TOS advice needed!

[rhyn ghye]

I'm currently setting up a new TOS for when I open my services again once my space is renovated.
I haven't posted a lot on A_B but I've been a long-time post stalker and I've seen countless times commenters say how TOS's aren't a legally binding contract.
My TOS in its current state says what a person requesting my services can't do after I've completed and publicly posted said service.
With that in mind, how do I protect myself with my TOS from people who figure out I can't legally hold them to it?
On a side note, no money is passing hands, it's there for more of a protection of my good name online.

The TOS: (It's for character reviews and this fandom I'm doing them for is "particular" about characters and reviews)

1) By submitting you OC (Original Character) in the comment section below and specifying for review you are agreeing to the rest of this T.O.S.
2) All reviews are posted publicly, you may not ask for a review to be private.
3) In the case of a W.I.P. (Work-in-progress) character, you will not send me updates on the character after you have submitted the character to me.
4) I am not responsible for any unwanted comments or extra critiques by third parties after or before the post of the review.
5) You have asked me specifically to review your character, I have not randomly chosen a character to review without your permission.
6) This is a character that you want a critique and honest opinion on.
7) I own nothing in the review except my own words and any drawings that I myself have made for the video or thumbnail.
8) I do not attack, favor, or hold grudges against people, reviews are neutral and I do not rate a character depending on my relationship with the character's creator.
9) The character that you submit to me is your original character (not a friend's character) created on original or credited lines and is not heavily influenced by another character or copies one completely.
10) You will not rush me or ask that I make your review priority.

Comments

[jamesalesto.livejournal.com]

What are you trying to specify in your ToS? That would help the community answer your question better.

[rhyn ghye (from livejournal.com)]

A few things, I've added the TOS into the post.

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

It may be good to link your ToS to this post if you're comfortable with that! That way we can tell you what specifically doesn't protect you in it, and what does.

[rhyn ghye (from livejournal.com)]

I've added it.

[sableantelope.livejournal.com]

"With that in mind, how do I protect myself with my TOS from people who figure out I can't legally hold them to it?"



By having a contract and a TOS (a TOS that's part of the contract in particular).

Not trying to be snarky that's literally the way to do. If you want to legally hold someone to a deal you make a contract that includes at the very least a simple buyer's agreement. (edit just to add: once you exchange consideration your deal's going to ruled based on a basic buyer's agreement anyways, if you want to add other rules to the deal then that's when get fancy with the TOS)

Have your terms in part of your contract and be sure they're legally reasonable. Never going to be able to enforce unreasonable terms no matter how you write it.


Honestly, I will never, EVER understand the fandom's love of TOS over a proper contract. With the shiney new e-sig rules no excuses on not having proper contracts anymore. You don't even have to sign/scan/sign anymore.

[rhyn ghye (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you for the info!
I won't be attempting an actual contract unless a large sum of money changes hands. I've added the TOS into the post now and I'm not trying to get anyone to abide to my rules against any laws, but it's there to save face in the fandom I'm doing my service for since that fandom can be pretty picky (to say the least) about reviews and just about any criticism.

[sableantelope.livejournal.com]

Wait...is *any* money changing hands here ever? I just assumed from it being posted here to A_B that at some point money was involved.

Blanket rule: if any money or valued consideration is changing hands use a contract.

This honestly looks less like a business deal, or something even needing a TOS, and more like you're just writing behaviour guidelines you want people to follow interacting with you/interacting with the review.

I guess it is terms for partaking of your 'service' but it's not a TOS in the contract law sense. *L*

Not sure what advice I can give you on those rules you wrote other than to point out a typo(you not your).

I'd assume that really what covers these interactions from an over-reaching point of view is the user agreement of the website their being hosted on.

Afraid I'm not always the best at social graces advice, I better just stick to the legal stuff advice.

[honeynuggets.livejournal.com]

I think this is more like behaviour guidelines than a TOS. I agree with sableantelope, from a legal standpoint most of these guidelines would likely already be covered by most user agreements. That being said, I've done big raffles and such before and I totally get that you might need these!

I think they could be a little more condensed -- #3 and #10 could be combined (something like "You may not contact me to give me updates on the character you have submitted, or to ask me to finish your review faster."), #5 could be combined with #6 and #9 ("The OC you submit must be your own (not your friend's or a heavily influenced/copied character), and by submitting an OC you are giving me permission to give you an honest critique and opinion on it.").

I think that #2, #4, and #8 are fine as-is. I kind of question the need for #7 but if you feel like you need the disclaimer then it's fine as-is.

I don't know if you have any guidelines for after the review is given, but you might want to add something like "You are under no obligation to edit your character following my review. If you do choose to edit your character, there is no need to credit me for the edits I've suggested." Maybe consider making a rule about whether people can re-submit a character that you've already reviewed?