I like contracts — they tend to simplify writing gigs because everyone knows expectations, payments and other details of the project. My rule is always get a contract.

I break that rule regularly, though.

I routinely write fairly short pieces — one offs for clients — that I don’t draw up a contract for. I also do short pieces for publication that I’m comfortable skipping the contract. It comes down to the simple decision of how mcuh the project is worth. If I’m writing something that I’ll only get paid $35 for, perhaps just a half-hour of work, it’s really not worth my time to get a contract.

On $35, after all, if a client decides not to pay you, there is surprising little you can do to collect, even if you have a contract. It costs far more than $35 to take someone to small claims court, even if they live in your immediate vicinity. It sucks, but that’s life.

Even if I can’t protect myself with a contract, though, I do take measures to guarantee that I’ll get paid for my work. Just Googling a prospective client’s name can be enough to show if he’s caused problems for any other freelancers.

Working without a contract is acceptable, at least in situations where it would take more time to draw up a contract than it would to complete the project. I do recommend them, though, for any project involving a significant sum of money.

I found out about a bunch of scammers targeting website owners from Writer Beware. Essentially, a group of scam artists are looking up who owns a given website and then sending the owner an email from “the US Copyright Registry,” claiming that the website in question is not copyrighted.  For a measly $350, the scammers will take care of it, though.

Unfortunately, if you run a website — and if you’re a freelance writer, I’ve been telling you to for the last who knows how long — you open yourself up a bit to these sorts of idiots. The best protection you can have against them is to know your own legal rights, like the fact that you hold the copyright on your website whether or not you’ve registered it.

CCH specializes in tax and business law information and makes a point to make themselves available to journalists (including freelance writers and other flavors of professional writers) to help provide reliable tax information. They also publish a free guide to provide specialized tax help to journalists and photographers. More information on the guide is available on their site.

To get the guide, simply email Leslie Bonacum at mediahelp [at] cch [dot] com. This guide is printed — hard copy rather than an ebook — so you’ll need to include a mailing address of some sort. There is no charge for the guide.

Preditors and Editors is a great site that keeps writers informed of people and groups that would love to take advantage of us. P&E is currently being sued for the organization’s good works and is in need of monetary support. Please donate to P&E’s legal fund: we can’t afford to lose them.

SFWA, for those of us who don’t rely on fiction to earn our bread, is Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, an organization for published genre authors. Some pretty big names are involved, from Ursula K. LeGuin to George R. R. Martin (big if you’re into sci fi and fantasy, anyhow). SFWA has an election coming up, and it’s turning almost as mean as the primaries. The big issue seems to be the presidency itself and Andrew Burt’s candidacy for the position.

So why should freelance writers give a damn? It boils down to copyright. Burt has been vigorous in protecting members’ copyrights — perhaps too vigorous, considering the fact that he’s issued take down notices for plenty of websites with a legitimate right to the content they were hosting. On the other side of the fight are plenty of authors who are proponents of looser copyright law, such as Cory Doctorow (the ‘proof’ that authors can make money with works licensed under Creative Commons).

While I’m not an all-out defender of Creative Commons — I do need copyright to ensure that I eat on a regular basis — I don’t think that Andrew Burt’s approach could do anything but hurt authors’ rights. My opinion boils down to the fact that current copyright law is abused extensively. A SFWA president who relies on the same tactics as RIAA lawyers trying to prosecute senior citizens and children would tarnish the image of the entire association, if not the science fiction genre. Strenuous copyright protection does not make authors more money. Instead, it prevents fair use and limits certain accesses to intellectual property: what if a teacher wanted to use Isaac Asimov in a classroom curriculum in an attempt to interest students in reading? In my opinion (which admittedly doesn’t matter), SFWA needs a president that will chill the heck out, one that can encourage fair uses and limit take down notices to actual copyright infringers.

I’m not a SFWA member by a long shot, but I’m keeping an eye on this election!

Most freelance writers work from home, but it’s still possible to put on some miles: conferences, interviews and generally trips to help us build our businesses. To an extent, the expenses we incur on those trips are deductible on our taxes, as long as we meet a few requirements:

1. The trip must be primarily for business. As exhausting as some vacations may be, they just don’t count as work. (However, you can turn a vacation into a business trip — do some interviews, take notes and photos for travel articles, be creative! You won’t be able to write off as many of your expenses, but you’ll still be able to get a few!)
2. Keep your receipts. You can’t claim deductions if you can’t prove your expenses — and receipts are your proof. If you’re driving, it’s also worthwhile to keep track of your mileage because the IRS determines the deduction based on that number. You may want to get so specific as to note where you went on each leg of your trip, especially if you’re combining a vacation with a business trip.
3. Be reasonable. The IRS doesn’t like taxpayers who claim that ‘lavish or extravagant’ expenses are a necessary cost of doing business. While they won’t dock you for flying first class, try not to go overboard.
4. Don’t claim family expenses as deductions, unless your family members (spouse, children, etc.) are employees of your business. As a general rule of thumb, claim deductions only for expenses that are relevant to your business.

I’m not a tax expert, of course, so consult your tax adviser. I can say, though, make the most of every trip you take. Get copies of local publications, network and take lots of pictures. Traveling truly is an opportunity.

Photo credit dejahthoris

The internet is great: you can publish all sorts of work and get paid for it almost immediately. But, unfortunately, it also makes it very easy for people to steal your work and repost it. It’s up to you to take action against this sort of content theft — even if you sold the piece in question to a publication, odds are they won’t take an action, because you probably only sold first serial rights.

What can you do?

Email the offender: Not all ‘content thieves’ actually think of what they do as theft. Maybe they copied a post from your blog to theirs in full, but they figured it was okay to do so as long as they attributed the post and linked to your blog. If you send a polite email, you might be able to keep that link active but get the blogger to only post a small quote from your post. If they liked your work enough to repost, they should understand that they’re reducing your ability to earn money if they repost your work.

Send a DMCA notice to the offender’s web host: If it is not immediately obvious who hosts a site — myblog.blogspot.com, for instance, is hosted by blogspot.com / Blogger — you can find out through WhoIs.net and similar sites that provide domain name look-ups. Send the host an email asserting that the material posted on the site in question is infringing on your copyright.  (Performancing has some sample DMCA notices available to help you out.) From there, it’s up to the host to remove the material.

Send a DMCA notice to Google and other advertisers: This is your weapon of last resort — if you’ve heard nothing back when you sent an email to the individual infringing on your copyright or their web host, you can send one to their advertisers, which can lead to advertisers withdrawing from a site.

Take legal action: If you can prove that an individual infringing on your copyright has made money off of your material, you may have grounds for a civil suit. However, before pursuing this route, talk with a lawyer who specializes in intellectual property law.

Contractual jargon can be a pain in the butt, I admit. But a freelance writer could be facing new contracts on a very regular basis — too often to consult with an attorney about complex clauses. Short of taking classes on contract law, it can be hard to learn all the intricacies of the topic. However, many legal dictionaries offer brief explanations of specific terms and clauses.

Even new, you can pick up a legal dictionary for under ten dollars. My copy was free, although, since it’s older than I am and starting to fall a part, I’ve been looking into getting a new one. Every dictionary and encyclopedia company seems to put one out, but so far, Steven Gifis’ Dictionary of Legal terms seems like an ideal choice to keep close at hand.

This week, we’re focusing on ‘works for hire’ and the contracts that control them.

During the process of completing a writing project, you may do extensive research, covering a number of topics related to your client’s business. You may have intentions of rewriting the same material down the road with a different slant. Double check your work for hire contract, though. Depending on the interpretation taken, a clause controlling the ownership of materials related to your project might cover some of that research. Such a clause might look something like this:

WRITER recognizes that all records and copies of records touching CLIENT’s operations, investigations and business made or received by WRITER during the period of this agreement are and will be the exclusive property of CLIENT, and WRITER will keep the same at all times in WRITER’s custody and subject to WRITER’s control, and will surrender the same to CLIENT immediately upon the request of CLIENT, or upon completion to agreed upon services.

This isn’t the sort of thing that you have to worry about going to a court of law, but it can cause arguments with clients. There isn’t a great remedy, either. If a client takes it into their head to prevent you from writing about their company down the line, he or she may wind up being more trouble than they are worth.

Related items, by the way, are very different from proprietary information, which we covered earlier in this series.  Your clients have a legal right to protect their proprietary information and their business. They do not have a legal right to control over research you have done through outside channels, unless you grant one to them through a contract.

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This week, we’re focusing on ‘works for hire’ and the contracts that control them.

Location, location, location. We all know it’s important, but why should it matter when you’re signing a work for hire contract? These days, with so many freelancers working with clients all over the country (if not all over the world), it’s become crucial to decide what state laws cover the contract in question. I can’t offer much advice on international projects — I just don’t know much about how international contracts would work out.

If something goes wrong with your project, and you find yourself in a position where you need to take legal action, you could theoretically handle it in your state of residence, or that of your client. Your contract may stipulate which one, by establishing location with a clause.

Such a clause could read something like:

This agreement has been negotiated, executed and delivered in the State of NAME OF STATE. The parties hereto agree that all questions pertaining to the validity and interpretation of this agreement will be determined in accordance with the laws of the State of NAME OF STATE.

Because contract law can vary, and it can be expensive to handle a case in another state, it’s in your best interest to make sure that your contract is handled in your home state. However, your client has exactly the same situation.

There’s another reason to keep an eye on this sort of clause: if you, according to a contract, executed a project in another state, and were paid for it, legally, taxes on that income must be paid in that state.  The IRS isn’t going to get too picky — they’ll get their share of your income either way — but state tax collectors might. This tax trap isn’t limited to work for hire contracts, either. Any project you complete can technically be executed in a different state.

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