How to handle a deadbeat client
September 26, 2007 by Deb
Filed under Freelance Writing
So. You wrote a great piece, sent it to your client and he thanked you for a job well done before placing it on his website. You sent in your invoice and waited eagerly for the payment to hit your Paypal or the check to come in the mail and nothing. You emailed your client and received no response. Thirty days pass and still nothing. What do you do?
First check the terms of your contract or agreement. When were you to be paid? Some people pay a certain day of the month, some people pay within thirty days and others pay immediately upon receipt.
If payment is due to you, send another invoice or polite letter to the client informing him that you would like immediate payment or immediate removal of your content. Remember, until you’re paid that content is yours. Take a screenshot of your content on his website. You’ll need this for legal reasons. If he still doesn’t send payment or remove your content, take him to small claims court.
See, this is why so many writers get stiffed; they don’t want to deal with things like small claims court. It’s really not expensive though, and I’ll let you in on a secret. Your client doesn’t want to go to court, small claims or otherwise. As soon as he receives a summons to appear, he’ll most likely send payment. If not, follow through. Deadbeats are counting on your not to take action, don’t give them the satisfaction.
I’ve been in contact for a while with one of the editors and was told somewhat the same story. This editor however chose to leave, not knowing if pay will ever be received.
I’m dealing with a client who is 7 weeks delinquent in paying me. The content I wrote is live on the websites for which they were written. All my attempts to contact him via email and by phone were unsuccessful until I threatened to contact the website owners and inform them of the situation and request the content be taken down due to copyright infringement if payment wasn’t received within 48 hours.
The client who contracted me for the work responded to my threat by citing the “works made for hire” clause of the US Copyright Law. He then threatened to sue me for damages if I contacted his clients.
I have some questions, though? Could content I’ve never been paid for actually be considered “works made for hire?” Wouldn’t this portion of the contract be null and void if no payment has been made for the content but it’s been published anyway? Wouldn’t I have a right to claim the copyright until payment is received as stipulated by our contract? My contract with this particular client doesn’t explicitly state this, but to me, “works made for hire” equals “works paid for” and not “works pirated.”
I having some trouble interpreting the actual meaning of “for hire” in the US Copyright Law. I plan to consult an attorney but I thought I’d post here to see if anyone has encountered a similar a situation and has any advice. Any light shed on this would be most appreciated.
@ Paul: I’m not a lawyer, but my understanding is that until you have been paid, the work still belongs to you. This link may be helpful, too:
http://keepyourcopyrights.org/copyright/rights/work-for-hire