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Would you sign this contract ??

would you sign this contract

  • yes

    Votes: 11 5.6%

  • no

    Votes: 187 95.9%
  • Total voters
    195
#181
LBS-bass said:
Most bands are working on a shoestring budget and can't really afford to hire lawyers to make amendments to a contract like this. I get what you're saying, but perhaps if they were offering reasonable terms to begin with we wouldn't be having this discussion at all.
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You don't always need a lawyer to amend a contract. You just need both parties to agree and note it in the contract. Once the stuff is agreed to and noted and initialed, once that amended contract is signed by both parties, that is the contract agreed upon.

You could do the same thing in a piece of notebook paper as long as both parties are in agreement and the document is signed by both.
 
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#182
lermgalieu said:
Yeah, but it isn't a long contract and it can be understood by the layman. People in this thread (I am assuming mostly non-lawyers) picked up the major issues - the rights clause and liability/indemnity clauses. As I noted above, it would take a few strokes of the pen to just make the limitation of liability mutual and call it a day.
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You're probably right about that, but I'm thinking a lot of people would still be intimidated by the thought that they might inadvertently misinterpret or otherwise make a legally-binding mistake. It's almost always suggested that getting someone with expertise to look over a contract is a good idea, so going against that advice because the contract seems simple might be more than the average person wants to take on. But I get your point.
 
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#183
DJ Bebop said:
You don't always need a lawyer to amend a contract. You just need both parties to agree and note it in the contract. Once the stuff is agreed to and noted and initialed, once that amended contract is signed by both parties, that is the contract agreed upon.
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No you don't but see my comments above. It's not typically advised to amend a contract without legal advice, so lots of people won't want to do it. You sort of can't have it both ways here. Either that's good advice, or it isn't.
 
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#184
Now, if I were an entertainment lawyer reading this thread, I might be inclined to hunt down this boiler plate contract, amend it to make it reasonable and sensible, and put it up for download at, say, $5.00 a pop. That would help out the community and put a few dollars in the pocket, too.
 
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#185
LBS-bass said:
No you don't but see my comments above. It's not typically advised to amend a contract without legal advice, so lots of people won't want to do it. You sort of can't have it both ways here. Either that's good advice, or it isn't.
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You're right.
But it can be done if both agree to it
It starts to be a problem when there's no agreement, then the lawyers are needed.
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:)
 
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#187
LBS-bass said:
It's almost always suggested that getting someone with expertise to look over a contract is a good idea, so going against that advice because the contract seems simple might be more than the average person wants to take on.
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But....if it's best practice to have someone look it over anyway, you would be incurring the expense whether it turned out to be a good contract or not. Many times, the real awful thing about a contract is something that only a lawyer can detect, not something blatant like clause 8 here. My real world practical advice is that we all need to feel ok digesting and understanding what we sign. It's great if we have a free lawyer to turn to (such as a spouse), but usually that's just not a reality, and it would be cost prohibitive to pay one to look over every single thing we agree to.
 
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#189
I've often though that it would be a good idea for cover bands to carry some kind of liability coverage. I've never played in a group that had this, or that was incorporated or anything, but what happens if some drunk guy dances into the PA and somebody else's foot gets crushed? Does the bar's insurance come into play?
 
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#193
That's a NO for me, particularly because of #8. They are hoping that if ASCAP comes knocking they can point them to YOU for the fee and fine. No, thanks!

Other items of concern:
#12 says that if you are injured during load in, for example, by their broken sidewalk, you cannot sue them for more that $450. But #11 says that if one of their employees trips on your speaker stand, for example, YOU are liable without limitation. This is extremely one-sided. Maybe not a deal-breaker, but shows how much they want you to bend over for $450.

Now, just because they presented a contract to you does not me you have to take it or leave it. Anything can be negotiated. I would ask them to remove #8 and if they agree I would probably sign it despite #12, depending on how bad I needed the gig. In any case, they would go to the bottom of my list of preferred venues.
 
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#194
Space Pickle said:
what happens if some drunk guy dances into the PA and somebody else's foot gets crushed? Does the bar's insurance come into play?
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The injured person's lawyer would sue everyone who could be remotely responsible for the injury - the band, each of you individually, the venue, the venue owners individually, the person who danced into the PA, the manufacturer of the PA, the booking agent who booked the gig, etc.

In the Great White fire at The Station, even the manufacturer of the speaker cabinets got sued and paid out a settlement. EVERYONE will get sued.

So yes, it is a good idea for a band, and for you personally, to have whatever insurance coverage if you can afford it. Most people just accept the risk because chances are that nothing will happen, but if it happens it could hurt.
 
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#195
mike buzzetti said:
And I will dude !! go catch a wave LOL !
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Ha! Will do it’s been great recently!

I didn’t realize you were in my county and talking about a certain castle venue that I’ve played at at least a dozen times.

We haven’t played there since right before the pandemic. I do know the management has had LOTS of turnover in the past 5+ years. We typically played a featured music/concert on a Friday night, not background/dinner music, but dance party/concert vibe with advertising. And we got paid quite a bit more than $450. Like, a lot more. I never saw our contract since we have a booking agent to handle that, but she’s married to a lawyer and I’m positive we wouldn’t have agreed to the contract they gave you.

Probably the new management trying new things, sadly.
 
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#199
lermgalieu said:
Yeah, but it isn't a long contract and it can be understood by the layman.... As I noted above, it would take a few strokes of the pen to just make the limitation of liability mutual and call it a day.
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As a lawyer, you're advising all the bass players on this list to forgo professional legal consultation and just whip out a pen, make a few strokes and, biff, bam, boom, execute the contract and call it a day?
 
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