Re: When is a contract not a contract?

From: Marcia Yudkin <yudkin_at_mediaone.net>
Date: Mon 08 Oct 2001 11:16:16 -0500

IVAN WELTMAN <ivan_at_tudogs.com> WROTE:

> Now, unilaterally,
> they have changed the terms of the contract (more
> favorable to them, including extended payment terms,
> which means that I and other publishers are financing
> them). I have declined to accept the new contract as
> I have time left on the old - but I have been cut off
> from my statistics.

I am not a lawyer, but perhaps my experience would be
helpful to youanyway. I experienced something like your
problem last December, when a Web site with which I had
contracted to write 20 articles over the course of the
year told me that they wanted to terminate the contract
because they were in financial trouble. What really
galled me was that they were holding back a payment of
$4,000 for work already performed until I agreed to
their demand.

I got legal advice, learned that no, one cannot
unilaterally change or cancel a contract, but to enforce
that right, one may have to sue. Instead of doing that,
I made a counter-offer: pay the $4,000 they owed me,
plus an extra $1,000 for the opportunity cost of me
agreeing to cancel the rest of the contract, and I would
sign a termination agreement. Their check for $5,000
arrived the next day. I signed their agreement.

What I recommend in your case is to find an attorney in
the state where they are located to write a demand letter
that tosses in some incentive for them to agree with what
you want and is your right. Such a letter may cost you
$100 to $200 from a small-town lawyer in that state. If
what's at stake is worth more than you to that, then this
is what you should do.

Marcia Yudkin
Author, PR for the Internet Age
New special report that explains how to get free PR in
 innovative ways online
http://www.yudkin.com/printernet.htm



Received on Mon Oct 08 2001 - 11:16:16 CDT