Standard Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern all creative production services (“Services”) provided by CM Productions / Chris Murray (“Studio”) to the client named in the applicable proposal, statement of work, or quote (“Client”). By signing a proposal, statement of work, or paying a deposit, Client agrees to these Terms.

01Scope of Services

The specific deliverables, formats, quantities, and cadence for each engagement will be defined in a separate proposal or statement of work (“SOW”) referencing these Terms. Any work outside the agreed SOW is considered a change in scope and will be quoted and approved separately before work begins.

02Fees & Payment

• Standard payment structure: 50% deposit due before work begins, with the remaining 50% due upon delivery of final files, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
• For ongoing monthly retainers, invoices are issued in advance of each billing cycle and are due within the timeframe stated on the invoice (Net-15 or Net-30).
• Work will not begin, and files will not be delivered, until the applicable deposit or invoice has been paid in full.
• Late payments may be subject to a late fee of 1.5% per month (or the maximum permitted by law) on the outstanding balance.
• Quoted fees do not include third-party costs (stock licensing, paid AI-generation credits beyond an agreed allotment, voice licensing, music licensing, etc.) unless explicitly included in the SOW.

03Concept Approval & Revisions

• Before full production begins, Studio will share core concept elements for Client approval — which may include character design, location, key objects/props, and other core visual or audio direction relevant to the deliverable. Client has the number of business days specified in the SOW to approve or request changes to these elements; if no window is specified, three (3) business days applies. No response within this window constitutes approval.
• Once approved under this section, these elements are locked for that deliverable. A request to change an already-approved element after production has begun will be treated as a new deliverable and billed accordingly, not as a revision.
• Each deliverable also includes one (1) round of revisions on the final delivered version, limited to feedback within the approved concept and original brief.
• Revision requests on the final deliverable must be submitted within the number of business days specified in the SOW; if no window is specified, five (5) business days from delivery applies. Requests after this window, or requests to revisit already-approved concept elements, may be treated as a new deliverable.
• Additional revision rounds, or revisions that materially change the approved concept or brief, will be billed at 25–50% of the original deliverable's rate, or at Studio's then-current hourly rate.

04Usage Rights & Licensing

Pricing for each engagement is established in the SOW based on Client's intended use of the deliverables. Unless otherwise specified in the SOW, the following usage rights apply to delivered content:

• Delivered content includes a perpetual, worldwide license for paid advertising use (including boosted posts), included in the standard rate.
• A discount of up to 30% off the standard rate is available for engagements confirmed in the SOW as organic/owned-channel use only, with no paid ad distribution. If Client later wants to run the content as a paid ad, the difference between the discounted and standard rate applies.
• Category exclusivity (Client requesting Studio not produce similar content for direct competitors) is available as an add-on, scoped to a specific competitor category and time window (commonly 60–90 days), and is not granted by default.

All rights not expressly granted to Client remain the property of Studio, including preliminary concepts, unused takes, project files, and behind-the-scenes/process material.

05AI Tools & Intellectual Property

• Client acknowledges that deliverables may be created in whole or in part using third-party AI generation tools (image, video, audio, and/or voice models), and Studio will disclose which tools were used upon request.
• Studio will use commercially-licensed or otherwise properly licensed AI tools and will use reasonable efforts to confirm that the tools' own terms of service permit commercial use of outputs.
• Because the legal status of AI-generated content is still evolving and varies by jurisdiction, Studio does not warrant that any AI-generated element is eligible for copyright protection or that it is entirely free of similarity to third-party training data. Studio will address any specific, credible third-party claims of infringement in good faith.
• Client is responsible for ensuring final use of the content complies with the content policies of the platforms it is published on (including any required AI-content disclosure labels).
• Music assets are produced using Suno's AI generation platform under a commercial-use license extended to Studio's Pro/Premier subscription, which Studio understands to permit use in commissioned client work; Studio uses current-generation models trained on licensed source material where available. As with other AI-generated elements, Studio does not warrant copyright eligibility of AI-generated music, and usage rights remain subject to the platform's own terms, which may change.
• Subject to full payment, Studio assigns to Client all rights, title, and interest that Studio holds in the final approved deliverables for the licensed use described in Section 4.

06Cancellation & Kill Fees

If Client cancels or indefinitely pauses a project already in progress, the following cancellation fees apply based on the stage reached at the time of cancellation:

A significant, unrequested change to the brief that requires restarting creative work may be treated as a cancellation of the original scope for the purpose of this section.

07Confidentiality

Both parties agree to keep confidential any non-public business, creative, or strategic information shared during the engagement, and not to disclose it to third parties except as required to perform the Services or as required by law. Studio may, unless otherwise agreed in writing, reference completed and publicly-released work in its own portfolio, reel, or case studies. Studio may also privately share completed deliverables with prospective clients for portfolio or pitch purposes; for work that has not yet been publicly released by Client, this requires Client's prior consent (email approval is sufficient), and no such consent is needed once the work has been publicly released.

08Liability & Indemnification

• Studio's total liability for any claim arising from the Services is limited to the total fees paid by Client for the specific deliverable(s) giving rise to the claim.
• Client agrees to indemnify Studio against claims arising from Client's use of the deliverables outside the agreed license scope, or from materials, briefs, likenesses, or trademarks Client supplied for use in the content.
• Studio agrees to indemnify Client against claims arising directly from Studio's misuse of an AI tool's terms of service in producing the deliverables.
• Neither party is liable for delays or failures caused by events outside its reasonable control (force majeure).

09Term & Termination

These Terms remain in effect for the duration of any active SOW between the parties. Either party may terminate an ongoing retainer with thirty (30) days' written notice; work completed and fees earned up to the termination date remain payable, subject to Section 6.

10Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario.

11General

• Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with the applicable SOW/proposal, constitute the entire agreement between the parties and supersede any prior discussions.
• Amendments: Changes to these Terms must be agreed to in writing by both parties.
• Independent Contractor: Studio performs Services as an independent contractor, not as an employee, partner, or joint venturer of Client.
• Notices: Notices under these Terms should be sent to the contact emails listed in the applicable SOW.