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Posted by DJ Dowlz on Sep-14-2002 03:48:

Legal business

Okay the story is that I'm doing somebody's 21st birthday tonight. Anyway, I've been doing these for ages, but I've just realised that I have two potential theoretical problems.

(1) Some dickhead somehow manages to knock over my speakers and hits themselves in the head and they end up in a coma
(2) Somebody in the crowd spills beer all over my hired speakers, thus ruining them, meaning I have to pay for the damages

Are there any legal documents which I can get the birthday girl to sign so that if anything happens it's her fault, not mine?

Posted by Kid Lax on Sep-14-2002 05:13:

im pretty sure that since you are renting the equipment that it is your responsibility for whatever happens to them

if you're that worried that something may happen ,and you want a fullproof plan to not be responsible...make her rent it under her name

though if it's too late for that...i guess you could just make up a quick written contract saying that she understands that if there is any damage done to that she be held responsible for covering the costs, etc.
and make sure to date it

now i doubt the place you rented it from will care that 'she signed a contract claiming responsibility'...they'll just want their money, they don't care who its from or who they fuck over (been in this situation before, it sucks)

however if you have the contract with her signature on it, and a winess' signature (just in case, hell get a couple witness', including people who are close to her so if she says that you made up the contract then her best friends signature is on there...dun dun duuun), im sure you could take her to court...though this is just me assuming

i suggest you just knock on wood and hope nothing goes wrong
why don't you assign people to watch over each piece of equipment like on seinfeld?

Posted by hapamoto on Sep-14-2002 05:33:

im not sure how laws work in your country, but using common sense as a guide, u have some options according to the situation..
first off, it depends on if this party is for a friend because then the issues get touchy about money. so lets assume this party is not for a close friend, so in that case, u make up a quick written contract (in the US a verbal agreement is as good as written but about a million and a half times harder to prove) stating that they understand that they are responsible for any damages that are incurred and liable for payments/debts that you will incurr as a result of the event.. i'm pretty sure u had to sign something like that when u rented the equipment in the first place.. now if its for a friends party, tell them up front that they gotta pay for anything and hopefully they will try to keep better control of the people at the party.. otherwise set ur speakers up stairs or just out of the way of drunks

Posted by darkmerc on Sep-14-2002 06:29:

quote:
Originally posted by Kid Lax
why don't you assign people to watch over each piece of equipment like on seinfeld?

that was a great epi..

Anyway, if it's a friend.. they should be willing to help pay for some damages because you were after all playing it for them etc..

If not, you should just try to appeal to their courteous side saying basically you didn't expect any of this happen.. or you could play up the old guilt trip card

Since you didn't mention anything about signing any sort of agreement beforehand you're going to have to just hope they're nice people b/c they won't be legally bound to pay/take blame. Good luck with this

Posted by hey cheggy on Sep-14-2002 14:08:

I did a friend's party once and someone spilled drink through the amp. Of course it was fuxured, but they wouldn't pay for it. They said they would and then ignored me for three weeks and went back home to Italy. Not that he couldn't afford it, paying $470 a week rent.

You'd be surprised how much harder it is to get money out of friends and rich people than it is out of strangers.

Posted by DJ Dowlz on Sep-14-2002 17:28:

Well you'll be glad to know that I've now done the gig and nobody died of cerebral haemorrhage Still, I'm gonna look into this a little more, just to be safe.

Posted by OBC on Sep-15-2002 00:26:

standard release of liability

all you need is a standard release of liability...

this makes the signor legally responsible for the gear.

Try searching on google for release of liability, and then cut and paste the parts that you want together.

as long as you sign it, and the client signs it, you can persue the matter legally after any damage occurs

peace

obc