Terms and Conditions

The following Terms and Conditions of Service apply to all services provided by Mike French Creative and in the event of any dispute are governed by the laws of England.
All work is carried out by Mike French Creative on the understanding that the client has agreed to these terms and conditions.
Copyright is retained by Mike French Creative on all creative work including words, pictures, ideas, visuals and illustrations unless specifically released in writing and after all costs have been settled.
If a choice of designs is presented and one is chosen for your project, only that solution is deemed to be given as fulfilling the contract. All other designs remain the property of Mike French Creative, unless specifically agreed in writing.

Project Acceptance
At the time of proposal, Mike French Creative will provide the customer with a written estimate by email. These Terms and Conditions can be read at any time on the Mike French Creative website.
The client must reply to the estimate which binds the client to accept these terms and conditions with an email acknowledging acceptance of the quotation overleaf.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Mike French Creative Terms and Conditions are what govern the job, not any conditions on the customer’s purchase order.

Creative Charges
Charges for creative services to be provided by Mike French Creative will be set out in the written estimate that is provided to the customer.

Source Files
Mike French Creative will supply draft proofs and PDF files as appropriate for printing, or other graphic files as detailed in the estimate.
Charges for design work do not cover the release of any copyright design source files, including but not restricted to INDD/PSD/AI/PNG/JPG/TIFF or other source files; if the Client requires these files for transfer to an in-house or other designer, they will be subject to a separate quotation or ‘buy-out’ charge unless specifically agreed in writing.

Charges for Other Services
Charges for any additional services requested during the project that are over and above the estimated time or out of scope, will become fully payable at the time of project completion.

Payment
Upon delivery of final artwork via zip file or other means appropriate, the client will be liable to settle any outstanding fees as laid out in an accompanying invoice. Payments must be made via BACs transfer on receipt. Any invoice queries must be submitted by email within 10 days of the invoice date.
Accounts which remain outstanding for 30 days after the date of invoice, will incur late payment interest charge at the Bank of England Base Rate plus 8% on the outstanding amount from the date due until the date of payment.

Default
An account shall be considered default if it remains unpaid 30 days from the date of invoice, Mike French Creative shall be entitled to remove Mike French Creative‘s and/or the customer’s material from any and all computer systems, until the amount due has been fully paid.
Removal of such materials does not relieve the customer of its obligation to pay the due amount.
Customers whose accounts become default agree to pay all Mike French Creative‘s reasonable legal and accounting expenses and third party collection agency fees in the enforcement of the debt and these Terms and Conditions.

Copyrights and Trademarks
By supplying text, images and other data to Mike French Creative for inclusion in the customer’s creative design or other medium, the customer declares that it holds the appropriate copyright and/or trademark permissions. The ownership of such materials will remain with the customer, or rightful copyright or trademark owner.
Any artwork, images, or text supplied and/or designed by Mike French Creative on behalf of the customer, will remain the property of Mike French Creative and/or its suppliers unless otherwise agreed in writing. A licence for use of the copyright material is granted to the customer solely for the project defined in the estimate and not for any other purpose (please see Source Files.)
The customer may request in writing from Mike French Creative, the necessary permission to use materials (for which Mike French Creative holds the copyright) in forms other than for which it was originally supplied, and Mike French Creative may, at its discretion, grant this and may charge for the additional usage. Such permission must be obtained in writing before any of the aforesaid artwork, images, text, or other data is used.
By supplying images, text, or any other data to Mike French Creative, the customer grants Mike French Creative permission to use this material freely in the pursuit of the design.
Should Mike French Creative, or the customer supply an image, text, audio clip or any other file for use in any creative design, multimedia presentation, print item, exhibition, advertisement or any other medium believing it to be copyright and royalty free, which subsequently emerges to have such copyright or royalty usage limitations, the customer will agree to allow Mike French Creative to remove and/or replace the file as appropriate.
The customer agrees to fully indemnify and hold Mike French Creative free from harm in any and all claims resulting from the customer in not having obtained all the required copyright, and/or any other necessary permissions.

Alterations
The customer agrees that changes required over and above the estimated work, or in addition to the agreed scope, or where the client makes changes to the supplied copy or changes required to be carried out after acceptance of the draft design, will be liable to a separate charge.
The customer also agrees that Mike French Creative holds no responsibility for any amendments made by any third party, before or after a design is published.

Licensing
Unless stated otherwise, any design, copywriting, drawing or idea created for the customer by Mike French Creative, or any of its contractors, is licensed for use by the client on a one-time only basis and may not be modified, re-used, or re-distributed in any way or form without the express written consent of Mike French Creative and any of its relevant sub-contractors.
All creative work – where there is a risk that another party make a claim, should be registered by the client with the appropriate authorities prior to publishing or first use or searches and legal advice sought as to its use.
Mike French Creative will not be held responsible for any and all damages resulting from such claims.
Mike French Creative is not responsible for any loss, or consequential loss, non-delivery of products or services, of whatever cause. The customer agrees not to hold Mike French Creative responsible for any such loss or damage. Any claim against Mike French Creative shall be limited to the relevant fee(s) paid by the customer.

Data Formats
The client agrees to Mike French Creative’s definition of acceptable means of supplying data to the company.
Text is to be supplied to Mike French Creative in electronic format as standard text (.txt), MS Word (.docx) or via e-mail, electronic transfer or shared folder.
Images which are supplied in an electronic format are to be provided in a format as prescribed by Mike French Creative via e-mail or electronic transfer. Images must be of a quality suitable for use without any subsequent image processing unless agreed with Mike French Creative, and Mike French Creative will not be held responsible for any image quality which the client later deems to be unacceptable.
Mike French Creative cannot be held responsible for the quality of any images which the client wishes to be scanned from printed materials.
Additional expenses may be incurred for any necessary action, including, but not limited to, photography and art direction, photography searches, media conversion, digital image processing, or data entry services, colour correction and alteration of images

Project Duration
Any indication given by Mike French Creative of a design project’s duration is to be considered by the customer to be an estimation.

Project Completion
Mike French Creative considers any project/work completed upon delivery of the final artwork where no further amendments are made after 10 working days. Any requests to change the final artwork from this date forwards are subject to charge.

Backing Up
Mike French Creative will deliver files in JPEG/Tiff/PDF/Ai format where appropriate but offers no back-up service for any files delivered. It is the client’s responsibility to take due care in ensuring any files delivered are stored digitally safely.

External Factors
In the event of external factors, including but not limited to, bad weather, severe traffic delays, client illness or behaviour, Mike French Creative reserves the right to reschedule or postpone photography sessions.

Design Credits
Where applicable, the customer agrees to allow Mike French Creative to place a small credit on printed material, exhibition displays, advertisements and/or where appropriate to Mike French Creative’s own website. This will usually be in the form of a small logo or line of text placed towards the bottom of the page. The customer also agrees to allow Mike French Creative to place creative and other artwork or photography, along with a link to the client’s site on Mike French Creative’s own website for demonstration purposes and to use any designs in its own publicity and portfolios.

Rights of Refusal
Mike French Creative will not include in any designs, text, images or other data which it deems to be immoral, offensive, obscene or illegal. All advertising material must conform to all standards laid down by all relevant advertising standards authorities. Mike French Creative also reserves the right to refuse to include submitted material without giving reason. In the situation where any images and/or data that Mike French Creative does include in all good faith, and subsequently discovers is in contravention to such Terms and Conditions, the customer is obliged to allow Mike French Creative to remove the contravention without hindrance, or penalty. Mike French Creative is to be held in no way responsible for any such data being included.

Cancellation
Cancellation of projects may be made initially by telephone contact, or e-mail, however, following this, Mike French Creative will need formal notification in writing. The client will then be invoiced for all work completed. Please note: any cancellation which is not formally confirmed in writing and received by Mike French Creative within 10 days of such instruction being issued, will be subject for the full quoted cost of the project. Mike French Creative reserves the right to cancel a project if no communication is made after 30 days of estimate sign off. Completed work to date will be chargeable.

Disclaimer
Mike French Creative makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, for any and all products and/or services that it supplies. Mike French Creative will not be held responsible for any and all damages resulting from products and/or services it supplies. Mike French Creative is not responsible for any loss, or consequential loss of data, or non-delivery of products or services, of whatever cause. While I take reasonable steps to investigate the materials I recommend, I accept no responsibility for the performance or quality of materials or any consequential loss arising from their failure. The customer agrees not to hold Mike French Creative responsible for any such loss or damage. Any claim against Mike French Creative shall be limited to the relevant fee(s) paid by the customer.
Mike French Creative reserves the right to use the services of sub-contractors, agents and suppliers and any work, content, services and usage is bound by their Terms and Conditions. Mike French Creative will not knowingly perform any actions to contravene these and the client also agrees to be so bound.

General
These Terms and Conditions supersede any previous Terms and Conditions distributed in any form. Mike French Creative reserves the right to change any rates and any of the Terms and Conditions at any time and without prior notice.

Acceptance of Terms and Conditions and Quotation
The placement of an order for creative and/or any other services offered by Mike French Creative, by email, verbally or in writing, is deemed to be acceptance of these terms and conditions, which are freely available at www.mikefrenchcreative.co.uk.
An estimate validated by the customer’s written reply by email constitutes acceptance of the estimate and agreement to comply fully with all the Terms and Conditions and forms a Contract for Business (Project Agreement) between the client and Mike French Creative. Mike French Creative reserves the right to use the services of sub-contractors, agents and suppliers and any work, content, services and usage is bound by their Terms and Conditions. Mike French Creative will not knowingly perform any actions to contravene these and the client also agrees to be so bound.

Terms specific to wedding, event and portrait photography.

Payment Schedule
As outlined in the estimate, an initial booking deposit is required to confirm booking acceptance. All outstanding fees are to be paid in full no later than 14 days before the event, unless outlined differently in the estimate.

Any invoice queries must be submitted by email within 10 days of the invoice date.

Failure to Pay
Failure to make payments as agreed above shall result in a breach of this agreement whereby Client(s) shall forfeit all monies paid. Failure by Client(s) to make any payment when due shall entitle Mike French Creative to withhold services and terminate this agreement without any further responsibility to the Client(s) and without refund of any amounts received from Client(s). For services provided by Mike French Creative without an advance deposit or payment from the Client(s), late payments thereafter may bear interest at the rate of 1.5% per month (or the highest rate permitted by law, if less).

Force Majeure
Mike French Creative is not liable for failure to perform resulting from Acts of God (including fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane or other natural disaster), war, terrorist activities, government sanction, labour dispute, strike, lockout or interruption or power failure.

Limit of liability
Mike French Creative declares that every effort will be made to provide high quality photographic services. In the unlikely event of medical, natural, or other emergencies, it may be necessary to retain an alternative photographer. If possible, Mike French Creative will take steps to secure a replacement photographer able and willing to provide a similar package as chosen in this agreement at the same or similar price. In such an event that a suitable replacement is not found, Mike French Creative’s liability is limited to the return of all payments received for the event package. Additionally, in the event that the Client’s photographs should be lost, stolen or destroyed, Mike French Creative’s liability is limited to the return of all payments received for the event. The limit of liability for a partial loss of originals shall be a prorated amount of the exposures lost based on the percentage of total number of originals.