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

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

I posted last time seeing if someone would like to look over my page, but to my knowledge, nobody did. I'd like to ask this time too. I've recently made some changes to it and would like to know if there is anything weird or that could be added/changed. Thanks!

http://zenia.unixdaemons.com

[mortymaxwell.livejournal.com]

Hm:

-"The artist reserves the right to cancel due to harassment, improper conduct or poor communication." might be better than "I reserve the right to terminate a commission at any time."

-Adding a clause explaining what happens if the commissioner cancels/or you have to cancel due to commissioner conduct

-Adding a clause asking the client not to post the 300 DPI file to their gallery.

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

1. That sounds much better!
2. I will wiggle some stuff around to better explain what happens if I cancel for my own reasons and if I cancel because of their conduct. Though I thought I was clear in regards to cancellations?
3. I never work in 300DPI (anymore) anyway, so that one doesn't count.

[mortymaxwell.livejournal.com]

It's very clear what happens if you cancel, but not so clear to me if the client cancels or gets terminated for being a bad client.

Your Payment, Postings, Private Commissions and Usage policies are really well-explained.

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

Ah! Okay. I will make a bit that says what happens if I have to cancel due to their conduct! Thanks.

*revising TOS atm*

[nowayne.livejournal.com]

for brevity's sake, i would remove the line about why you like gmail. just saying "don't contact via shouts etc." is enough.

you have a lot of stuff in super-fine print that seems pretty important. if you want people to read or is important, i wouldn't make it so tiny. the white on purple plus tiny font is hard for me to make out, too, and i skipped over much of it before i realized it was something i should read.

it's confusing to me that you have a "will NOT draw" section, with emphasis on "NOT," but then admit you could possibly be talked into it for "at least 10x the cost." if you will draw these things, why not just outright state "may consider working with this subject matter for 10($x), please inquire"? otherwise just leave it as a "will not draw" section, or separate it into "will draw A for $, will draw B for $$$$$$$$$$, will not draw XYZ."

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I will take this into consideration. I also didn't realize the white/purple color scheme may be hard on the eyes. Is there a color scheme that you know works great for many people and isn't boring? :)

[nowayne.livejournal.com]

the purple and white looks fine in normal sized font, but when you shrink the font it gets pretty difficult to make out.

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

Ah! Okay. I have a rather large monitor, so I guess while it is easy for me to see, it might not be for everyone. Thanks! :)

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

*** TOS has been rearranged/formatted/etc based on comments from morty and nowayne. ***