Official "Terms of Service" Advice & Review Post

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

As an artist, it is critical to have a good Terms of Service. One that includes both your rights as the artist and the customer's rights in relation to your transaction. Not only does this educate your customers on how the process works and what to expect from it, but it protects both of you in case something goes wrong.

In our official T.O.S. discussion post, we discussed what to include in a Terms of Service, what constituted good terms, and what were questionable, shady, or downright illegal terms.

Now, artists, here's your chance to post your T.O.S. for critique. Don't know how to word a particular point you're trying to convey? Want to make sure your T.O.S. is fair for you and your customers? Need to make sure you didn't leave any gigantic loopholes? Link your T.O.S. here, and members can give you their advice.

This post can also be used to discuss any other questions that you have on your mind regarding how to build a T.O.S., maintain a good T.O.S. and how to make sure your clients read and agree to your T.O.S.

Before you post, please read through the previous T.O.S. discussion and maybe even the examples in the last T.O.S. post, apply what you learn there to your T.O.S., and then link your revised T.O.S. here for help polishing up. Please do not post a half-finished T.O.S. and ask folks to rewrite it for you. Be prepared for honest critique!

Comments

[nowayne.livejournal.com]

i clicked your tos at random out of the list of folks here, so please don't feel i'm targeting you, but your tos comes off as almost overwhelmingly wordy, something that struck me as odd since you specifically ask your commissioners not to be overwhelmingly wordy, heh.

for example, the 'contact' section - all you have to say is "I will only accept commissions initiated through my order form, to help keep things orderly." the rest of that paragraph almost gives tacit consent to people sending pms/notes. if people do that, just link them to your tos, because you know they have not read it if they are doing that.

"discussion" section - all you have to say is "contact me through e-mail only to discuss the commission once accepted." putting in the "reminders" thing tells me as a commissioner that you might flake out and need reminders, which makes me want to run the other way. it shouldn't be my job as a commissioner to remind you! :(

telling the commissioner what you need from them is fine, and saying "you must attach all reference files to e-mail instead of providing links" should suffice. the extra lines about website servers and internet connectivity should be unnecessary.

this will sound cold, but the slot section is mostly unnecessary to me. i have money, i want to spend it with you; i don't care about public/private lists and why you keep them. just, are you open, or not. if you find you spend weeks or months with no open slots, maybe add a sign to the top of your page, "now open," or "not open for commissions - please check back around (date)."

and the waiting list policy is weird and confusing to me. you already covered an a)b)c) of when exactly a commissioner's been accepted, so having a separate list of people who haven't-paid-but-maybe-will-if-they're-serious seems like extra work and stress for you, and more confusion for the commissioner. i understand wanting to grab up all the people who want to give you money that you can, when they have the money, but you should also already be aware of your limits. if you can't accept their commission right now, i would just say "can you check back in 3 weeks because i expect to have more time then" or something.

i know i am overly critical and my feedback was wordy too! so i'll bow out now but please let me know if you wanted more feedback from me.

[evan-balot.livejournal.com]

Achievement Unlocked: Better ToS!

Bonus: Increase in commissions and respect from other artists.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Feel free!

[ansitru.livejournal.com]

I've been feeling for a while that mine is too concise, but I don't just want to start copy-pasting bits from other people's ToS-pages.

I am aware that a lot of things are probably missing (whelp, not good!) so general pointers on what needs to be written in / nitpicks on already written stuff are more than welcome! c:

http://hardrockangel.deviantart.com/journal/Commission-info-slots-OPEN-224141769
(Scroll down past the commission-slots for the concise ToS.)

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

I would probably put in a part about if you have to cancel the commission for your own reasons. Is your refunding different in this case? Since it isn't their fault, do they get a full refund?

[houndofloki.livejournal.com]

Looks great! :)

[germanchoclates.livejournal.com]

Once upon a time it did show up automatically. x.x Gosh darnit. That's good to know.

I never thought about sounding like an accusatory little bean. Definitely going to get that changed up so I'm not doing the 'guilty until proven innocent' thing.

[spytdragonfyre.livejournal.com]

I'd love some feedback on my ToS. http://sta.sh/01c4wttu3m67

[adzuki.livejournal.com]

I haven't edited mine in a while. I think it's a bit long winded, so I am thinking it needs to be shortened?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eZhrpAAGcBK0cTOuO73hJeZLxDn-rzxWqro2oYKWT_k/edit

[ansitru.livejournal.com]

I never thought of putting a clause about that in, but if the cancellation is by me, the commissioner gets a full refund ofcourse. Thanks for the info, I'll add that in right away!

[mortymaxwell.livejournal.com]

1) "The Artist may cancel at any time for whatever reason" is vague.
Possible fix: "The Artist reserves the right to cancel for harassment, inappropriate behavior, or failure to communicate."

2) It's unclear what type of refund the customer gets if you have to cancel for personal reasons like family emergency. I'm not sure if
"Refunds are given based on amount of work completed..." applies to cases where the Artist cancels on the commissioner.

[vaekke.livejournal.com]

ahhh gosh, I've revised mine a bit based on the suggestions on this community, but it's still a little wordy. Ideas on making it easier to get through?

Old: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UNcKeoUeZBks9yr-OeY1E2bFKXljduyHaE8h4dPOaKA/pub
New: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14aGwzWC1kZIPyVcVAoSTh6khdJqlyvSfx8lA_AZYDlE/pub

[itsamellama.livejournal.com]

Oh wow this is all super useful! This is great because this is actually my first publicly published TOS - I used to just have an informal 'commission notes' section.

Re: wordiness, it's totally okay to point that out as it really is a weakness of mine even in my own work (usually first drafts lol). I keep trimming and rewording this baby down as much as I can, hahaha. So don't worry, I really appreciate your critique! (And yeah LOL that is really ironic of me isn't it!)

Ahh I didn't know it came off that way re: discussion woops!

I don't think you were cold at all btw! That's really helpful; I keep having trouble with this slots part, really.

And ahhh thank you I've been confused myself over my own system (this isn't its first version, believe me!)

If it's all right to ask, is there anything I could improve on in the 'clients' and artists rights' section?

I don't think you were overly critical, I think everything you said was done so objectively. It's all really useful and I will refer to your suggestions again when I rework my TOS hopefully within the month. Thanks so much!! :D

[nowayne.livejournal.com]

hm... i think that "Should I decide to to use your commission for the aforementioned purposes, I will contact you in advance to let you know in case you later decide to purchase exclusive rights to the work" is already covered by the sentences preceding it. you have already made it clear what your expectations are. brevity is important.

it feels like "I reserve the right to recycle any sketches or preparatory works rejected by the client for other commissions or personal works" should be in the artist's rights section though.

the rest of it seems long, but i'm not really sure how to condense it because i don't know exactly what is most important to you. to give an example of a tos i find appealing in length, i commented on germanchoclates' up there. slightly longer but not too wordy also is celestinaketzia's upthread a ways. i just heavily recommend condensing where at all possible to make things easier on people who want to throw money at you.

[adzuki.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

For the record, I personally disagree with the idea that it's wrong to simply go 'The artist may cancel for any reason'. It's 'vague', yes, but it's also correct. If I take a commission from you and then don't want to finish it because I've spontaneously decided I hate your face, I should have the right.

Mind, it would be stupid to tell you that and I would refund you in full, but I do have that right. I don't feel like you need to clarify specific reasons why you'd cancel a commission, because that just gives people room to argue with you. "Why are you canceling, I didn't do any of the things you listed in your TOS!".

Of course, this is my personal take on it.

[adzuki.livejournal.com]

I thought that over as well. I don't think I should be limited to saying that I will cancel only if I'm being harassed or their behavior is poor because I think that opens the door for people demanding proof of harassment. I think using the 'any reason' version is the simplest way to keep things from becoming personal and confrontational.

[crazy-onna.livejournal.com]

Hello. I have done a little editing on my ToS and would definitely appreciate any input to improve it. Thank-you!

http://kinetic-duet.deviantart.com/journal/TOS-Updated-Sept-15th-2013-224487931

[itsamellama.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess I got a little into "did i cover all the bases"-mode too much. I'll check those TOS's out! Thanks so much for your input, and I'll definitely give my TOS a good 2-3 or more condensing/editing passes.

EDIT: Whew! Edited it with your suggestions. I think it looks a lot better though can still be distilled or re-organized, maybe? I took out some stuff that I felt overcomplicated things for myself too. It's refreshing!

[karthegrax.livejournal.com]

Looks good, but I've noticed you don't have a clause about refunds if you cancel, or if the commissioner cancels.

I didn't mean to pick apart your TOS so much, but these are just some things I noticed:

AB is very educating...ut the commission process. I'd take this out, for the sake of condensing.

1st para: ...the right to change and amend this at...

2nd para: I reserve the right to refuse to work on any commissions for any reason. Does this mean "I reserve the right to decline commissions without reason", or "I can stop working on your commission without reason".

3rd para: I will never commission anyone underage, due to the nature of my work, I will report you if you are lying about your age. This reads as you buying art from someone else. Do you mean "I will not accept commissions from persons under the age of 18. If you are found to be lying about your age you will be reported"

6th para: Raster images that are larger than 24 inches on either side are subject to additional charges.

7th para: Perhaps condense this to "Email is the only form of communicaton I accept for commission related contact. I will not use IMs. I may discuss commissions with you over FA or SL, however anything relating to references/edits/details must be emailed to me for it to become official." Personaly I don't feel you have to explain why you won't IM, but it's up to you if you want to leave it in.

8th para: I only accept payment via PayPal and payments must be sent as goods/services. No point telling them not to send as gift if you don't tell them what to do instead. Perhaps reorder your paragraphs so that this one and "note on funds" are next to "I will only do one commission at a time", to keep all the money related information together.

11th para: Perhaps move the part about your specific characters and what situations you will draw them in to your front page, unless the majority of people are wanting art with your character/s.

12th para: I think I get what you mean here but it reads a bit funny. Perhaps "I do not do deals for multiple commissions. I only accept payment for one commission at a time. For example, if you order 3 images, you will have to pay for each of them seperately. Under no circumstances may you wait until all 3 are completed before you start payment."

13th para: ...a $10 charge, and I will no longer do "private" trades or... "I will omit names of Fursonas for no extra fee" Perhaps if you really want to display this art in your gallery you can simply muck with the hue/saturation sliders so that the character changes colour and is unrecognisable?

15th para: ...or organic details that surround the main subject... Last sentence you have they twice.

16th para: ..."adult" versions will include details on genitals and other...
...request that requires more content than what can be included in...

17th para: ...simpler shading than the normal commissions for...

18th para: "Animations" will start at $75 for 5 seconds and will increase by $10 for each additional second. Animations larger than 10 seconds will... ...animation commissions take much longer than regular ones depending... ...enough to at least hire some help!

19th para: ...each mesh part is based on its complexity and upload...

20th para: ...simple side, colors will be chosen to complement...

[karthegrax.livejournal.com]

Personally I don't think that's too wordy. The headings and bold words mean commissioners can skip to the parts they specifically need anyway.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I included information about refunds. I'm glad most of the corrections were just typographical or grammatical. Though that's always embarrassing, I need to proofread these things more.

The "one commission at a time" is there because I had a couple bad experiences in my earliest commissioning ventures. I'd complete pieces for a couple of customers who would then bait and switch with something like "I'll pay you even more if you complete this additional drawing for me!" I'm not doing that anymore, I want to accept the money for the original piece and move on.

[rhazafax.livejournal.com]

I would definitely appreciate some critique. I've been using my TOS for quite some time and it's been wonderful, but if there are ways to improve it, I'd love to hear it!

My ToS is hosted through google docs, and here is a link:

http://goo.gl/00mXh5

[ekbellatrix.livejournal.com]

Here it goes! xD

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5013011/

I've used past TOS posts here to form mine, since I'm terrible at formatting my ideas. So hopefully it makes sense and seems fair both to myself and commissioners. I'm open to any and all ideas!

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

I like the separation for easy reading, I'm not sure if it's necessary to have check boxes by each paragraph, but that is of course up to you.