Entertainment Industry

[Dollie]

My daughter is a singer, who often works with a small-time theatrical agency on the West Coast. She was asked to do a 3-week show over Xmas 2009 and had what she thought was a verbal agreement/contract. That is to say, she said yes to her agent - she would do the show. That was in February. Since then, no written contract has been produced, nothing has been signed, and no money/fees have been discussed, although the general understanding was that this would be drawn up eventually, and she was doing the show. She has now been offered some alternative work at xmas by a rival agent, which she would like to take, as she knows it will be nearly double the money that her usual agent would offer her, but he says no she cannot pull out as they have a verbal contract and he will sue her. Can he do this when there is nothing in writing and no fees were discussed? Also, on her current contract which she is working for him at the moment in another show, his contract states at the bottom, that either side, management or artiste can pull out of the contract in writing, provided it is not within 21 days of the productions first show date. He uses the same contracts for all his productions, so surely, even if my daughter had signed a contract for the xmas show, she would have a get-out clause as above. Can you help please?

[Hammer]

I reckon that she doesn�t have a contract yet. She has discussed the possibility of performing, and has stated that in principle she is interested. The contract would be along the lines of �I�ll sing at your event and you will pay me �x� but she hasn�t agreed to the fee yet, that is still up for negotiation. It might be slightly different if she always works for a standard fee, but from the sound of your post that is not the case.

Verbal contracts are legally binding, but the agent would have a hard time proving anything in court, particularly if his standard contract allows a cancellation period. Remember it is for him to prove breach of contract (if one even existed) not for your daughter to disprove it. She could always sign the contract (checking that the cancellation clause is in there first) and then cancel according to the terms.

I reckon she has 3 choices.
1. Suffer it and do the show
2. Nogotiate hard and ask for the same money she would get for the other show before formally agreeing
3. Call his bluff and cancel.

I guess it depends on how much she needs this agent for future work and whether he will bear a grudge.

[JimmyCooper]

A verbal contract isn't woth the paper it is written on.

Agent: I told you about Xmas 2009 in February
Your daughter: No you didn't

End of story!!

[JimmyCooper]

A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it is written on.

Agent: I told you about Xmas 2009 in February
Your daughter: No you didn't

End of story!!

[Dollie]

thank you both for your informative answers. Doll x