Terms of Service

Please find below the terms of service for this website, owned and operated by Crystal Smith, Freelance Writer (sole proprietor). By using this site you are agreeing to these terms. 

For details on privacy policy, please visit the Privacy Policy page.

Introduction

The terms of service cover: use of the site, copyright, user-generated content, disclaimers and limitations of liability, termination of access, links to third party websites, force majeure, fees and policies, writing samples, dispute resolution, indemnity, applicable laws, and contact information. 
Crystal reserves the right to update this policy and it may be changed from time to time; please check it regularly to ensure you are knowledgeable of the most recent version of the policy.

Use of the Website

Users are invited to comment on blog posts under the following conditions: no spamming, hacking or illegal activities and no racist, sexist, ableist or other offensive language. Users who do not abide by these rules will be blocked from the site.

Copyright

The content of this website (all text and images) is copyright of Crystal Smith, save for stock photography images which are credited. All rights expressly reserved.

The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form (unaltered including being stretched, compressed, coloured or altered in any way so as to distort content from its original proportions or format) with copyright acknowledged, on a temporary basis for informational, non-commercial use. Any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of Crystal Smith.

User-Generated Content

Users who submit comments agree to the following: 

  • by submitting content, users grant Crystal a license to use, display, or distribute it on this website
  • no offensive or illegal content nor any that infringes on the copyright of others. 

Disclaimers and Limitations of Liability

This site is provided as it is. Crystal does not guarantee it will be free of errors or interruptions. 

Crystal Smith assumes no responsibility, and shall not be liable for, any damages to, or viruses that may infect your computer equipment or other property as a result of your access to, use of, or browsing on this website or any external linked sites or your downloading of any materials, text, audio or video files or images from this website or any linked sites. Crystal is not liable for any injury, loss, claim, damage of any kind including any special, punitive, direct, indirect, damages which arise out of or are in any way connected with any use of this website or any linked site or content found on this site or any other.

Termination of Access

Any breach of these terms of service may result in cancellation of a user’s access to Crystal Smith’s website.

Links to Third Party Websites

Crystal Smith provides hyperlinks to other websites. Crystal does not control third party websites and is not responsible for their content. Crystal does not endorse, recommend or approve any third party website hyperlinked from this site nor accept any liability to any person for the content available through any such hyperlink. Nor is she responsible for the privacy policies of third party sites. She recommends that you read the privacy policy of other sites so you are fully aware of how they collect information and how they use collected information.

Force Majeure

In the case of unforeseeable events that are out of control of both Crystal and the client, neither party will be held liable or charged penalties if the terms of a work agreement cannot be met. A force majeure event must affect either party directly and cannot be caused by either party. Such events include but are not limited to: 

  • Natural events, like natural disasters (fire, flood, tornado etc.); pandemics, epidemics, or other public health emergencies; famine, plague or other calamities; any government-mandated lockdowns related to public health emergencies.
  • Commercial issues, like strikes, lockouts or other labour disputes but not those caused by employment policies or the client directly.
  • Political issues, like public disturbances (violent demonstrations, civil commotion, acts of war, blockades, embargos etc.); legal prohibitions against the client preventing them from conducting business, not including any event arising from the client’s failure to comply with any law or order from a government authority.

The party affected by the event must notify the other of changes in their ability to fulfill their end of a contract as soon as possible and must also exercise due diligence to protect from unexpected situations, and must make best efforts to minimize the impact of any force majeure event.

In the case of a force majeure event, the contract might be put on pause until the situation improves or could be terminated without penalties.

Fees and Policies

For all services a project agreement will be signed by both parties. This document will outline the scope of the project and the costs and provisions for terminating the agreement.

Although Crystal strives to offer flat rates for most writing projects, fees are negotiable and based upon the scope of the project. A fee of $30 CDN is charged for editing. 

An initial phone meeting or email discussion will be held between Crystal and the client to discuss the parameters of the project. There will be no charge for this initial phone call. Crystal will draw up a work agreement after this phone call.

Research Time

An estimate of research time is provided as part of the project plan. Research time is billable at the standard rate.

Delivery

All documents are delivered electronically in MS Word format unless an alternate format has been discussed and entered into the work agreement.

Review Time

Each project agreement includes a timeline that allows for client review of the finished product. The project agreement also includes time for implementation of any suggested changes. The project agreement will specify the hourly rate for any work beyond that agreed to in the original project plan.

Payment

Payment schedules vary, depending on the length of the project. An advance of 30% is required. Payments are made by electronic funds transfer. Late payments (beyond 30 days) are charged interest at 3% per month.

Writing Samples

Crystal Smith reserves the right to use written materials she creates under her own name in case studies and samples on this site, under the following conditions:

  • The material is not deemed a trade secret or confidential corporate information, i.e. it appears in the public domain either as marketing materials, on a corporate website, etc.
  • Any materials that are available only to your paying clients/members (like software documentation, newsletters etc.) are not used without your express written consent.
  • If a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement has been signed, Crystal Smith always seeks your express written consent before using samples on this site or in any other promotional materials.

Clients may ask Crystal to remove all corporate identifiers, thereby removing any association with their business from the sample. Crystal always respects this request and removes any identifying information from materials.

Dispute Resolution

In the unlikely event of a dispute arising between Crystal Smith and a client, a neutral mediator will be selected to come to a resolution. Mediation is voluntary and non-binding. If a resolution cannot be reached via mediation, Crystal reserves the right to pursue litigation in a court of law.

Indemnity

Writing and editing are intrinsically processes of offering advice and suggestions to clients. In addition to offering such advice and suggestions, Crystal’s responsibility is limited to notifying the client of any unresolved differences before the work proceeds to the next stage of production. While Crystal will make every effort to bring questionable material to the attention of the client, the client agrees to indemnify and save harmless Crystal from any and all claims or demands, including legal fees, arising out of any alleged libel or copyright infringement committed by the client in creating the work.

Applicable Laws

The terms of this agreement shall be interpreted according to the laws of Ontario, Canada. 

Contact

For full contact information, visit Crystal’s Contact page.

Photo of time clock by Joshua Olsen on Unsplash.