Advice please

[Michelle B]

Can someone please give me some advice on a problem I have?

I started shooting content for my website last summer and went into partnership with a well known company who post on here. We went 50/50 on costs and were splitting all the money we get from the site 50/50.

Anyway I've shot about 8-10 scenes and paid half to the costs of make-up artists and talent costing me about ?4000. I've been asking for copies of all content for about 5 months now and just keep getting excuses that they're busy.

My site went live at the beginning of December and I've been asking for the password to see how many members I've had but again I've had excuse after excuse over the last 2 months. On top of this I've had no payments for the 2 months my website's been live. I'm also owed ?185 from a recent scene.

7 months after going into partnership with this guy I've still got no copies of my content, I don't know how many members I have, or how much my site is making, and I've had no payments whatsoever.

Now he says his friend is in hospital and cannot do anything for a while.

Just wondering if I'm being impatient or a total mug!

Thanks

Michelle B xxx

[superior]

Sounds like you are being taken for a fool - I would demand a face to face meeting immediately to sort out the issues and if they dont agree then start legal proceedings. Did you have a legal contract with them or was it all done on the basis of a handshake??

[ukpublicist]

Well if he can take the time to contact you to tell you his woes or that he's too busy, then he's not too busy. It only takes a sec to email you the site access details. If he can find the time to upload the content to the site he can find the time to get you a copy. Act asap as it's your image being used.

[MelsMovies]

Threaten legal action, you can file small claims online for free, and it's him who'll have to turn up to court and listen while your complaint is read out.

If you're really want to sort it, ring this local paper and and give them the court date. You'd be surprised how quickly things get cleared up that way.

Luv Mel xxx

PS - if you need help, mail me.

[Keni]

I got some cousins in town that can pay a 'visit' hun...

In all seriousness though take him to court, sounds like a piss take to me.

We'll have a chat when we meet on Wednesday ok hun, what ever you do, dont part with anymore cash!

Stay sexy,

Keni x

[Fraser]

Sounds like you've been ripped off Michelle. No professional webmaster should treat you like that. We run several websites and each girl is given a log in to her site before it opens. You should have a sub account with the Credit Card processor so you can access your stats and the money should be divided using a split agreement with CCBill (or whoever you use) and you should get your cheques directly from them not the webmaster.

Have you got a contract with this person or anything in writing? If not it's going to be hard to prove anything in court. Anyone thinking of going into partnership should have something in writing, even if it's only a letter stating what the deal is.

[Jacques]

Get a paper trail ready - all communication, emails etc. then have a chat to Keni. The guy is taking the piss.

And just to correct Mel (sorry), there is is sliding scale with regards to claiming money, more here where you can also register your claim

[Michelle B]

Thanks everyone.

The only paperwork from the scenes are invoices and copies of model releases from the talent and make-up artists, so there's proof of the scenes and money I paid.

I haven't signed model releases myself for any of the scenes I shot.

I don't think he's trying to rip me off. More like he's just being lazy. I really can't see why putting the content on some dvds takes 7 months, or sending me a password to check out my stats.

[MelsMovies]

If he doesn't have signed model releases, contact the hosting company and let them know he's breaking copyright, that'll get a notice from them to him saying that they're going to pull the site.

If you haven't made any money, you've got nothing to loss.

Mel xxx

[Jonone]

It doesn't sound to me like you're being impatient. Every request you've made has been reasonable ... you're not asking for anything to which you're not entitled, and at the moment your professionalism and goodwill is not being mirrored by the business practice of your partner.

I don't know what leverage you have, although reading the thread there seems to be a few suggestions. I sincerely hope it is a combination of disorganization, laziness and personal circumstances, the thing is that as a business partner you ARE as important as many of the other things which are being given priority, and right now you're out-of-pocket and 'out of the loop' in terms of communication. I hope it resolves itself soon.