that I designed for them that they never paid for.
Anyone got any legal advice or recommendations, esp. in the LA area?
Tak.
- monospaced0
Step 1, call former client and inform them they are publishing work they had not paid for. Let them know they have to pay you, as it CLEARLY STATES in the contract they had formerly signed.
- Assuming a contract was signed ...Continuity
- and that's the lesson learnedmonospaced
- hopefully he has some sort of agreement in an email formmonospaced
- duhsign0
oops
- sureshot0
sucks dude. Just call the police.
- d_rek0
good god. How many times must we see questions like this?
We are in a goddamn service industry people.
- < Your point being?luckyorphan
- his point being: know what you do or let it be.mekk
- ********0
OccupyClient
- yurimon0
1) Do you have a contract with them? Review the terms.
2) Dont Panic. Call them up be professional, polite, and see how they react. Dont Accuse.
3) Depending on what happens after your call. Think what to do.
4) If they will pay. then ok. time when? followup. If not going to pay.
If you are legally ept then gather all evidence. Consult a good lawyer wouldnt hurt.
5) Dont panic or go negative in any of the process.- this
and get a baseball batGeorgesII - right, important not to let emotions into the mix; stay professional and courteousmonospaced
- this
- Continuity0
Going on the assumption you've got a contract, I don't recommend any contact with them by phone from this point on. You'll want to cover your bases with email and letters, in order to prove decisively anything.
- Phone = he said/she said. Don't take your chances.Continuity
- Good point. If you have Email correspondence it is admissible in court. I would doubt it would go that far if there is substantial evidence.yurimon
- luckyorphan0
To speak to a few points above:
I do have a signed contract, and virtually all of the correspondence was done via email and/or IM. There's a solid paper trail.
Fortunately, I've been very good at selecting clients in the past. So I haven't had to deal with this.
I was just wondering if anyone on here had any experience with anyone in the legal profession who they would recommend, or any tips for successful approach.
- BusterBoy0
Send them an Invoice.
- this.lowimpakt
- Yup, this. With a note saying "how great the ads looked in the paper"goldieboy
- Yeh...on the fence on that one. Technically, they don't owe me money, as they didn't ask for the work.luckyorphan
- Amicus0
1. If you've only talked with your marketing contact try contacting their legal, or accounts payable departments... they may be able to get payment moving without you needing to take legal action.
2. Did you give them HiRes versions before they paid?
If not, and they printed LoRes versions, sue them for damages resulting from a tarnished reputation. If you did, then wise up man ;)
- shellie0
If you don't have a contract covering the production completed, you're fucked, bud. That's the truth. If you have a signed contract, you have the answers to all your own questions on hand. Its probably a small enough amount to get a judgetment in small claims. Depending on your situation there is also the state employment board. You may have been a missclassified employee which many shops do illegally to save on taxes, insurance and payroll costs. If you can prove that (lke I have in the past) it opens up more pressing legal issues for the company and they'll settle quickly.
I've had a handful of large money claims. If you are really on your shit you might recover a quarter of it and it could take months or years in some cases.
Let this be a lesson to you to get better statements of work and terms signed prior to any production. Cash your checks quickly. And possibly get a business manager if you just can't do it yourself. I personally contract out all my bill collecting cos I can't be bothered (I hate that part the most).
- autoflavour0
do you have access to firearms?
- or drunk irishmen?autoflavour
- that's racist. you're round.lowimpakt
- bmacneill0
Agree with Busterboy. Send an invoice with a handwritten note attached.
- mirrorball0
just send them an invoice
- dbloc0
and make sure you write it in the form of a ransom note. They will appreciate the creativity
- You might get some extra work out of it.mikotondria3
- or extra money..dbloc
- luckyorphan0
Follow up:
Spoke with my in-house legal, and they recommended I contact the final client's IPO firm, notifying them that they are in violation of copyright. Then, attach a pdf of the ads in-use, and the correspondence I had with my client who screwed me.
She said, "speak their language, and they will answer back."
Interesting maneuver.
- Sounds fun. Get on it tomorrow!Continuity
- Thats about what I thought might be the advice from a lawyer. If they haven't paid it is your IP so sue those mofo's.Amicus
- monospaced0
- yeh...something like that.luckyorphan
- lol this one's amazingernexbcn
- BusterBoy0
Just saw your note to my post above. They didn't ask for the work? That puts an entirely new spin on things. Perhaps they thought it was a gift!
Anyway, if it was purely unsolicited, then I think you've got your work cut out claiming anything from them.
- utopian0
tax right-off
- luckyorphan0
Bboy,
They did not approach me with the job. They tasked their out-of-house design & ad firm to come up with a campaign concept. That firm contracted me to do the gig, and subsequently stiffed me on the work I did...only to turn around and then invoice the brand for it.
So, the ad firm is responsible for payment, but their client is benefiting from the campaign with my art as the core of not just the print ads, but now I've found that it's all over their site and corporate videos as well.
Add to that the fact that my former best man is in charge of the firm in question, and you can imagine how it gets kinda complicated.