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Project
Agreement between Freelancers & Service buyers:-
We suggest
that Freelancers and service buyers enter into
a Project Agreement to ensure smooth execution of
the project. Both parties should clearly discuss
& define scope of work, time schedule, payment
terms etc. in the project agreement to avoid any
disputes during execution.
Tips for drafting project agreement:
An agreement
should normally contain following sections:-
1)
Scope
of work
2)
Delivery
schedule
3)
Payment
Terms
4)
Non
Disclosure Agreement(NDA)
5)
Ownership
of final product
- Scope of Work: - Service buyer & Freelancer
should clearly define the specifications of
the final output. Service buyer should explain
about his expectations & outlook. A detailed
description of services to be performed and
specifications of output should be written
in this section.
- Delivery schedule: - Both the parties should
clearly define agreed dates of delivery. It
should contain details about milestones of
the project and their due dates. This will
make it easy to monitor progress of the project
as you move along. Service buyers can also
specify a cap on number of revisions allowed,
after which service buyer will be free to
terminate the agreement.
- Payment Terms: - Payment terms should define the
following:
a)
Total
amount of money to be paid for the entire project.
b)
Mode
of payment (e.g. Cash /by cherub / wire transfer
etc.)
c)
Schedule
of payment:- It can be entire payment on completion
of project or progress payment as the project
proceeds( in this case clearly mention timeline
/stage and amount to be paid at each point of
time/stage )
- Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA):- Many a times
service buyers need to provide proprietary
or confidential information for execution
of project. It is desirable to have a confidentiality
or non disclosure clause or agreement signed
by professional to protect sensitive trade
secrets. NDA (Non Discloser Agreement) will
prevent the professional from disclosing such
information during and after the project.
- Ownership of Final Product: Ordinarily the author
or creator is the first owner of the creative
work such as literary, artistic, photographic
computer programming etc. when the work is
created in the course of authors’ employment
under a contract of service or apprenticeship
the employer shall, in the absence of any
agreement to the contrary, be the owner of
copyright.
Similarly, where work is created for valuable consideration
at the instance of another person, such person
shall, in the absence of any agreement to the
contrary, be the first owner of copyright.
However,
you can seek assignment of copyright from the
creator of the work to avoid any controversy.
Deed of assignment should normally cover the following
aspects:-
a)
It should
be in writing and signed by assigner or by his
duly authorized representative.
b)
Identify
and briefly describe the work.
c)
Specify
the rights assigned.
d)
Specify
the duration of assignment.
e)
Territorial limits of assignment.
f)
Royalty payable if any.
g)
Any
other necessary terms.
We
feel that project agreement drafted considering
the above can greatly reduce the possibility of
any conflict and ensure smooth progress in execution
of the project.
Tanmay Agarwal
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