Terms & conditions
Hey you! Do you fancy the idea of working with me, as a client? If you love paying attention to details as much as I do, then you will love this page! Below are all the legal nuts and bolts of our collaboration - whether it’s a one-off project or an ongoing retainer.
You and I both have the option to deviate from these general terms and conditions, if needed. This needs to happen in writing, as part of our agreement. The laws of the Netherlands govern these terms and conditions.
Changes and revisions
As much as every word I write has a reason for being part of the text, the actual story is about you and your business. It’s normal for you to ask for small changes to the work that I initially submitted. Therefore, the first two rounds of revisions are on me - as long as we still work under the existing brief and our agreed fee is per project. This only applies before the work has been signed off or published. After that, I charge €60 per hour for additional changes.
FYI: A first round of revisions is for edits: changing around 10% of the copy, at most. Then, we can have one round of tweaks: changing way less than 10%. After the final sign-off, I am not liable for any further revisions.
Cancelling or changing agreements
Naturally, I can’t start working until after I have all I need from you, such as a brief, a deposit, and any additional resources. Your delays result in proportional delays to the timeline of my work, so we will adjust the deadlines accordingly. We can also push the deadline back or renegotiate a rush fee, if the work is still urgent. I also can’t be responsible for deadlines missed due to circumstances beyond my control, such as illness or personal emergencies. Big delays can result in the complete suspension of my work, if worse comes to worst - but I’m sure we can figure out a better alternative.
If you cancel our contract, wish to postpone it until further notice, or fail to reply to my messages within 5 working days, in a way that impedes my ability to successfully reach the desired outcome of the next agreed milestone, I will retain your down payment and payment for the work that is already completed. Additionally, I might charge a ‘kill fee’ to cover any extra work I did before the contract was cancelled. The cancellation or postponement needs to happen in writing, via email.
As for changing the agreement or brief itself, this is a completely different topic. If you want to change it, bring it up and I will let you know of the necessary changes to the timeline and price. We will only proceed if we both agree to the new terms.
I trust people a lot and I am quite flexible. However, I reserve the right to dissolve our agreement if you don’t do your part of the agreement in full or on time. In this case, you become immediately due and payable. The same ‘kill fee’ may apply.
In the case of an ongoing agreement, such as a retainer, either one of us must terminate it with a notice period of 1 calendar month.
Intellectual property and retention of title
After your final sign-off and the full payment for my work, you retain the title for it. Never before it. The outcome of the project is to be used as intended and can’t be used for commercial purposes by parties not mentioned in the agreement, unless otherwise agreed.
Any supporting documents that I present to you, either to aid our collaborative process or to suggest follow-up actions for your business, and that are not part of the brief or that are exclusively intended for your use, remain my intellectual property.
Payment
For projects, I will invoice 50% of the total fee upfront and will only start work once the payment is received. Afterwards, payment is due at each agreed milestone, such as the final delivery.
If I haven’t received feedback or comments within two weeks of submitting a draft to you for the agreed milestone, I will assume you are happy with the result and have given me the final sign-off. Then I will send you the invoice.
You must make the payment within 30 days of the invoice date, in euros. After the 30 days go by, you are liable to pay interest on top of the amount due, at a 4% interest rate, on any unpaid balances from the due date until full payment.
If you are in default with regard to one or more of your payment obligations toward me, then all extrajudicial costs incurred for the purpose of obtaining satisfaction, such as writing reminders, summonses and including the lawyer’s and bailiff’s fees, will be for your account. These costs will amount to at least 15% of the total invoice amount due and not paid within the payment term.
I’m going to attach this document to project proposals and order confirmations. Unless you mention otherwise, I will assume that you consent to these terms and conditions.
Now let’s cook up some fresh copy, shall we?
Laura Creative
VAT number: NL004527113B33
KVK: 88034437