Art Contracts?

[Ninjac]

When sent an artist/client contract by email how should I approach signing and returning it?

Is it sufficient to open up the contract in word and type my name in or should I print out the contract sign it in pen then send a scanned image of it back? Thanks!

[Irishdrunk]

The few contracts i've signed (non art related) I had to print, sign, scan and send it back. Or you could always sign it and fax it back.

Don't accept any signature that has been typed! Or you'll find yourself on the other end of a losing court case.

[Qitsune]

If you have to go to court, you already lost, because chances are you are going to spend more than the money you were owed. In many cases, just returning the e-mail and say you accept the terms would be a sufficient proof (unless your client somehow has access to your computer?) But you don't ever want to get in that kind of situation, so do whatever it takes so that the CLIENT thinks it's valid.

[Ninjac]

Thanks for the advice Irish and Qitsune it helps a bunch!

[Baron Impossible]

If you've been sent a Word doc you could draw your sig in Photoshop or whatever you use - or scan it in - and simply include the resulting JPG in the document. If you've been sent a PDF though this won't work unless you have special software (e.g. Nitro Pro or Adobe PDF Writer) and this is overkill unless you find yourself signing a lot of multi-page PDFs; therefore the best thing for PDFs would be to print, sign and email / fax back. And don't forget the other party need to sign it too, and you should have a fully executed copy of the contract before proceeding.

[Aaron Death]

therefore the best thing for PDFs would be to print, sign and email / fax back. And don't forget the other party need to sign it too, and you should have a fully executed copy of the contract before proceeding.

I always kinda wonder about that. What's gonna prevent the other party from photomaniplulating the original, or taking out your signature and put it in another contract, among countless other things?

I mean, you can even take off somebody's signature on the internet~

[Baron Impossible]

I always kinda wonder about that. What's gonna prevent the other party from photomaniplulating the original, or taking out your signature and put it in another contract, among countless other things?

I mean, you can even take off somebody's signature on the internet~

Sure, it's possible to forge practically anything but I guess it's a question of gain vs effort (not to mention they'd need to be pretty evil in the first place). After all there's not much money to be made trying to rope artists into dubious contracts whereas for occasions where the risks are higher (e.g. big business) there are always witnesses and other safeguards in place. And as I say, if you do make sure you get a fully executed contract before you start - and check it - that guards against any generic weaseling that might occur should you be tempted to say What they heck, let's just do it.

[J Wilson]

I always kinda wonder about that. What's gonna prevent the other party from photomaniplulating the original, or taking out your signature and put it in another contract, among countless other things?

I mean, you can even take off somebody's signature on the internet~

What's to stop you from hiring an assassin to take out their photomanip team that is trying to pull such shady dealings?

Some things may be possible, but you'd have to be pretty damn dedicated and ruthless to do it. There's a pretty slim chance you'll encounter those kinds of problems.

[LuckyDevil]

do you think scanning your signature and just pasting it into signature spaces work also? That way anytime you have to sign junk just open up your signature file paste and save.

[Derek the Usurper]

I think a better question would be: how to stop a client from claiming that you photo manipulated their signature, in order to get out of paying you for work. Do digital signatures hold up in court?