MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - Re: The Day MAME Saved My A**

> > I hope Mark's contracts were a lot smarter from then on.
> > e.g. if assets weren't made available by an agree date,
> > then there are get our clauses and the publisher cannot
> > withhold any money for work done on other titles.
>
> Doesn't work like that Moose, they *can* withhold money and they do. There were in
> fact multiple such clauses in our contract but that didn't make a blind bit of
> difference. These people are driven solely by profit, as far as they are concerned
> those that hold the money dictate the terms. The contract doesn't mean a damn thing
> to them.
>
> Here's an example: towards the end of this particular project we delivered work that
> the publisher signed off on and got paid for themselves and they still turned around
> and refused to pay us our share, with no reason given. About six months later I was
> in the process of initiating legal action and they offered to settle for 50% in
> return for us signing a waiver that we forfeited the right to sue. Both parties
> signed, we put a stop to the legal action on our end and then they told us they had
> changed their mind and weren't going to pay again. Eventually I threatened to contact
> their local district attorneys office with a criminal complaint and we had our money
> within 24 hours.
>
> My experiences aren't unique, this stuff happens all the time. It doesn't matter how
> water-tight your contract is, if the publisher thinks they can screw you and get away
> with it then most of the time they will. And the smaller you are, the more likely
> they are to try it on. The real lesson, as many developers are now finding out, is to
> seek out alternate development models and online distribution channels that don't
> involve a publisher.

I am sad for what has happened to you.

I'm no stranger to contracts or freelancing. I've freelanced for clients in many countries (mainly in software development as an analyst / programmer, but also business analyst, and various other roles). Most of this work was fixed price contracts, some was time and materials.

Believe me, I know exactly what SCARY is. Changing requirements, shitty analysis, incomplete specifications, ambiguous documentation, hordes of cowboy analysts riding off into the sunset "high five'ing" each other on another job finished (except it's an absolute mess and highly incomplete), permanent staff and even some fellow freelancers who are too lazy and/or too stupid to do their job properly - I've pretty much seen it all.

You've simply got to protect yourself. Stop bending over for these arseholes. Don't let them rape you man. If they rape you once, don't let them do it again. Ever !

What you need to do is spell things out with milestones and payment deadlines - and make it so that these ensure you are never in too deep at any time.

If the contract is full of loopholes, don't sign it. Insist it is made specific. Walk away if they refuse. The trick is not to get in too deep so that you can still walk away and not be crippled. If you aren't 100% happy with the contract, then do NOT sign it. Find another client, find other work, walk away, at least until the contract is acceptable from your point of view.

That way, if they start playing stupid games, you can walk away without losing your company, your house, and/or the shirt off your back.

When milestone X is reached, they have an agreed time to review, and if all is OK they must sign-off the milestone and pay by date Y, or else you stop work and either walk away or refuse to do no more work until they do pay.

Until full payment is received for a milestone, only give them enough to prove that the milestone has been reached. Don't give them any source code, etc until full payment has been received.

And, you must make it so that you can walk away without getting your arse sued.

If there is a signed contract which is reasonable and doesn't contain any outrageous clauses, then it is enforceable. If you do the right thing and keep a full record of everything so you can prove this, and also prove what they have done wrong, then they cannot succeed in any law suit against you.

Stop bending over for these arseholes.

If they play games like you've mentioned - accept the work as complete and then delay payment and then only agree to pay 50%, etc - then make sure you aren't in too deep, and make sure you have all the key assets still in your hands (source code, etc), so they can't easily switch development to someone else (some other sucker). If you can afford to, call their bluff and take the fuckers to court. But make damned sure you have a cast iron case - cross every T and dot every I.

If you don't keep the bastards honest, then they will screw you again and again, and also move on to screwing others.

Good luck. It's not easy, but I hope you can find a way. I really do.

Moose