Don't gamble with your business - contracts are key when working with independent contractors.

Stop using independent contractors without a written contract.

Rita owns a graphic design agency and uses independent contractors to do some work for her clients. Some of them have been doing work for her for years and she considers them her friends.

You might anticipate what comes next: there’s no contract...Yikes!

The law is that the creator owns their creations unless it’s within the scope of employment.

To avoid this, she needs written contracts to specify who owns the intellectual property rights in the work, among many other important provisions.

It’s best to get that contract in place before any work is created, but it’s better to be late than never.

Like Rita, I appreciate getting things done right and efficiently. If you are hiring independent contractors to keep up with the business demand, do it right from the start.