Contracted Web Design

by Doug Smith

 http://web.archive.org/web/20000611235322/www.ed2go.com/news/contract.html

Let me start by letting you know that I'm no lawyer. As much as I would like to charge you 200-300 dollars for legal advice, I really can't (legally that is). So, the advice in this article is no substitute for the legal advice and assistance of an actual practicing attorney. Practice makes perfect! Just feel confident that I've done some research on this, and I'm passing it on to you. 

First and foremost, a contract puts down into writing what is going to (or is expected to) transpire in the relationship between the Web designer and the Web designee. The contract should be explicit as to what is expected of both parties in the agreement. It's advisable to not have one "form" contract for all clients. Your contracts can contain common clauses and provisions, but you should have a new contract drawn up for each client. 

Second, a Web design contract should lay out a timetable and pricing that are reasonable. Give yourself enough time to do what you need to do and test your work. Be sure you think you are getting compensated fairly as well.  

Third, if you want to maintain the rights to your work, this is specified in the contract. This includes code, programming, layout, and design. You can provide your customer license to use your code, but you'll probably want to retain ultimate ownership of your code and related work.  

You don't absolutely have to maintain the rights to your work, however. You can develop what is known as a "work made for hire" agreement with the site owner. Here, the site owner becomes owner of all the work and design put into the site by the developer. Hand-in-hand with this, the designer can include a non-competition clause stating that the design and elements of the site won't be copied by the site owner for other sites or other uses. 

You'll want to protect yourself from copyright infringement problems. If you design a site using copyrighted material without permission, you, as the designer, may ultimately be liable for copyright infringement.

It is important to specify that the contract will represent the agreement between you and your client. This is referred to as an integration clause. If it's in the contract, then it's part of the agreement. If it's not in the contract, then it's not part of the agreement. It's that simple. 

These general guidelines should be enough to get you started. Your best bet is to do some research and develop some ideas and an outline to take to a lawyer who can help you draw up your contract. Remember that contracts protect you and your client, and should be fair and agreeable to both parties.