Legal Resources for Freelancers
Handling the legal aspects of doing business has got to be the most dreaded part of freelancing. Most of us have very little knowledge in this field without taking the time to do some research, and even then it can be confusing and frustrating.
Of course, this isn’t one of the core functions of your freelance business, and it’s easy to see any time spent on legal issues as a loss in terms of available working hours. For this reason it’s good to take advantage of the legal resources that are available to freelancers.
In this post we’ll take a look at a number of resources, both online and off, that may be able to make your life easier and help you to achieve more productivity while protecting the legality of your business. Feel free to add your own favorites in the comments.
Contracts and Forms:
Creative Public
Creative Public is a membership site for web and graphic designers that provides legal resources, such as contracts, forms, pricing guides, and more. Membership costs $49.95 (a one-time non-recurring fee).
LawDepot
LawDepot has a number of contracts that you can create by filling in your own information. You’ll provide the relevant details of your contract and it will produce the legal document.
Freelancer’s FAQ
The Freelancer’s FAQ is not the prettiest page, but it does provide a number of sample contracts that can save you some time. They provide a sample proposal with cover letter, a short version contract, a long version contract, a non-disclosure agreement, and a few others.
Elance
Elance provides a few sample contracts and agreements, including a non-disclosure agreement, mutual non-disclosure agreement, buyer/service provider agreement, project agreement and statement of work, change order agreement, and an engagement letter.
AIGA
AIGA provides a standard form of agreement for design services (in PDF format)
Rocket Lawyer
Get a free work for hire agreement from Rocket Lawyer. Create an account, fill out the details, and it will create the form.
MyNewCompany
MyNewCompany.com sells a CD-ROM with over 200 business and tax forms of all kinds.
ContractPal
ContractPal is a resource for completing, validating, signing and processing contracts online. Pricing is $3.99 per transaction unless the number of monthly transactions exceeds 2,500.
FindLaw
FindLaw has forms for small businesses available for purchase, some of which are relevant to freelancers.
Articles on Legal Aspects of Freelancing:
How to Create a Freelancing Contract – About.com
What Can I Do if the Final Bill Exceeds the Original Estimate? – About.com
What to Do When You Don’t Get Paid for a Freelance Job – About.com
Ten Tips for Making Solid Business Agreements and Contracts – Nolo
Developing a Contract – AllFreelanceWork.com
How to Write Effective Business Contracts – AllBusiness.com
Organizations:
National Writers Union
The National Writers Union (U.S.) is the trade union for freelance and contract writers. You can get a membership in the union for $120 – $340 per year, depending on your income. Among the benefits of membership is contract advice from the union’s network of contract advisors.
American Society of Journalists and Authors
The American Society of Journalists and Authors helps professional freelance writers advance their writing careers. There is a $50 application fee and, if accepted, a one-time fee of $75. When considering applications, they look for “sustained evidence” that you have written for magazines, newspapers, or major publications.
United States Copyright Office
Copyright.gov is the home for information regarding copyrights and work in the U.S.
Creative Commons
The homepage for Creative Commons may provide some helpful information depending on the type of work that you’re doing.
Ask Legal Questions:
FindLaw Answers
FindLaw Answers is a forum where you can post your legal questions.
JustAnswer
At JustAnswer you can ask a question online and pay for an answer from a legal professional.
LawGuru
LawGuru allows you the opportunity to ask a question and receive an answer for free.
Books:
Consultant and Independent Contractor Agreements by Stephen Fishman.
Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants by Stephen Fishman.
Tax Deductions A to Z for Freelance and Contract Workers by Anne Skalka.
Working for Yourself: Law and Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants from Stephen Fishman.
Consultant and Independant Contractor Agreements by Stephen Fishman.
Choose the Best Legal Entity for Your One-Person Business by Stephen Fishman (eGuide).
Legal Forms for Starting and Running a Small Business by Fred S. Steingold.
Legal Guide to Web & Software Development by Stephen Fishman
Wow..Thanks FSW. This is a wonderful resource for us freelancers. You guys Rock!!
Cheers for that information. Other great sites (for australians) include http://www.copyright.org.au/, http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/ for copyright & IP issues, and http://www.nla.gov.au/oz/law.html for general law lookup.
Does anyone have some recommendations for registering a trademark? Or is anyone at FS interested in doing a post on that? I had hoped to do it myself but my feeling is that it’s just too complicated to get it right with no experience.
…Eh!? What’s a contract?!
Just kidding! Great resource. I’ve got a standard contract which has evolved over time but it’s never been put to the test, thankfully.
Excellent roundup Steven! Very useful stuff.
Great resources!
Definitely a MUST in everyone’s bookmarks
I am just starting out as global freelancer, it’s much easier if You work with clients from own country, but this article will really help me to move on! Thanks!
Very handy reference, Steven. Stumbled it for you:
http://jobmob.stumbleupon.com/review/25566549/
Bookmarked, Steven. Thanks for piecing this one together for us.
Wow. Thanks for the great resource list. It must have been hard work to compile it.
Added to my favourites, many thanks! (Got any Australian resources up your sleeve?)
this was a much needed post .. i hope the list will get longer with time – bookmarked !
Great post.
Fantastic roundup, glad I checked in this morning!
Don’t forget to check you local library. Small biz and freelance and contract workers books can be found there, along with cd’s full of sample legal agreement. Also, the price is right!
Very helpful! Thanks!
For Canadian freelance writers, there’s the Professional Writers Association of Canada, http://www.pwac.ca, a paid membership which also offers health and dental insurance, guidelines on how to set your rates, leads, news, copyright info and more.
Thanks Steven, this is great.
There is another site that I believe should be added to the list.
http://public.getlegal.com/forms
They provide a list of State specific forms in one central location.
Sally,
Sorry for the American bias here. I tried to find some international stuff, but wasn’t too successful.
Todd,
Great point. I use the library, but generally not for legal purposes. I’ll have to check it out.
Thanks for the information. Very useful
Recently came across http://www.docstoc.com/
Thanks a lot!
Wonderful article…
Can I add it on my blog with a link to the actual post…?
It’s weird that BizReef (www.bizreef.com) was not mentioned in this article. Maybe because it is not that known yet. Well it actually took me a while to discover it, but since then it’s almost the only freelancing site I visit.
I found this entire site informational, not just this post. Thanks a lot for the information, you just gained another reader! =D
thanks , great info
Thanks for the mention. Keep you eyes open for some exciting new electronic signature products from ContractPal that will be perfect for freelancers. We will be offering a new service that makes it very easy to get signatures not just on documents but also getting sign-off on designs, concepts, etc…
Thanks for sharing us the legal resource. This kind of blog always useful for blog readers, it helps people during research. your post is one of the same for blog readers.
Useful read… I think this is something quite important that alot of people don’t like to acknowledge. I’ve been guilty of it myself!
Thanks for the post! I know I hate the legal issues that a business owner has to deal with. Thanks for the good information!
At ContractStore we have eight years experience making templates for business and there are now over 250 contracts on our site.
The best seller is the classic freelancer’s document, a standard terms and conditions: http://www.contractstore.com/consultant-contract-terms
There is also range of Packs containing all the docs needed for starting up in a variety of business types including online business start-up. http://www.contractstore.com/packs
Hope you find these useful –
Sarah
Law firms demand the best when it comes to web design services, and if your web design and internet marketing company isn’t delivering the service you want, there’s no need to worry ?
Awesome stuff. Steven do you have any other site like this. I made nearly 20 samples from your site suggestions…thanks to you..
The government should have a legal law whenever you are accepted in a job specially freelance much better they will have an agreement through legal documents. This will maintain security and assurance that the two sides have legal commitment for the job.
Great resource thanks. Many Chambers of Commerce or places like the Business Link in the UK can help out with some basic legal advice and documents and even have lawyers that might be able to help you in the early stages.