What is a Copywriting Agreement?
A Copywriting Agreement is your MOST important legal document. If you only have one contract in your copywriting business, this is it!
A Copywriting Agreement sets out the legal agreement between a copywriter and their clients.
This includes scope, deliverables, revisions, payment terms and copyright assignment. Your clients will love it because it includes protections for their confidential information as well.
For every new writing engagement, you can customise this template to suit your requirements. A well written agreement will not only provide you with legal protection, it will also help manage your client’s expectations.
Who can use this template?
- Copywriters
- Freelance writers
- Content writers
- Ad Copy writers
Do I need a contract for my copywriting clients?
Yes, definitely! A contract protects both you and your clients.
You should always have a contract signed before you start a new copywriting job for a client.
Putting things in writing protects both parties and gives certainty.
Contracts are about more than wrapping your clients up in red tape and telling them what they can’t do. Think of your contract as relationship insurance: it does all the hard, boring work of keeping the relationship on rails, so you can focus on the fun part – the actual copywriting.
What does this Copywriting Agreement template include?
Our Copywriting Agreement template covers everything you need:
- Schedule – table with summary of the assignment (deliverables, deposit, fees, expenses etc) on the first page
- Assignment and scope – confirmation of the scope, as per the schedule
- Deliverables – confirmation of the deliverables, as per the schedule
- Client Responsibilities, Warranty and Indemnity – what you need the client to do, plus important legal terms to protect you
- Revisions – how many rounds of revisions are included
- Approvals – the process for approval of completed work, any post-completion alterations
- Fees – how much you will be paid, as per the schedule
- Expenses – process for dealing with any extra expenses incurred
- Payment Terms – covers your payment terms, including how you will deal with overdue amounts
- Term – how long you will be engaged for
- Extension – covers the possibility to extend the agreement (both parties need to agree in writing)
- No Warranty or Guarantee – disclaimer basically saying that you can’t guarantee results or specific outcomes
- Promotion – consent to use the client for promotion in your business
- Confidentiality – both parties agree to keep confidential information private
- Intellectual Property– this covers intellectual property rights, including assigning copyright
- Limitation of Liability and Indemnity – to protect you against claims for losses and damages
- Termination – this explains how either party can terminate the agreement
- Dispute Resolution – process to deal with any problems that may arise
- General – standard contract clauses such as Assignment, Severance, Entire Agreement, Waiver and Governing Law
Who owns the legal rights to the content?
The copywriter retains all legal rights to the work they create for the client until full payment is received. Once payment is received, they assign the copyright to the client and ownership gets transferred to the client.
All original documents supplied to the copywriter by the client will remain the property of the client.
How many revisions does your contract include?
Our Copywriting Agreement template includes two rounds of revision for the original draft work by default, but you can change this.
Any additional rounds of revision or requests for work other than a revision are considered excess work and can lead to an extended scope for the assignment and additional fees.
How do I make sure i get credit for my work?
We have included a field in the Schedule for credit so you can make sure you get attribution credit for your work if you want to have this.
Do I get to choose my own deposit amount and payment terms?
Yes, you do!
You can specify a deposit amount as a dollar figure or a percentage of the total estimated fees.
You can also choose your own payment terms to help speed up payments from clients (e.g. 7 days).
Other names for a Copywriting Agreement
- Copywriting Contract
- Freelance Writer Agreement
- Copywriting Terms and Conditions
- Copywriting Services Agreement
- Writers Agreement
Can I use the client’s name and logo to promote my work?
Yes, we have included a Promotion clause in the contract where the client provides consent for you to use their name and logo to promote your business. This includes the ability to publish samples of work (once the content has been anonymised).
Am I responsible for the accuracy of any claims made in my content or copy?
Yes, you are responsible for ensuring your work is accurate and not misleading.
Australian Consumer Law (ACL) includes a number of mandatory protections and guarantees to protect customers from unfair business practices.
It’s illegal to make false or misleading statements about products or services. The ACCC are responsible for enforcing consumer protections under the ACL and they take their job pretty seriously. Fines for false and misleading conduct can reach into the tens of thousands (in most cases, infringements for companies are fixed at $12,600) so it’s well worth the extra effort to stay on their good side!
If you’re writing advertising copy or website content, make sure you get instructions from the client in writing and keep a copy on file just in case.
Why should I invest in a quality Copywriting Agreement template?
You’ve spent countless hours dedicated to learning how to attract the right clients.
Your heavy financial investments in your own personal growth are slowly but surely paying off.
You’re not going to let all that go to waste with a crappy contract, are you?
The booking process is the most fragile part of the selling process. Don’t let your future clients slip away with a shady contract, pieced together like Frankenstein.
With this contract template, your clients will know you take your business seriously. You’ll stand out from your competition, but best of all, your clients will trust you right from the start.
Is this template legally binding?
Absolutely!
All of our templates have been drafted by qualified Australian lawyers who hold an Australian legal practicing certificate.
We are affiliated with a commercial law firm based in Sydney.
I have an Apple Mac – can I still use this template?
Yes, but we recommend you have Microsoft Word installed on your Mac.
Our documents contain smart fields which use a Microsoft Word feature called content controls. They help to save time in updating the template, but may not display correctly in Pages or Google Docs.
If you need a version of your template without the content controls, this is available for immediate download once you complete your purchase (you can download both versions).
