I heard a lawyer say boilerplate contracts are fine and my partner nearly lost it

We were at a client meeting last Tuesday, right, and this corporate lawyer from some big firm says to us, 'just use a standard boilerplate, it covers everything.' My partner who handles our talent contracts nearly jumped across the table. I get where the lawyer is coming from, templates save time and money. But in this agency world, especially with influencer deals or creative rights, one line that's too generic can screw you six months down the road when someone claims ownership of a campaign idea. On the flip side, writing everything from scratch for every project eats up hours and billable time. So which side do you lean on? Do you rely on boilerplate with custom riders, or is that too risky for your agency? How do you balance speed with protection?

2 comments

2 Comments

terry_carter1524d ago

Grandfather those old templates but never skip a lawyer review for digital rights.

kelly_west7424d ago

My old boss had us running on those legacy templates for 3 years without a single update. I used to think lawyers were just slowing everything down with their red tape. But then we got hit with a digital rights claim from a photo we licensed wrong. That one mistake cost us more than a lawyer would have charged for 10 years of reviews. Now I'm the one pushing for legal sign off on every single digital agreement. Funny how one expensive mistake can change your whole perspective on things.