When is a contract not a contract
18/05/06 09:29 Journalism in practice
Interesting stuff is
happening over at the Freelance e-mail list, to which
you can sign up at www.journalism.co.uk if you're a
journalist. Someone pitched an article, it was
agreed, the editor has decided it wasn't what the mag
was looking for and now doesn't feel obliged to pay
after sitting on it for a while.
I've had that, in the distant past - people thinking that once they've commissioned something, if they don't feel like using it in the end they don't have to pay. If I've missed the brief, fair enough, it's still a commission so we can negotiate. If I haven't, as happened a couple of years ago, but there's been a space problem or something, I've never understood why some of these amateurs don't think the bill is due. Please invoice for 50 per cent as we didn't actually use it in the end, although it was perfectly OK, said one editor.
That's fine as long as he doesn't mind when his proprietor says OK, we didn't use all of your edits so here's half your salary in spite of your having done all the work.
If any freelances are reading please, please don't put up with this stuff. If we let them do it once they'll think it's normal - and if they do it more than once it'll become standard practice.
I've had that, in the distant past - people thinking that once they've commissioned something, if they don't feel like using it in the end they don't have to pay. If I've missed the brief, fair enough, it's still a commission so we can negotiate. If I haven't, as happened a couple of years ago, but there's been a space problem or something, I've never understood why some of these amateurs don't think the bill is due. Please invoice for 50 per cent as we didn't actually use it in the end, although it was perfectly OK, said one editor.
That's fine as long as he doesn't mind when his proprietor says OK, we didn't use all of your edits so here's half your salary in spite of your having done all the work.
If any freelances are reading please, please don't put up with this stuff. If we let them do it once they'll think it's normal - and if they do it more than once it'll become standard practice.
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