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lawyers charge $150-thousands of dollars per hour. For you to get legal council on this would require an expense of more than $400. If they want you to sign a

by jdavid 18y ago

lawyers charge $150-thousands of dollars per hour. For you to get legal council on this would require an expense of more than $400. If they want you to sign a 17 page legal document, ask for 17 * $650 an hour for your lawyer to read it and give you advice. I think they will get the point! And then you can all go, get a beer, and discuss some reasonable terms like everyone else suggested.

jcl 18y ago
I like this solution, as it sends a message to the roommate that contracts represent an escalation. The verbal agreement was made with the assumption that there would be no need for legal fees. By introducing contracts, the roommate has changed his side of the bargain, so the bargain needs to be renegotiated. For a dormroom friendship price, he should get a dormroom friendship product. The contract indicates he is expecting a professional developer product, so he should expect to pay a professional developer price.
streety 18y ago
I'm not an expert on copyright law. Not in my own country and not in the US (those $s were US$s, right?). Having said this in these ~60 comments you probably have at least 10 different opinions and everyone seems to KNOW that their interpretation is right. Assuming half of the people here actually know what they're talking about then this is clearly insanely complicated and you need professional help. As such my vote, for what value it has, goes behind this idea.
- jdavid 18y ago
  streety, my point was to point out the irony of the situation to his roommate, i am sure they will work it out. This film class seems like a great class, both of them are learning something. I also think that the roommates father is trying to teach him something, and its up to our young entrepreneurial hacker friend here to offer some learning back. My parents have gotten involved in a similar way to our YC friend's roommate, and the only thing it did was make things more complicated. Yes I learned about contracts at an earlier age, but what my folks should have been teaching me was that I WILL HAVE THOUSANDS of great ideas, its not the idea that is important, its the ability to follow through on it. I fear that this 17-page contract has already jeopardized that. I don't think any of the parties involved here should be trying to put all of their eggs in one basket. Their goal should be about fostering the relationship, if this project turns out better than a failure, then the next one has an even better chance of succeeding. I think the goal here is to try to learn as much as you can about building business relationships, and not about the project. I still do business today on handshakes, and sometimes, i move to a contract, but it all depends on the intended length of the relationship.

by jdavid 18y ago

jcl 18y ago

I like this solution, as it sends a message to the roommate that contracts represent an escalation. The verbal agreement was made with the assumption that there would be no need for legal fees. By introducing contracts, the roommate has changed his side of the bargain, so the bargain needs to be renegotiated. For a dormroom friendship price, he should get a dormroom friendship product. The contract indicates he is expecting a professional developer product, so he should expect to pay a professional developer price.

streety 18y ago

I'm not an expert on copyright law. Not in my own country and not in the US (those $s were US$s, right?). Having said this in these ~60 comments you probably have at least 10 different opinions and everyone seems to KNOW that their interpretation is right. Assuming half of the people here actually know what they're talking about then this is clearly insanely complicated and you need professional help. As such my vote, for what value it has, goes behind this idea.

jdavid 18y ago
streety, my point was to point out the irony of the situation to his roommate, i am sure they will work it out. This film class seems like a great class, both of them are learning something. I also think that the roommates father is trying to teach him something, and its up to our young entrepreneurial hacker friend here to offer some learning back. My parents have gotten involved in a similar way to our YC friend's roommate, and the only thing it did was make things more complicated. Yes I learned about contracts at an earlier age, but what my folks should have been teaching me was that I WILL HAVE THOUSANDS of great ideas, its not the idea that is important, its the ability to follow through on it. I fear that this 17-page contract has already jeopardized that. I don't think any of the parties involved here should be trying to put all of their eggs in one basket. Their goal should be about fostering the relationship, if this project turns out better than a failure, then the next one has an even better chance of succeeding. I think the goal here is to try to learn as much as you can about building business relationships, and not about the project. I still do business today on handshakes, and sometimes, i move to a contract, but it all depends on the intended length of the relationship.