via, the Freelancers Union:

Support the Freelancer Payment Protection Act
Send Letters to Senator Dean Skelos : 394 Letters Sent So Far

What is the Freelancer Payment Protection Act?
The FPPA would help independent workers in New York collect money from clients who don’t pay.

How would it help?
Victims of nonpayment will be able to file complaints with the New York State Department of Labor. After investigating, the Department of Labor may award victims 100% of what they’re owed, plus attorney’s fees and interest.

What’s happening now?
The New York State Assembly passed the Freelancer Payment Protection Act. Now, the Senate must do the same! Email Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, urging him to pass the bill this legislative session.

If you live in NYC go here to support: http://www.freelancersunion.org/political-action/unpaid-wages-action.html

Everyone else can enter deadbeat clients in the worldslongestinvoice.com

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12 Comments

  1. It’s a shame that in this day and age, there isn’t some kind of legally binding agreement we can enter into with clients at the outset of our business relationship that outlines exactly how a project will be conducted and what payment terms are. Some kind of document we could both sign, enforcing a liability upon either party if they don’t live up to the terms presented.

    Much like the proposed law, this agreement could be arbitrated by lawyers in the case that there is a dispute.

    Nope, no such thing exists, or has ever existed in the history of freelancing professionals. We better push this law through.

    We should also make sure we publicly shame “deadbeat” clients as much as possible, so that way, other prospective clients will never think twice about doing business with us.

  2. How about one for California?

  3. Not just that, all over US!

    • Make that all over the world. XD Starting with NY> rest of USA.
      Here we have small claims tribunal, however the amount above^ 15M USD isn’t not quite small claims.

  4. In my day job involving tenders, all contracts of work clearly state the terms and conditions of when edge stage of the work is due and exactly what payment is due and when it is due.

    perhaps this type of system could be used by freelance photographers?

  5. Why don’t freelancer’s have a contract? Wedding photographers, portrait and other sorts of professionals can muster up an binding agreement, why not the independent self employed freelancer?

    What say org’s like APA, ASMP, NPPA, PPA for starters? I am sure the folks at Wonderful Machine could speak on this a bit.

  6. Terms and Conditions should always be spelled out in the contract / agreement. The problem was always the cost of legal fees involved in trying to collect from deadbeat clients.

  7. I think that the biggest problem is that most professional creatives have very poor business skills and procedures. As a result we are as a group easily manipulated into both under charging for our work and not backing ourselves up with solid contracts.

    The wedding photography world gets it: it all business with them. Since they are used to dealing with emotional clients who often have unrealistic expectations they spend a lot of time getting their business aspects down; particularly their contracts. Many wildly successful wedding photogs are superb sales/business people but merely average photographers.

    We collectively are to blame for not looking out for our fellow creatives and discussing things other than our art. We need to regularly talk business matters as painfully boring as it may be. But if we don’t then we will always be easily abused by clients with less than saintly business ethics.

    As a result I’ve had a contract for years that includes not only terms of payment but also a clause that states that if the client fails to pay me or misuses my copyright they will pay my legal fees to set things right.

  8. […] de empresas que os contratam mas não pagam – ou que atrasam demasiadamente o pagamento. A Freelancer Payment Protection Act facilitará a abertura de processos contra os caloteiros no Departamento do Trabalho de Nova York. […]

  9. […] More at The Freelancer Payment Protection Act […]


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