By Jeanne Erdmann, AHCJ board member and freelance committee chair
You have just signed with a new client with the promise of a steady gig, or you have successfully pitched your dream publication. The contract arrives, and yikes! You see some worrisome clauses. Do you cross your fingers and sign or try and push back? There is no easy answer. Freelancers need to make a living, and sometimes we need to live with clauses in contracts we would rather not see. The best thing we can do is educate ourselves to understand what we are signing.
Here are some tips from the June 16 Lunch and Learn to help you get started:
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Read the contract carefully and reach out to peers with any questions.
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Check out AHCJ’s Running a Business section at the Freelance Center for articles about contracts.
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Make certain the contract includes a kill fee. Ask for at least 50%.
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If you are writing long narratives, pay attention to repurposing rights and option fees. You can lose lots of money if you are lucky enough to have your article optioned for a film or a podcast and you have given up these rights.
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Indemnification clauses can be worrisome. Here is an explainer from the Poynter Institute co-written by AHCJ member Dawn Fallik. Push back on indemnification clauses, especially if you are writing an investigative story.
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Participants discussed whether some of the larger journalism organizations should band together and release a joint statement against indemnification clauses because they harm all of us.
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Watch for double indemnification clauses that ask you to indemnify the publisher in a lawsuit and then ask you to pay all legal fees. These fees may not be just for a libel accusation; they could be any legal fees associated with the project that may arise from the publication of the work.
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Watch out for the combination of an indemnification clause and a work-made-for-hire clause. WMFH clauses give the publisher all rights to your work, allowing them to make any changes they want. The combination of these two clauses means you are on the hook in a lawsuit that arises out of those changes.
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Consider carrying liability insurance. Some university contracts insist that writers have liability insurance coverage.
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Finally, if something in the contract makes you uncomfortable, push back. You may not get the results you want, so be prepared to sign or walk away.
