Even though working online and remotely is easier and safer than ever, there are still pitfalls and difficulties out there, especially when it comes to your intellectual and digital property. Here’s a short guide to some factors to be aware of and some useful tools that can really help you out.
When working as a freelancer you’ll undoubtedly be sending a lot of files. These could be initial demos, revised versions and completely finished products. So, what’s to stop a client, or customer just taking your work and running off without paying for it? Sadly this happens, but there are ways you can protect yourself.
Firstly, draw up a contract for both parties to sign and don’t start work until everything is agreed upfront. This doesn’t need to be anything overly complex, or overseen by lawyers and solicitors – there are lots of templates online you can adjust to suit your needs.
jotform.com/pdf-templates/contract
When it comes to delivering files, it might be useful to send draft MP3s, which aren’t full quality, or only allow audio to be streamed, rather than downloaded. This isn’t always an option though, especially when productions are reliant on being reviewed at a high standard throughout the process. In which case you could try placing deliveries behind a ‘paywall’ – where they can only be accessed via payment. There are useful online services such as File Pass which are especially made to protect your content in such scenarios.
If you’re using platforms like Fiverr, or Freelancer there is a certain degree of protection included and the use of deposit, escrow and support features ensure safer transactions.
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