The Official T.O.S. Post

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

As Artists_Beware is always looking for ways to help our members continue to better themselves and their fellows, we are bringing you another all-encompassing advice post! Today's topic: Terms of Service.

Feel free to post your answers to the following questions, and whatever other TOS advice you can think of!

1. Subjects that Terms of Service should contain:
2. Ways to make sure customers have read a Terms of Service:
3. Ways to deliver a Terms of Service:
4. Places to host a Terms of Service:
5. Are you a customer or an artist/craftsman?
6. What kind of clauses would you consider to be unprofessional/unenforceable?
7. What TOS content would encourage you to commission a person?
8. What TOS content would discourage you to commission a person?
9. Any other TOS experiences, good or bad:

Comments

[daigonite.livejournal.com]

Well as an artist I do a lot of stuff, I open myself up to commissions for mainly drawings and the like but sometimes do other more odd jobs. I also do music, animation and screensavers, although the latter two have been unable to do in the last few months after losing Flash on my computer :c

1. Subjects that Terms of Service should contain:
-Payment. This should be first and foremost so nobody is confused.
-Refunds. Shit happens, that's life. This is the trickiest part to get down I think but if you have a good one it shows respect to your client but also doesn't force you to back up too much.
-Corrections. I once got screwed over by wasting 5 hours on corrections because my client didn't provide me with a proper reference. If you don't have this clients will think by default that they can correct every little thing, and believe me when I say it will destroy your business. If you have a good correction policy it protects you and makes sure that the customer also has a good product.

2. Ways to make sure customers have read a Terms of Service:
I don't really have any but they're good ideas. Things like "put this in your message header" are really good ideas.

3. Ways to deliver a Terms of Service:
Making a reminder that they read it before accepting a commission.

4. Places to host a Terms of Service:
Journals, front page, if you have a website have it for a unique page.

5. Are you a customer or an artist/craftsman?
Artist

6. What kind of clauses would you consider to be unprofessional/unenforceable?
-Things like "I won't do [this kind of subject]" that isn't some kind of fetish or something. Saying you will only draw wolves and dragons limits what you can do and makes you look like you're really not all that good.
-Using all caps or getting unnecessarily aggressive in your TOS.

7. What TOS content would encourage you to commission a person?
-A well thought out refund policy
-Insurance/Repairs offered for things like fursuits
-A positive, professional attitude

8. What TOS content would discourage you to commission a person?
-Restricting subjects like saying you don't draw humans or birds or whatever... I'm not really much of a furry at all and maybe I want my human characters drawn... likewise saying you only draw one thing
-Unprofessional attitude
-Confusing/Conflicting information
-No refunds. like wtf

9. Any other TOS experiences, good or bad:
DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND WRITE A CORRECTION POLICY. Like I said before I once had to do a commission (an animation no less) where I had to redraw this damn character 5 times because they couldn't provide an updated reference... 5 hours wasted on that crap. NEVER AGAIN!

TOS review

[rismory.livejournal.com]

Hi I only just made an account here so I could post stuff but I have no idea how to find my way around the site yet... Where do I go to get critiques and reviews on my TOS? I have written it out but am wanting some feedback on it so it would be great if someone could let me know where to make a post about this. Thanks!