Your Contract Has Horns: Grappling with the Law, for Writers

DISCLAIMERS

DISCLAIMERS:

* Ugh, starting with the legalese already? Consider this my first piece of advice: always cover your ass. Second: the best cover is the written word. So before we get down to things, let me practice what I preach…

* I'm a lawyer, but this isn't meant to be specific advice. If you've got a specific legal issue, personally consult with a lawyer who can give you specific advice. If you go to court and make a case on the basis of "Paolo Chikiamco said so", you'll be tossed out faster than a smoker in a maternity ward.

* Also, being a lawyer doesn't make me an expert on the law, no more than being a published writer makes me an expert on publishing or writing. I never specialized in intellectual property. I'm writing these articles in the hope that my experience and training will be of some use to others, but while I'll take pains not to make factual errors, I can't guarantee that. So this is me disclaiming liability for bad things that happen because of something that is present or omitted from this book. Let the Buyer… er, Browser, beware.

* I consider these posts to be a working draft, so I reserve the right to change them after I post if I realize I screwed up some legal doctrine. Or worse, forgot an apostrophe!

* These columns don't automatically make you my clients, first because that's not how it works, and second, because I'm not taking any clients. I got out of practice for a bunch of reasons, most of which have to do with me much rather spending time writing stories than pleadings.

* I'm a Filipino, and based in the Philippines. A lot of want I'm going to say will probably still be useful to writers from other jurisdictions, but details may vary, and details can be very important.

* I'll be writing this in English because that's the language I'm most comfortable in, and because the contracts and the law that you deal with are most likely going to be written in English.

* Also, I'm not going to go into taxation, so don't ask me about that, because screw taxes. (Actually, I'm just really bad at Tax Law. Please don't make me relive it.)