Commercial Lawyers for Marketing & Creative Agencies
Client service agreements, retainers, scopes of work, IP ownership, freelancer and influencer contracts, and advertising compliance — for agencies that want to get paid for the work and keep the rights they should keep.
Know what you need? Request a fixed-fee quote and upload your documents. Not sure of scope? Book a short call with a senior lawyer instead.
Who we help
Agency work is sold on relationships and delivered on scopes. When the relationship is good, nobody reads the contract. When a campaign slips, a client changes direction mid-project, or a retainer is cancelled with two weeks' notice, the contract is the only thing that matters — and agency contracts are often a proposal deck, an email thread and a set of terms copied from a previous agency.
Envision Legal acts for marketing, digital, creative, advertising, PR and production agencies on the documents that govern client work: master service agreements and retainer terms, scopes and change control, payment and cancellation terms, ownership and licensing of creative work, portfolio rights, subcontractor and freelancer agreements, influencer and talent contracts, and compliance with the Australian Consumer Law and industry codes for the campaigns you run.
We also handle the agency's own commercial life — employment contracts and restraints for account and creative staff, shareholder arrangements between founders, and agency sales and mergers.
How we help
Legal services we provide
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Client service agreements and retainers
Master agreements and retainer terms with clear deliverables, approval processes, fees, payment timing, notice periods and what happens to unused retainer hours.
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Scopes of work and change control
Statements of work that define deliverables, rounds of revisions and assumptions, with a change mechanism that turns scope creep into a variation rather than a dispute.
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IP ownership, licensing and portfolio rights
Terms that transfer rights to final deliverables on payment, retain your pre-existing tools and concepts, and preserve your right to showcase the work.
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Freelancer and subcontractor agreements
Agreements that assign IP to the agency, deal with moral rights, confidentiality and non-solicitation, and manage contractor classification risk.
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Influencer and talent agreements
Influencer, ambassador, presenter and model agreements with usage rights, exclusivity, disclosure obligations and content approval terms.
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Advertising and consumer law compliance
Review of campaigns, claims, competitions, testimonials and influencer disclosures against the Australian Consumer Law and AANA codes.
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Payment, cancellation and delay terms
Deposit, milestone and late payment terms, client-caused delay provisions and cancellation fees that hold up.
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Liability and indemnities
Caps tied to project fees, exclusions for client-supplied content and claims, and indemnities that run both ways where they should.
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Employment contracts and restraints
Contracts for account managers, strategists and creatives with confidentiality, IP and non-solicitation terms.
Common legal issues
Situations we are usually brought in on
“A client refuses to pay the final invoice because the project 'wasn't what they expected'.”
If the scope was a proposal deck and the approvals were verbal, the client has room to argue. A signed SOW with defined deliverables, revision rounds and an approval process removes most of that room.
“A former client is still using concepts from the pitch you lost.”
Whether you have a claim depends on what was disclosed, under what terms, and whether the concepts are protected. Pitch terms and confidentiality wording exist for this situation.
“A freelancer claims ownership of the campaign artwork.”
Without a written assignment, a freelancer generally owns copyright in what they create. Your client contract promised to transfer that copyright. The freelancer agreement is the missing link.
“An influencer posts without the required disclosure and the ACCC takes an interest.”
The brand, the agency and the influencer can all be exposed for misleading conduct. The influencer agreement should mandate disclosure, give approval rights and allocate responsibility.
“A retainer client terminates on two weeks' notice after you have hired for the account.”
Notice periods, minimum terms and transition fees are the only protection. Many agency retainers are terminable at will because the terms never addressed it.
“A campaign claim is challenged by a competitor as misleading.”
Comparative claims, 'best', 'fastest' and pricing claims all need substantiation. The agency's exposure depends on the client contract and who signed off on the claim.
Documents we can help with
- Master services agreement for agency clients
- Retainer agreement and monthly services terms
- Statement of work, creative brief and change request form
- Pitch and proposal confidentiality terms
- IP assignment and licence terms for deliverables
- Freelancer and subcontractor agreement with IP assignment
- Influencer, ambassador and talent agreement
- Competition and promotion terms and conditions
- Website terms and privacy policy for agency and client sites
- Employment contracts for account, strategy and creative staff
- Shareholders agreement between agency founders
When to involve a commercial lawyer
- Before issuing a new MSA or retainer to clients, or when your terms are a proposal template
- When a large client sends its own agency agreement or procurement terms
- Before engaging freelancers or production partners on client work
- Before launching influencer, competition or comparative advertising campaigns
- When a client disputes an invoice, cancels a retainer or claims ownership of work
- When a key account lead gives notice
- When founders want to formalise ownership or plan a sale
Why Envision Legal
Commercial context, not just legal risk
- Senior commercial lawyers do the work — you deal directly with the person advising you, not a rotating cast of juniors.
- Our lawyers have worked inside businesses as well as in law firms, so advice is framed around the commercial decision, not just the legal risk.
- Fixed fees for scoped work, agreed before we start, so legal spend is predictable.
- Plain-English drafting and advice that your team and your customers can actually use.
- A technology-enabled service model — secure document upload, client portal and fast turnaround — without the overhead of a large firm.
- Ongoing support is available through fractional general counsel arrangements when a business needs more than one-off documents.
Related legal services
FAQs
- Who owns the creative work an agency produces for a client?
- Under Australian copyright law, the agency (or its employees' employer) generally owns what it creates unless the contract assigns it. Most client agreements transfer ownership of final deliverables on payment while the agency retains pre-existing materials and tools. If the agency used freelancers, the agency needs an assignment from them first. Your contracts should deal with all three layers.
- Can an agency keep the right to show client work in its portfolio?
- Only if the contract says so, or the client agrees. A short portfolio and credit clause, subject to confidentiality and embargo periods, is standard and rarely resisted if it is in the agreement from the start.
- What should a marketing agency's terms say about cancellation?
- At minimum: the notice period, whether fees for the notice period are payable, treatment of work in progress and third-party costs already committed, and handover obligations. Retainers should also address minimum terms and what happens to unused hours.
- Is the agency liable if a client's advertising claim is misleading?
- Potentially. The Australian Consumer Law applies to anyone involved in the conduct, and the ACCC has pursued agencies as well as brands. The client agreement should allocate responsibility for claim substantiation and client-supplied content, and the agency should have a review process for high-risk claims.
- Do influencer agreements need to address disclosure?
- Yes. Undisclosed paid content can be misleading conduct under the Australian Consumer Law, and the AANA and Ad Standards codes require clear disclosure. The agreement should require it, give the agency and brand approval rights, and provide remedies if the influencer fails to comply.
- Do agencies need contractor agreements with freelancers?
- Strongly recommended. Without one, the freelancer owns the copyright, there is no confidentiality obligation, and the agency's classification risk is unmanaged. A standard freelancer agreement with IP assignment and moral rights consent is a short, fixed-fee document.
- How much does it cost to have agency terms drafted?
- An MSA and SOW template, a freelancer agreement or an influencer agreement are each quoted as a fixed fee once we understand your services and client mix. Request a quote and we will confirm scope and price.
Talk to us
Need commercial legal support for your agency?
Send us a note about what you're working on. We'll respond within one business day and, if we're a fit, book a free 15-minute consultation with a senior lawyer.