first client sent me a copyright agreement doc...need help to see if its ok to sign ( 5 Views )

1. 1 Attachment(s)
   check out attachment. i'm not really into legal jargon or what have you; and just started freelancing for small cost-projects. so i'm just wondering if anyone who has been in the field for awhile now, and have experience with this kind of thing...if you could be kind enough to help me out and see if this contract/agreement wont put me in a bad position months/years from now...
   
   TIA. any help is greatly appreciated.
   
   
   (çok mutsuzum, Estonia)


2. I'm by no means any sort of expert in law, so my first thought would be to pay $150 or so for a consultation with someone who is. That said, here are my impressions of what it said: it's a work for hire document, they're paying you for all the rights to what you did for them, and you're warranting that you are the original creator of everything you did for them. IF I read it right, you also seem to be agreeing to pay their legal fees if it turns out you're not the original creator of everything you did for them. Or it could be that you're agreeing to pay their legal fees if someone CLAIMS that you're not the original creator. (I can't quite tell which it is...and it's a pretty big difference IMO.) There's also a bit in there about the agreement not being drafted by any one part, and you both negotiating it.
   
   So before I'd sign something like that, I'd start with asking myself if everything the agreement is saying is true, and if it's what I want and/or had in mind. The biggest thing is, are you the original creator of all the work you did for them? (Did you use any clipart? If so, they can't use whatever you created with the clipart as a trademark, for example, and you wouldn't be the original creator.) Did they provide you anything to use as a basis for the work you're doing/have done? (If so, there ought to be something in there where THEY warrant that everything they've given you is something they had the right to give you, and that they'll defend you and pay your legal fees, etc.) Do you want to sell all your rights to what you created, and did you agree to that up front? (Maybe this is the upfront agreement, I don't know.) Did you negotiate the agreement, or maybe this is the part where you negotiate it...
   
   Those are the things that jump out at me, but if it were me I'd have a lawyer familiar with those kinds of contracts look it over.
   
   
   (çaðdaþ, Sao Tome and Principe)

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