General terms and conditions Rogier Wieland / January 2007
1 Agreement, offers and confirmation
1.1 These General Terms and Conditions apply to the exclusion of any purchase or other conditions of the client to the preparation, content and performance of all agreements between the client and the contractor.
1.2 All offers are without commitment and are valid for two months. Prices quoted may be subject to change owing to unforeseen changes in the work. Prices are exclusive of VAT and other government levies. The rates and offers quoted will not automatically apply to future commissions.
1.3 Commissions must be confirmed by the client in writing. If the client fails to do so but consents to the contractor commencing the work commissioned, the terms of the offer will be deemed to have been agreed. Any subsequent oral agreements and stipulations will not be binding on the contractor unless he has confirmed them in writing.
1.4 If the client wishes to commission identical work to a party other than the contractor or has already commissioned the work to another party, he must inform the contractor accordingly in writing, stating the names of those other parties.
2 Performance of the agreement
2.1 The contractor must make every effort to perform the work commissioned carefully and independently, to promote the client’s interests to the best of his ability and to achieve a result that is useful to the client. To the extent necessary the contractor must keep the client advised of the progress of the work.
2.2 The client must do any and all things that are reasonably necessary or required to enable the contractor to deliver punctually and properly, in particular by supplying (or causing the supply of) complete, sound and clear data or materials in a timely manner.
2.3 Terms quoted by the contractor for completion of the design are approximations only, unless the nature or content of the agreement requires otherwise. If the stipulated term is exceeded, the client must give the contractor notice of default in writing.
2.4 Unless otherwise agreed, the performance of tests, the application for permits and the assessment whether the client’s instructions comply with statutory or quality standards do not fall within the scope of the work commissioned to the contractor.
2.5 Prior to production, reproduction or publication, each party must give the other the opportunity to check and approve the final draft, prototype or galley proofs of the design. If the contractor is to place orders with or give instructions to manufacturing companies or other third parties, whether or not in the client’s name, the client must confirm his aforesaid approval in writing at the contractor’s request.
2.6 Any complaints to the contractor must be filed in writing at the earliest possible time but not later than within ten business days after completion of the work commissioned, failing which the client will be deemed to have accepted the work commissioned in its entirety.
3 Engagement of third parties
3.1 Unless otherwise agreed, instructions to third parties to be given in the context of executing the work commissioned will be given by or on behalf of the client. At the client’s request the contractor may act as an agent for the client’s account and risk. The parties may agree on a fee for such services.
2 If the contractor provides an estimate of third-party costs at the client’s request, such estimate will be an approximation only. If required, the contractor may seek quotations from third parties on the client’s behalf.
3.3 If the contractor procures goods or services from third parties in the performance of the work commissioned, for the contractor’s own account and risk and on the basis of an express agreement, the general conditions of such supplier with regard to the quality, quantity, properties and delivery of such goods or services will also apply to the client.
4 Intellectual and other property rights
4.1 Unless otherwise agreed, all intellectual property rights arising from the work commissioned – including patents, design rights and copyrights – will vest in the contractor. If any of such rights can be acquired only by registration, the contractor will have the sole and exclusive power to effect such registration.
4.2 Unless otherwise agreed, the work commissioned does not include conducting searches for the existence of rights, including patents, trademark rights, drawing or design rights, copyrights or portrait rights of third parties. The same applies to any investigation into the possibility of such forms of protection for the client.
4.3 Unless the work is not suitable for that purpose, the contractor will at all times be entitled to imprint his name on or in or to remove it from the work (or to have his name imprinted on or in or removed from the work), and without the contractor’s prior authorization the client may not publish or reproduce the work without identifying the contractor by name.
4.4 Unless otherwise agreed, all design drawings, illustrations, prototypes, scale models, templates, drafts, design sketches, films and other materials or (electronic) data files made by the contractor in the course of executing the design will remain the contractor’s property, irrespective of whether they were made available to the client or to third parties.
4.5 Upon completion of the work commissioned, neither the client nor the contractor will have any obligation to retain any of the materials and data used.
5 Use and licence
5.1 Once the client has fulfilled all his obligations under the agreement with the contractor, he will acquire an exclusive licence to use the design solely for purposes of publication and reproduction as such purposes were agreed when the work was commissioned. If no such specific purposes have been agreed, the licence will be limited to that manner of use of the design on which firm intentions existed on the date when the work was commissioned. Such intentions must have been verifiably stated to the contractor prior to the conclusion of the agreement.
5.2 Without prior written approval from the contractor, the client will not be entitled to any use of the design that is broader or different from the use agreed. In the event of broader or different use on which no agreement was reached, including any amendment, mutilation or infringement on the provisional or final design, the designer will be entitled to compensation due to infringement of his/her rights of at least three times the agreed fee, or a fee that is reasonably and fairly proportional to the infringement committed, without prejudice to the designer’s right to claim reimbursement of the damage actually incurred.
5.3 The client will not (or no longer) be permitted to use the results made available and any licence granted to the client in the context of the work commissioned will lapse:
a. from the moment that the client fails to fulfil his payment or other obligations under the
agreement or to do so in full, or is otherwise in default, unless the default is insignificant by
reference to the overall scope of the work;
b. if the work commissioned is terminated early for any reason whatsoever, unless the consequences are contrary to the principles of reasonableness and fairness.
5.4 The contractor may use the design at his discretion for his own publicity or promotional
purposes, with due observance of the client’s interests.
6 Fees and additional costs
6.1 In addition to payment of the agreed fee, the contractor will be entitled to reimbursement of any costs incurred by him in the performance of the work commissioned.
6.2 If the contractor is required to perform more or other work due to late delivery or non-delivery of complete, sound and clear data and/or materials, or any change or error in instructions or briefings, such additional work will be charged separately on the basis of the contractor’s usual fees.
6.3 If the fee to be paid is in any way subject to facts or circumstances to be evidenced by the client’s accounting records, the contractor will be entitled upon receiving a statement of account from the client to have the client’s accounting records audited by an accountant to be selected by the contractor. If the results of the accountant’s audit differ more than 2% or EUR 100 from the client’s report and statement of account, the costs of the audit will be for the client’s account.