• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Client refuses to pay for video

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

ripnf

New member
A client hired us to create a video for them but they're not happy with the actor's performance in some scenes so they have decided to not release the video. They have also said that because the video can't be used by them that they shouldn't have to pay the rest of the budget and we have to cover the costs ourselves if we want to pay the crew.

The client agreed to every aspect of the video beforehand and signed off on the treatment.

We delivered the video fully with no differences from the agreed treatment and video breakdown.

It is the client's subjective opinion that they find the actor's performance underwhelming. They claim the video is undeliverable simply because they don't like his performance but ultimately we were asked to make a video and we produced and delivered it as agreed.

They claim they don't have to pay a thing because of the below clauses in the contract:

clause 4 Delivery and Approval - 4D (iii) States if unacceptable and failure to comply we shall be entitled to terminate the agreement and the provisions of Clause 16(b) shall apply.

16 (b i) states - you shall forthwith repay to us any payments made to you pursuant to Clause 11 hereof not applied in payment of items in the Budget and we shall make no further payments to you…

We completely understand that the client would not have to pay if we didn't deliver the video, delivered it late, if it was bad quality, if we deviated away from the agreed treatment in any way etc - these would be straight hard facts.

However, I don't believe that the client can use a subjective opinion (finding actors performance sub-par) as a reason for it being unacceptable to be delivered. What's stopping this client or any other client for that matter deciding that actually they don't want want to pay for a video so they can just fabricate a subjective opinion as a valid reason for the video being unusable and not be liable to pay.

We're not asking the client to pay the full amount of the video, just the expenses it cost us to make it which include crew fees, equipment hire etc. The money left over is for the color grade which won't be used so they don't need to pay us the full budget.

The client don't want to pay us any more money (they owe us 50% of the budget, 50% was sent upfront) and they say they're entitled to the original 50% back so they're "doing us a favor" by not asking for the money back.
 


Just Blue

Senior Member
A client hired us to create a video for them but they're not happy with the actor's performance in some scenes so they have decided to not release the video. They have also said that because the video can't be used by them that they shouldn't have to pay the rest of the budget and we have to cover the costs ourselves if we want to pay the crew.

The client agreed to every aspect of the video beforehand and signed off on the treatment.

We delivered the video fully with no differences from the agreed treatment and video breakdown.

It is the client's subjective opinion that they find the actor's performance underwhelming. They claim the video is undeliverable simply because they don't like his performance but ultimately we were asked to make a video and we produced and delivered it as agreed.

They claim they don't have to pay a thing because of the below clauses in the contract:

clause 4 Delivery and Approval - 4D (iii) States if unacceptable and failure to comply we shall be entitled to terminate the agreement and the provisions of Clause 16(b) shall apply.

16 (b i) states - you shall forthwith repay to us any payments made to you pursuant to Clause 11 hereof not applied in payment of items in the Budget and we shall make no further payments to you…

We completely understand that the client would not have to pay if we didn't deliver the video, delivered it late, if it was bad quality, if we deviated away from the agreed treatment in any way etc - these would be straight hard facts.

However, I don't believe that the client can use a subjective opinion (finding actors performance sub-par) as a reason for it being unacceptable to be delivered. What's stopping this client or any other client for that matter deciding that actually they don't want want to pay for a video so they can just fabricate a subjective opinion as a valid reason for the video being unusable and not be liable to pay.

We're not asking the client to pay the full amount of the video, just the expenses it cost us to make it which include crew fees, equipment hire etc. The money left over is for the color grade which won't be used so they don't need to pay us the full budget.

The client don't want to pay us any more money (they owe us 50% of the budget, 50% was sent upfront) and they say they're entitled to the original 50% back so they're "doing us a favor" by not asking for the money back.
What State?
 

quincy

Senior Member
California
It appears the contract you signed was not one you should have signed. There are obvious flaws in the wording.

That said, you signed it and are bound by its terms, terms of which may now need a court's interpretation.

I recommend you have the contract reviewed in its entirety by an entertainment lawyer in your area of California. Contract analysis goes beyond the scope of this forum.

Good luck.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top