2008Legal / Business Practices forum
Collecting payment from clients who dispute work quality or refuse to pay after service delivery
18 years old. Gear and prices may have changed since.
DisputedParticipants disagreed and reached no conclusion. Read the findings as positions, not as an answer.
What the thread found
- Small claims court is an accessible option for unpaid invoices without requiring a lawyer, and sending a certified letter with ready-to-file forms can sometimes prompt payment before formal filing
- Reviewing raw footage and discussing specific concerns with the client may reveal whether the complaint has merit or if the client is using quality as a pretext to avoid payment
- Retaining intellectual property rights to footage, particularly by not signing away rights in contracts, can provide leverage to force payment by threatening to prevent broadcast or distribution
- Clients who file for bankruptcy within 90 days of paying you may trigger preferential treatment lawsuits where unpaid vendors can sue to recover those payments, potentially resulting in significant unexpected costs
- Industry networks can be used informally to discourage future business with clients who do not pay, though this approach depends on community cooperation
- Bad debts can be written off as tax losses when collection becomes impossible
Depends on
- One case involved a show intended for broadcast, which may not apply to all types of video work
- Preferential treatment bankruptcy implications apply to the 90-day period before bankruptcy filing and vary by jurisdiction
- Small claims court limits vary by location and may not cover larger invoices
- Whether retaining footage rights is possible depends on what contracts were signed before work began