Contract Advice needed

[clairemackaness]

Hi legal eagles. I have loaned some paintings to a bar and have an excellent relationship with the manager, however he has contacted me to say he might be leaving and suggested we drew up an agreement about the painting loan incase of any problmes with new management.

Does the following look reasonable:?

AGREEMENT OF POSSESSION

Between Claire Mackaness (herein named the artist) and The Slug & Lettuce Brentwood (herein named the bar)

Dated : 11th October 2005

This contract lays out a temporary possession agreement of three paintings entitled Lust (a 3 part work) Aquarius and Havana Nights totalling 5 canvas’s in all.

Said three paintings were hung for temporary exhibition at the bar on the 10th August 2005. All three paintings are to remain in the bar until the bar no longer requires them at which point the artist shall be contacted to remove the paintings within 7 days. Or until 1st October 2006 at which point the artist will remove the paintings or an extension to this agreement shall be agreed between the artist and the bar.

During the period 10th August 2005 – 1st October 2006 said 3 paintings remain the possession of the artist and are understood to be on loan to the bar for the period of time laid out in this agreement.

Signed




Jim Pugh – Manager Slug & Lettuce

_____________________________

Claire Mackaness – Contemporary Artist

_________________________________

[bitsnstuff]

I don't know from a legal standpoint, but I would put 'said 5 paintings' in that last part to avoid any confusion over the number of actual canvasses.

Kate

[FE]

Seems ok to me but what about damage to the paintings whilst in the bar? who is responsible?

FE

[Astaroth]

I am not a legal proffessional but in my none expert opinion I would want more to be added to the agreement.

At present everything they have said in it is to their benefit - ie you cant take them back before the given date and you must collect them within 7 days of them deciding they dont want them any more if before the given date.

If the agreement was to be formalised I would want (1) definative conformation that the bar is responsible for any damage/ losses caused to them whilst in their possession (2) how the value of the paintings will be calculated (ie is it just the cost of materials or is it the retail value of them if they were "new"). These things technically dont have to be in the agreement but may prevent arguements if there were issues.

I know when ever I send out "agreements" to other companies we always slant them to our favour (like making a none disclosure agreement only binding to the other party) and 99% of the time they come back with amendments to make it more equally favourable (eg the NDA being binding on both parties)

This is only my 2p worth and I am sure some true legal eagles will be able to give more professional advice

[mumper]

Claire, I think you need to rewrite the contract to take in all the points made by the first 3 posters, especially the issues on responsibility for damages.

[clairemackaness]

Sorry perhaps I should have said something about this before I posted the contract. I was the person who wrote this and with regards to damage nobody is responsible they are not insured and the bar has always said from the out set they could not afford to pay if they were damaged. I still went ahead with it though as the paintings were sponsored by another company and they paid for all the materials, so even if they all got covered in fag burns, I wont have lost out. I only want them back as otherwise they will go in the bin and if they are still ok I can probably sell them on. The bar held a launch night for me with excellent press coverage so Ihave already got everything I wanted out of the venture.

The only reason this agreement has been drawn up is so that when the new manager comes in he doesn't think that he owns the work.

[bwglaw]

Sorry perhaps I should have said something about this before I posted the contract. I was the person who wrote this and with regards to damage nobody is responsible they are not insured and the bar has always said from the out set they could not afford to pay if they were damaged. I still went ahead with it though as the paintings were sponsored by another company and they paid for all the materials, so even if they all got covered in fag burns, I wont have lost out. I only want them back as otherwise they will go in the bin and if they are still ok I can probably sell them on. The bar held a launch night for me with excellent press coverage so Ihave already got everything I wanted out of the venture.

The only reason this agreement has been drawn up is so that when the new manager comes in he doesn't think that he owns the work.

Claire - I will make some comments but very busy at moment - will comment shortly

[DuaneJackson]

Claire, at the forthcoming networking event I mentioned to you in another topic we also have a speaker specialising in contracts. He is an in-house lawyer at Ford I think and specialises mainly in supplier/manufacturer type contracts but he might be able to help.

http://www.trustnetworkers.com/upcomingevents.asp.

Failing that, I can get you some info about a free drop-in centre or telephone number for advice on this kind of stuff if you don't get any joy from response to this topic.

[fastfences]

Hi Claire,

I only want them back as otherwise they will go in the bin and if they are still ok I can probably sell them on.

Gee, I hope that if I decide to buy 'Solitude' it won't be one that was destined for the bin! Or might that actually increase its value?
Cheers, Nigel :lol:

[bwglaw]

Hi legal eagles. I have loaned some paintings to a bar and have an excellent relationship with the manager, however he has contacted me to say he might be leaving and suggested we drew up an agreement about the painting loan incase of any problmes with new management.

Does the following look reasonable:?

AGREEMENT OF POSSESSION

Between Claire Mackaness (herein named the artist) and The Slug & Lettuce Brentwood (herein named the bar)

Dated : 11th October 2005

This contract lays out a temporary possession agreement of three paintings entitled Lust (a 3 part work) Aquarius and Havana Nights totalling 5 canvas’s in all.

Said three paintings were hung for temporary exhibition at the bar on the 10th August 2005. All three paintings are to remain in the bar until the bar no longer requires them at which point the artist shall be contacted to remove the paintings within 7 days. Or until 1st October 2006 at which point the artist will remove the paintings or an extension to this agreement shall be agreed between the artist and the bar.

During the period 10th August 2005 – 1st October 2006 said 3 paintings remain the possession of the artist and are understood to be on loan to the bar for the period of time laid out in this agreement.

Signed




Jim Pugh – Manager Slug & Lettuce

_____________________________

Claire Mackaness – Contemporary Artist

_________________________________


Claire

I said I would comment - have been very busy preparing and attending Court.

I have had a quick look at the agreement - generally OK but would suggest you put them into bitesize numerical clauses with clear sub-headings.

You might wish to include a description of each item, including size, colours, quantity etc. You could by all means refer to an appendix showing photos of all pictures.

You should also include a clause that if the pictures are damaged, lost or not returned by the date given you are entitled to instigate recovery action and recover legal costs to the same. In the agreement it would be useful to state the value of each picture so that there is little to dispute in the event of legal action - it will also outline how much you seek to recover.

You may wish to include a clause to entitle the borrower to sell the pictures at £X and retain £X as commission

Hope the above helps

[Johill]

Hi

You might want to come along to this workshop on How to prevent common mistakes and avoid legal pitfalls - the trainer is Yvette Hoskings-James from Your Learned Friend and she is going to be talking about contracts - full details here:

http://affinitytrading.com/article.php?story=20051005091224132

Regards

Jo