Getting an AI-drafted freelance contract checked

A freelancer's contract produced with an AI drafting tool sets out the project, the fee and the deadline and, in most tools, borrows its intellectual property, cancellation and payment terms from US freelance templates. Under English law the freelancer owns the work unless the contract assigns it, a cancellation charge is enforceable only if it reflects a legitimate interest, and a client who is a consumer has rights the contract cannot remove. I review the contract against English law and the way the freelancer works, and return it marked up with tracked changes, a clean copy and a written explanation of the changes, for a fixed fee of £495 in three working days.

Who this is for

Freelance designers, writers, developers, photographers, videographers, illustrators, editors, marketers and other creative and professional freelancers in England and Wales who have drafted their own client contract or terms using an AI tool, and businesses that have drafted terms to engage freelancers the same way. The review is of the client's own document.

What the review checks in an AI-drafted freelance contract

Scope, deliverables, revisions and the brief

The review checks that the services and deliverables are defined by reference to the brief, that the number of revision rounds is stated with a rate for further rounds, that the client's dependencies (content, feedback, approvals) are obligations with consequences for the timetable, and that the deadline is an estimate unless the freelancer intends to be bound by it. An AI draft may describe the scope in general terms that make every request part of the fee, and the review draws the line so that additional work is chargeable.

Ownership of the work and the licence the client gets

Under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 the freelancer owns the copyright in the work, and an assignment to the client is effective only if in writing signed by the freelancer under section 90. AI drafts take one of two wrong positions: a US 'work made for hire' clause, which has no effect under English law, or an assignment of everything including the freelancer's tools and templates. The review drafts an assignment or a licence of the deliverables taking effect on payment, a licence of the freelancer's pre-existing materials, the freelancer's right to use the work in a portfolio, and, where the freelancer wants to keep them, the moral rights in section 77 to be identified.

Kill fees, cancellation and the deposit

A cancellation charge or kill fee is enforceable if it reflects the freelancer's legitimate interest in the engagement, work done and time reserved, and is not out of all proportion to it, applying Cavendish Square Holding BV v Makdessi [2015] UKSC 67; an AI draft's flat percentage on any cancellation may not meet that test. The review drafts a staged cancellation charge tied to work done and time committed, and a deposit provision that says whether the deposit is security for the freelancer's time or a part payment of the fee.

Payment terms and late payment

The review checks the invoicing schedule, the payment period and what happens when the client pays late: between businesses, interest at the statutory rate and fixed compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, which a contractual term displaces only if it is a substantial remedy, and a right to suspend work and withhold delivery of the final files until payment. It also checks that an assignment of the work takes effect only on payment, so that an unpaid freelancer keeps the copyright.

The client who is a consumer

Where the freelancer's clients include individuals acting outside a business, a wedding photographer's couples or a portrait illustrator's customers, the contract is a consumer contract: the services must be performed with reasonable care and skill under section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the terms must be fair under section 62, and a contract made online or away from the freelancer's premises carries the 14-day cancellation right under regulation 29 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 unless an exclusion in regulation 28 applies. The review adds a consumer version of the terms where the freelancer sells to both.

Status, exclusivity and the terms that undermine self-employment

An AI draft written from the client's side may require the freelancer to work exclusively for the client, to work set hours, or to accept the client's control over how the work is done, which are markers of worker or employee status under section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 rather than self-employment. The review removes them, adds a right of substitution where the freelancer's work allows one, and drafts the confidentiality and liability clauses for a self-employed supplier, with the freelancer's liability capped at the fee and the carve-outs required by section 2 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

What it costs

Review of an AI-drafted contract, £495. One contract, returned as a marked-up Word document with my amendments as tracked changes, a clean version with the changes accepted, and a written explanation of the changes. Three working days from payment.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the review of an ai-drafted contract page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• Your own Word document returned with every amendment I consider necessary shown as a tracked change, so you can see exactly what I changed and accept or reject each one
• A clean version with every change accepted, ready to send
• Corrections to anything that is wrong as a matter of English law, unenforceable as drafted, or internally inconsistent
• Missing provisions added where the document has left a gap that matters: usually liability, termination, payment, intellectual property or data
• Comments in the margin where a clause is a commercial choice rather than a legal one, so the decision stays yours
• A written explanation of what I have changed and why, by email or as an attachment if it is lengthy, with anything you should think about before sending it out
• Follow-up questions on the mark-up answered by email, included

What is not included

• A full rewrite. This is a review and amendment of your document, not a replacement for it. If the draft is structurally unsuitable for the deal, I will say so and quote separately for drafting it properly
• A second round of amendments after you have changed the document again, which I can quote for
• Negotiating with the other side
• Advice on the law of any jurisdiction other than England and Wales
• Tax, accounting or regulatory advice
• Reviewing a document the other side drafted, which is the contract review service, at the same price

Questions I am often asked

The AI draft says the work is 'work made for hire'. Does that transfer the copyright?

Not under English law, where that phrase has no effect: the freelancer owns the work unless there is an assignment in writing signed by the freelancer. The review replaces the clause with an assignment or licence that takes effect on payment.

Can we charge a kill fee if the client cancels?

A kill fee is enforceable if it reflects the work done and the time reserved rather than penalising the client. The review drafts a staged charge tied to those, which is more likely to be enforced than a flat percentage on any cancellation.

Some of our clients are individuals. Do the same terms work?

Not entirely: consumer clients have statutory rights the terms cannot exclude and, for contracts made online or away from your premises, a 14-day cancellation right unless an exclusion applies. The review adds a consumer version of the terms alongside the business version.

Related guidance and services

• Review of an AI-drafted contract, £495, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Terms and conditions drafting, £995
• Getting an AI-drafted consultancy agreement checked
• One-way NDA for a freelancer or contractor

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.