Ghostwriting Contract
Aidan Hennebry’s Writing & Marketing Consulting Services
1. Purpose
The purpose of this contract is to formalize that which has already been discussed:
AIDAN HENNEBRY, herein after referred to as the SERVICE PROVIDER, shall provide writing and marketing consulting services to THE CLIENT (individual name appearing at the end of this contract) under the agreed-upon circumstances contained within this document.
This contract shall act as a reference guide for all exchanges between the Service Provider and the Client and shall clearly explain a mutually agreed-upon course of action should any conflicts arise.
2. Intellectual Property Rights
The Client agrees that the intellectual property created by the Service Provider shall remain the sole and complete property of the Service Provider alone until all payments have been sent by the Client and received and processed by the Service Provider.
At the time in which final payment has been received and processed, the Client will, with the sending of final documents from the Service Provider, receive the full transfer and subsequent ownership of all intellectual property that has been created in this exchange.
From that moment on, the Client shall have full, irrevocable rights to the provided materials (and intellectual property contained therein) as if they were written by the Client themselves. Should the Client wish to alter, modify, substitute, or otherwise change the content provided by the Service Provider, the Client should have the irrevocable right to do so.
Similarly, with the complete transfer of all rights from the Service Provider to the Client, the Client shall assume all legal and moral responsibility for the completed works as discussed in Section 6. Moral Rights.
The Client understands and agrees that all unused ideas, thoughts, brainstorms, and more shall be forfeit at the conclusion of this contract and shall continue to remain the sole and complete intellectual property of the Service Provider, barring any proprietary or trademarked content. The Client agrees that the Service Provider may utilize these ideas in other applications in any way they see fit.
3. Confidentiality & Non-Disclosure
The Service Provider agrees to use the utmost discretion and exercise the utmost respect in regards to discussing any aspect of this relationship or contract with any third party while both the Service Provider and the Client are bound by this legal contract.
The Service Provider will retain the right to speak in general terms, providing no identifying details about the working relationship nor the content being created, about the work created and the relationship that exists between the Service Provider and the Client.
The Service Provider shall under no circumstances ever seek to identify the Client in order to gain rapport or clout without express written consent from the Client.
The materials that the Service Provider creates for the Client shall not be duplicated or distributed in any way to another client that the Service Provider may work with, nor for any other purpose (including but not limited to: education, self-promotion, and more) without express written consent from the Client.
The Service Provider explicitly agrees not to replicate the work created for the Client and use it for another client. All works created by the Service Provider under the provisions of this contract shall be, to the best of the Service Provider’s humanly abilities, completely unique and original works that do not violate any copyright laws or exclusivity agreements.
The Client agrees that if they should willingly choose to disclose this working relationship (or the materials created) with a third party, that the Service Provider shall then be granted the right to openly speak of the relationship or works created as well.
4. Communication Expectations
The Client and Service Provider both agree that communication is of the utmost importance in any professional working relationship; particularly those that involve expectations around work produced in a given timeframe.
The Client and Service Provider both agree to communicate promptly, respectfully, and as frequently as needed. This includes responding within two (2) business days of an inquiry that necessitates a response.
The Client and Service Provider agree to utilize these approved official methods of communication.
Official Methods of Communication:
Email (primary)
Phone call
Video call
In person meetings
The Client and Service Provider agree that communication may also take place via unofficial methods of communication (listed below) but that no decisions that are made via these unofficial communication methods will be considered legally binding unless there is also documented proof of this interaction via an official communication channel.
Unofficial Methods of Communication:
Cell phone SMS Messaging (including iMessage)
Social Media direct messaging
Any other form of communication not listed under the “Official Methods of Communication” section
5. Scope of Project
To make Aidan & the client happy that everything will be good
6. Moral Rights & Legal Confines
The Client agrees that the Service Provider shall retain his religious and moral rights to refuse any work that violates his conscience or beliefs. The Service Provider shall seek to identify any potential conflicts as soon as they are identified, but cannot guarantee that there will never be a moral or religious conflict.
The Client also agrees that the Service Provider shall not be asked to, nor be expected to create, any works that contain illegal recommendations that should go against local by-laws, provincial laws, or federal laws that govern the working relationship (particularly those in the Service Provider’s home country of Canada).
In the event of a religious, moral, or legal conflict between the Client and the Service Provider, the Service Provider shall seek nonetheless to continue with the agreed-upon work with the Client’s ability to edit and supplement the work after final payment has been made and legal and intellectual rights have been fully transferred to the Client.
In the event that the Service Provider feels as though he can no longer, in good conscience, continue working with the Client based on moral, religious, or legal grounds, this shall activate the termination clause as outlined in Section 8. Conclusion & Termination.
7. Timelines & Deadlines
All deadlines, timelines, and expectations of finished content shall be clearly communicated by the Client to the Service Provider in a reasonable and timely manner (a minimum of two (2) weeks in advance of when the deadline is).
The Service Provider shall provide written content on such a schedule that would allow the Client to review, edit, and publish said content within a consistent and monthly framework. The Service Provider understands that this takes, on average, one (1) week to execute, and will provide the ghostwritten content no later than one (1) week prior to its regularly scheduled publication date by the Client.
In the event that the Client does not provide documented written confirmation that the ghostwritten works are fit for publication on the Client’s behalf, the Service Provider shall forgo publication and interpret it as a forfeit of the piece of content from the Client. Should the Client wish to publish a previously-forfeited piece of content, the Service Provider has the sole and complete authority to either deem said content as a newly created piece of content (that would be considered one of the expected pieces for the month), or to simply publish it as previously anticipated without counting it towards what the Service Provider owes the Client in a given month.
8. Payments & Expectations
The Client agrees to make full and complete payment of the agreed-upon rate (listed at the end of this contract) for the agreed-upon services each and every month that this contract shall remain intact. The Client agrees that these payments are to be made via a credit card that is held on-file for the sake to automated charges monthly.
The Client understands and agrees that the Service Provider does not accept cash or cheque payments. The Client understands that the Service Provider will reject partial payments and will not issue receipts of payment for partial payments.
The Service Provider agrees that all payments will be granted an email receipt of payment upon request. Where applicable, this will include the Service Provider’s Ontario HST information for bookkeeping purposes.
The Client agrees to promptly update the payment method on file should it expire unexpectedly.
The Client agrees that, should a payment fail to be made within one (1) week of when it is due, at the sole discretion of the Service Provider, the contract Termination agreement may be activated.
9. Conclusion & Termination
It is understood and agreed that legal contracts like this will eventually conclude or be terminated.
In the event of a natural conclusion, the Service Provider and the Client shall cease all formal exchanges of ideas, communications, payments, and more that would indicate any status (perceived or actual) of a relationship between the Client and the Service Provider. Any ideas exchanged freely in ongoing personal communications shall not be held as binding to the confidentiality agreements contained within this contract. The Service Provider will be free to use any discussed ideas as he should see fit.
At the conclusion of the contract, the Service Provider shall send any completed or partially-completed works to the Client that they do not already have possession of (excluding those as detailed in the Intellectual Property Rights section).
In the event of a termination of this contract that has been automatically activated as described in any other section of this contract——particularly that which has not involved express consent by the Client but as the consequence of Client (in)actions——the Service Provider shall retain any and all rights to any uncompleted work, and the Client agrees that they have fully forfeited any such exchange of money to the Service Provider, and release the Service Provider of any other obligations to the working relationship.
The Client agrees that, in the event of termination or the conclusion of this contract, they do not have the right to publish any incomplete works that may have been exchanged prior to the termination of this contract.
10. Indemnification
It is agreed by the Client and the Service Provider freely that, in the event of a disagreement on any services contained in this contract where legal mediation may be required, the total liable damages that may be pursued in any and all legal disputes are limited to one (1) month’s sum of the services rendered here (as indicated explicitly at the end of this contract). The Service Provider shall not be responsible for any additional damages, settlement, or reimbursement of any kind beyond a single month’s value of this contract.
11. Governance & Dispute Resolution
In the event that any dispute must be solved through legal means, the Client agrees that these resolutions will be adjudicated in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada or its closest alternative as required by Provincial or Federal Government. The implicit legal laws that govern this contract are those of the city of St. Thomas in the province of Ontario in the country of Canada.
12. Appendixes & Amendments
Any appendixes or amendments made to this contract shall only be considered legally binding if they are included at the time of signing as indicated in the appropriate section of the contract below.
Any appendixes or amendments made after the signing of this contract shall be completed in their own transaction irrespective of this contract.
13. Severability
In the event that any component of this contract may be found to be unlawful or legally unenforceable, it shall not void the remainder of this contract and all other tenets and agreements shall remain in full effect under the spirit of their agreement and the letter of the law.