#989822 - 12/05/04 01:47 AM
producer/studio liability
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Will Russell
Senior Member
Registered: 04/25/00
Posts: 144
Loc: Newfield, NY
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I need advise. I have an employee who was also hired by a client as a producer to make a record for a client of his. I pay him as my employee and he has a separate money deal with the client for production on top of that. No problem.
Unfortunately, the client just took delivery of 1000 CDs that have the wrong song order on the CDs but the proper order on the artwork. My employee and the client are most likely both partially at fault for the fuckup. I had nothing to do with it other than owning the studio and employing my guy.
This problem needs to be fixed. Who is liable here? Am I? Help?
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#989823 - 12/05/04 12:31 PM
Re: producer/studio liability
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Bill@Welcome Home Studios
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Registered: 08/23/03
Posts: 7294
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The guy who placed the order is responsible. If he is your employee, then it is going to eventually come to rest on your door. (This assumes that ordering CDs is a normal service that you offer.) He would not have been ordering CDs as a Producer and ordering them through your studio, delivered to your studio.
If the CDs were not ordered on your account or sent to your studio, and if you recieved no profit from the CD order, you may be able to say that he ordered them outside of his duties for you. (Don't glom onto the 'profit' idea though... if any of the rest is true, it's your problem.)
Bill
_________________________
"...it's easier than hitting the kids, and almost as much fun..."
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#989824 - 12/05/04 12:58 PM
Re: producer/studio liability
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Will Russell
Senior Member
Registered: 04/25/00
Posts: 144
Loc: Newfield, NY
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More clarifying detail. The actual CD order is managed by a local third party guy who we refer the client to. We give him a final duplication master and the client works with him on the artwork/graphics. Once we deliver him the master we are done. He then coordinates these 2 elements and places the order for the client. The client pays him, we receive nothing from this.
Apparently the client has a cd with "reference master" hand written on it with a sharpie, no date. We (my studio) typically issue final masters with printed labels and track sheets for the client to proof. It seems that my employee/the client's producer never gave one of these masters to the client, and the client, who did all the CD graphics himself, based the song order and times based in the hand labeled CD. I do not know at what point the song order got changed. The client claims to have never heard a CD with any order other than the one he has, and my employee, the producer claims to have heard only the one he made a master of. Clearly both the client and my guy/his producer are at fault.
I guess my question, did my guy fail as my employee or as the client's producer?
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#989825 - 12/05/04 08:00 PM
Re: producer/studio liability
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Bill@Welcome Home Studios
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Registered: 08/23/03
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Originally posted by Will Russell:
...We (my studio) typically issue final masters with printed labels and track sheets for the client to proof. It seems that my employee/the client's producer never gave one of these masters to the client, ...
Bill
_________________________
"...it's easier than hitting the kids, and almost as much fun..."
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#989826 - 12/06/04 05:19 PM
Re: producer/studio liability
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Cozmicslop
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Registered: 09/10/02
Posts: 367
Loc: Chicago
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#989827 - 12/07/04 03:00 PM
Re: producer/studio liability
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bdbklyn
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Registered: 04/04/01
Posts: 1035
Loc: Los Angeles,CA,UNITED STATES
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Mistakes happen. It is a fact of life and there is nothing you can do to prevent it from happening. You can, however, prevent a mistake from leaving the building in most cases. Drill into your employess that they have to check their work or better yet, get someone else at your facilty to do it.
When I do CD mastering in some cases due to budget restraints, I tell the client that they have to proof the CD and I am not responsible for any oversights or mistakes beyond fixing and redoing the original CD. If they fail to do it and it goes to duplication, my studio and myself are not liable. That is, unless they are willing to pay me the hour and a half of studio time that it takes to properly proof their CD.
What is the client asking you to do at this point?
Bill
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Studio Guru
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#989828 - 12/07/04 04:00 PM
Re: producer/studio liability
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Will Russell
Senior Member
Registered: 04/25/00
Posts: 144
Loc: Newfield, NY
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At this point we are re-running the CDs with the proper order and the cost will be split three ways, client, me (employer) and my employee (paid producer of project).
So how do I prevent this from ever happening again? What do you think of this idea:
We finish mastering and make a "listening master" for the client to approve; levels, tone, pauses, song order. When the client says ok, we burn a 4x "duplication master" and proof it in headphones for technical glitches. We then give the master to the client with instructions that they are to do the final proofing of the CD and that they deliver the master to the duplicator. That way it is the client's responsibility from that point on.
Whadaya think? What do you do?
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#989829 - 12/17/04 10:57 PM
Re: producer/studio liability
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bdbklyn
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Registered: 04/04/01
Posts: 1035
Loc: Los Angeles,CA,UNITED STATES
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I think that is more than enough to cover your liabilty. The problem still exists that when mistakes happen, people like to blame somebody.
You sold your studio and the client's paid for it.
In going out of pocket to cover the cost of the CD mixup you have gone beyond what I would have suggested which would be a credit in the amount of the liability that you assumed on future studio time at your facility.
Bill
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Studio Guru
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