Fees
Open-ended consultancy fees are very hard to budget for and can lead to huge
cost over-runs. I will therefore always consider fixed-fee contracts. You tell
me what you want me to do, by when, and how much you are willing to pay, and if I think
I can do it for the money I will undertake to do so within the deadline.
In today's uncertain climate, day or hourly rates are no longer always
an appropriate metric and I would rather be working for less than not working at all.
Consultancy / Employment
I am available now for temporary, contract or permanent work
Skills and Specialisms
I have a broad range of technical, legal and commercial skills and
am a confident and fluent communicator. My particular strengths lie
at the boundary between the technical and the commercial, translating
technical concepts into legal and commercial language (technical authorship,
legal drafting etc) and vice-versa: data architecture, metadata, standards.
Copyright Licensing
I have specialised in copyright licensing for many years, and will draft licence
agreements and advise on the commercial and legal aspects of different forms of licence
Fair Licensing
Fair licensing is licensing that is fair to both licensor and licensee. It aims to
permit everything that the licensee needs to do with the material being licensed in
consideration of an agreed, equitable licence fee. Fair licensing is a principle, based
on mutual understanding of both sides' legitimate requirements, and is central to my
approach to copyright licensing.
Collective Licensing
For many secondary uses of copyright works, collective licensing is the most efficient
form. I have extensive experience of collective licensing
Creative Commons and GPL Licences
In many cases, Creative Commons (for literary content) or the GPL (for software) are
the most appropriate licences. They are not universal solutions; deciding whether or not
to adopt such a licence is a commercial decision needing careful consideration depending
on the enterprise's commercial objectives. I will provide support and information to assist
clients in reaching the right decision for their business
Bespoke Licences
Standard boiler-plate or model licences are usually preferable to using bespoke licences,
since a proliferation of licence terms makes compliance harder for the licensee. However,
in some cases, bespoke licences are desirable and I will advise accordingly
Negotiating to Consensus
Many areas of business, including copyright licensing, present seemingly intractable
problems of negotiation, with multiple interest groups each having different axes to grind
I will manage multi-partite negotiations leading to consensus on principle and,
eventually, detailed terms. This is not easy and such negotiations can be protracted,
but provided that all parties accept that agreement is desirable (but not the shape
of the final agreement), it is usually possible to reach a resolution. The key
is to provide everyone with a ladder to climb down, which requires intense engagement
with each party's position. The Chatham House Rule is often an essential part of such negotiations
Writing
Manuals, guidelines, brochures and documentation need to be carefully drafted to convey
complex technical and or legal positions clearly and simply.
This is an under-rated skill, and a lot of documentation merely obfuscates (like that phrase).
I have experience of drafting guidelines and similar documents and can help you to
produce high-quality documentation that your users will find straightforward to
understand.