Legal Question in Business Law in Illinois

A few months ago I took on a job from my Aunt and Uncle to transfer 60 VHS tapes onto DVD. They paid me 100 dollars for material and when I finished the job only an extra 100 dollars, a 25 dollar gift card to Texas roadhouse, and a coupon for a free appetizer to the same place.

Now, this project lasted months and was over 600 initial hours of work. When they asked me what I wanted to be paid I had said �pay me what you feel is right�. Now seeing what they have given me and knowing themselves the job and the work it entailed I feel this is not right at all.

Furthermore they are not only getting the DVD�s they but the digital files which I own the rights to as they were created by me. This is usually a extra service when you take this type of job to a big box store. I was figuring around 8 dollars a DVD is what I would be looking for. So 480 dollars + material costs and wear and tear on my machine of 100 dollars, 580 in total. Now if you go to http://www.homemoviedepot.com/ they charge 14.95 per a DVD so the total cost would have been 897 dollars and that�s with no digital copies. With digital copy�s your looking around 1.2K. If you where to take a job this size to Wal-Greens you�re looking at almost 25 dollars a DVD, so 1.5K and with no digital copies. I didn�t charge handling, shipping, and the cost to pick them up, nothing.

Now, there is a difference in the finished product. The DVD�s my family received are not professionally printed; they are hand printed and catalog like a season of DVD�s. For example if you bought a season of The Sopranos.

Really, what I�m getting at here is this worth taking to court? Can it be settled out of court? If it does go to court and we win can your attorney�s fee�s and court costs be added to the law suit? Should I try to receive more compensation for my time? Or was I just plainly screwed over.

This is family and I�m very disappointed and aggravated that I was taken advantage of and if at all possible I would like to settle this outside the judicial system.

However, if you think I have a solid chance of winning. I�ll take this as far as you�re willing to take me.

I�m very hurt and I think it�s time to start standing up for myself inside and outside of the courtroom no matter how many peoples feelings I hurt if I take it to court, its just not right.


Asked on 10/23/11, 10:45 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Nancy Delain Delain Law Office, PLLC

Sorry to bear bad tidings, but based on these facts you're dead in the water.

Contracts are enforced based on the terms at formation. The terms of this contract at formation were, "Pay me what you feel is right." If your aunt and uncle feel that $200 is "right," that's what they must pay you for the work. That the consideration seems insufficient to you at the conclusion of the contract is completely irrelevant.

Is it right? No. Your aunt and uncle morally should pay you more than 33 cents per hour for this work. Is it legal? Unfortunately, under the terms of the contract you made, it is perfectly legal.

THIS POST CONTAINS GENERAL INFORMATION AND IS INTENDED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE, NOR DOES IT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. FOR LEGAL ADVICE ON YOUR PARTICULAR MATTER, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.

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Answered on 10/24/11, 9:58 am
Burton Padove Indiana and Illinois Lawyer, Burton A. Padove

I agree with Nancy. If you have not done so already, provide the same explanation that you did in your posting to your aunt and uncle and see if they will be more forthcoming. However, keep in mind that from their perspective, they may have had no idea what all would be involved and would not have had you do the work had they known. This is an example why people ask for estimates ahead of time when contracting for work.

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Answered on 10/27/11, 1:19 am


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