Chapter 38 — Quiz

Twenty-six questions to check that the business tools stuck: pricing, contracts and the SOW, scope and revisions, releases, licensing and copyright, and winning and keeping clients. Multiple choice, true/false-with-justification, short answer, and a few "what's wrong with this deal?" scenarios. Answer from memory first; the key with one-line explanations is at the end.

Reminder: this chapter — and this quiz — is not legal advice, and the law varies by jurisdiction. The "right" answers reflect standard professional practice and the chapter's general framing, not the specific law where you live.

Multiple choice

1. A day rate primarily prices: - (a) The finished deliverable, whatever it takes - (b) Your time and labor for a day, plus basic kit - (c) The business value the video creates - (d) Only the equipment you bring

2. The biggest risk of a project (flat) rate is: - (a) Clients dislike predictable prices - (b) It always pays less than a day rate - (c) If you underestimate the work, you eat the overage for free - (d) It is illegal in most places

3. Which cost is the one beginners most commonly leave out of a rate? - (a) The camera - (b) The shoot day - (c) The edit and revisions, plus the unbilled days between jobs - (d) The client's lunch

4. The statement of work (SOW) exists mainly to: - (a) Make the contract longer - (b) Define exactly what you'll deliver and what's not included — the fence around the job - (c) Set the color grade - (d) Replace the need for a deposit

5. Releasing the final master files only on final payment is best described as: - (a) Distrust of the client - (b) Illegal withholding - (c) Keeping your leverage until you're paid - (d) A tax requirement

6. A "round" of revisions is best defined as: - (a) Each individual comment as the client thinks of it - (b) One consolidated set of feedback sent together - (c) A calendar week - (d) Whatever the client says it is

7. The single most useful response to an out-of-scope request is: - (a) "No, that wasn't in the contract." - (b) Silently do it for free to keep them happy - (c) "Great idea — that's outside our scope, so here's a quick change order for it." - (d) End the project

8. A model release is: - (a) Permission to depict private property - (b) A camera setting - (c) A signed grant to use a person's image, likeness, and voice - (d) The same as a music license

9. Copyright on an original work generally begins: - (a) Only after you register it - (b) Only if you add a © symbol - (c) Automatically, the moment the work is created - (d) After ten years

10. "Royalty-free" music means: - (a) It is free of charge - (b) You pay no ongoing per-use royalties, but you still license it and follow its terms - (c) You may use it however you like with no rules - (d) It has no copyright

11. The most effective source of new freelance work is: - (a) Cold-emailing strangers - (b) Paid advertising - (c) Referrals and repeat business from happy clients - (d) Lowering your prices below everyone else's

12. To use a famous recording of a hit song in a commercial video, you generally need: - (a) Nothing, if you credit the artist - (b) A sync license and a master-use license (two rights) - (c) Only to buy the song on a music store - (d) A model release

True / False — and say why

For each, mark true or false and give the one-sentence reason.

13. "Because a song is publicly available to stream, it is free to use in my video."

14. "If someone let me film them, I already have the right to put them in a commercial."

15. "A contract mainly exists so I can win a lawsuit against a client."

16. "Crediting the artist in the description makes unlicensed music legal to use."

17. "A deposit is optional; professionals trust their clients and bill everything at the end."

18. "For a video of a 10-year-old, the child can sign their own release."

19. "Fair use (or fair dealing) is a reliable blanket permission I can count on for commercial work."

Short answer

20. Name the three pricing models and, in a few words each, what they charge the client for.

21. Give three clauses — beyond price and dates — that every video agreement should nail down, and the question each answers.

22. Explain the difference between a revision and a new request, and why it matters to your income.

23. What is the difference between a model release and a property release, and who signs each?

What's wrong with this deal? (diagnosis)

24. A freelancer writes: "Agreed everything on the phone — nice client, seemed trustworthy. I'll shoot the two-day job next week and invoice the full amount when I deliver." Name the two business failures here and the fix for each.

25. A finished, client-approved video is about to go live. It features three enthusiastic customers filmed at a public event (no paperwork — "they were happy to be on camera"), cut to a current pop song downloaded from a free-music blog, with titles in a font marked "free for personal use." List every rights problem and the correct fix for each.

26. A client on a delivered project sends this over four days: three separate texts, each with "just one more small tweak" — a new music track, a square version for Instagram, and a longer cut for their website — none of which were in the SOW. The freelancer quietly does all of it for free and finishes exhausted and unpaid for the extra work. Diagnose what went wrong and describe how the chapter's tools would have handled it differently.

Answer Key

Show answers and explanations **1. (b)** — A day rate prices your time and labor for the day, typically including basic kit; extras are billed on top. **2. (c)** — With a flat price, underestimating the work means you absorb the extra time for free; this is why scope must be nailed down. **3. (c)** — The edit (usually the longest stage), revisions, admin, and the unbooked days are the costs a rate must cover but beginners forget. **4. (b)** — The SOW spells out exactly what you'll deliver and what's excluded — the boundary that makes scope creep defensible. **5. (c)** — It preserves your leverage: the client's incentive to pay is strongest right before they receive the files they're waiting for. It's standard practice, not distrust. **6. (b)** — A round is one *consolidated* set of notes; defining it this way stops a trickle of comments from becoming endless re-exports. **7. (c)** — The change-order response says *yes, and here's the cost* — protecting both the relationship and your time. **8. (c)** — A model release grants the right to use an identifiable person's image, likeness, and voice; property is covered by a *property* release. **9. (c)** — Copyright is automatic on creation of an original work — no registration or © symbol required for it to exist. **10. (b)** — "Royalty-free" is a licensing *model* (no ongoing royalties); you still obtain the license and stay within its terms. It is not "free." **11. (c)** — Referrals and repeat business dominate; a happy client arrives pre-trusted, which no advertising can match. **12. (b)** — A recording carries two rights — the composition (sync license) and the sound recording (master-use license); you need both, which is why hit songs are costly and slow to clear. **13. False** — Being *able* to access something is not permission to *reuse* it; assume it's copyrighted and license it for your use. **14. False** — Consent to *film* is not consent to *publish*; commercial use of an identifiable person almost always needs a signed release. **15. False** — A contract's real purpose is to make both sides share one picture of the job so the dispute never happens; it protects the relationship, not just your litigation. **16. False** — Credit is not a license; attribution may be *required* by some licenses but never *substitutes* for obtaining one. **17. False** — A deposit protects you against a cancellation or no-show (you turned down other work for the date) and filters out clients who never intended to pay; it's standard, not distrust. **18. False** — A minor cannot grant the release themselves; a parent or legal guardian must sign, and minors warrant extra care. **19. False** — Fair use/fair dealing is a narrow, fact-specific *defense* that varies by country and is decided case by case, not a reliable blanket permission for commercial work. **20.** **Day rate** — your *time* (per day, plus basic kit); **project rate** — the finished *deliverable* (one flat price); **value-based** — the *outcome/value* the video creates for the client. **21.** Any three, e.g.: *revisions* (how many rounds are included?), *ownership/rights* (who owns the footage and project files?), *usage/license grant* (where and how long may the client use it?), *releases* (who's responsible for getting them?), *cancellation* (what's owed if the client pulls out?), *late payment* (fees and when files release). **22.** A *revision* refines the thing you were hired to make (a fix — covered by included rounds); a *new request* is a different or additional thing (new work — billed separately). Blurring them means giving away paid work for free and turning a profitable job unprofitable. **23.** A *model release* grants the right to use an identifiable *person's* image, likeness, and voice, signed by that person (or a guardian for a minor). A *property release* grants the right to depict recognizable *private property or location*, signed by the owner or authorized manager. **24.** (1) A *handshake deal* with no signed agreement — memories drift in the payer's favor and there's nothing to point to; fix with a signed contract/SOW. (2) *No deposit* — after delivery the client has what they want and no reason to hurry; fix with a deposit to book plus master-on-final-payment. **25.** (a) *No releases* for the three featured customers — commercial use of identifiable people needs signed model releases; get them (or replace the footage). (b) *Unlicensed pop song* from a free blog — "found it online" is not a license and it will be claimed/muted; replace with properly licensed or public-domain music and keep the proof. (c) *Font licensed "personal use only"* used commercially — obtain a commercial font license or substitute a properly licensed typeface. (Bonus: filming at a public event may still require *notice* for the crowd and a *property/location* agreement depending on the venue.) **26.** The job had no defended scope: the SOW didn't fix the deliverables, there was no capped revision policy, and no change-order habit. Each "small tweak" was actually a *new request* (new track, new aspect-ratio version, longer cut) that should have been met with "great idea — here's a quick change order," letting the client decide if it was worth paying for. Consolidated feedback and a defined lock would also have prevented the four-day trickle of re-exports. The tools: SOW (fence), revision policy (cap), change order (price the new work), and the master-on-payment/lock discipline.

Topics to review by question

If you missed… Review
1–3, 20 §38.1 Pricing: day/project/value + the cost iceberg
4, 5, 15, 17, 21, 24 §38.2 The contract and the SOW; deposits and payment
6, 7, 22, 26 §38.3 Scope creep, revisions, and the change order
8, 14, 18, 23, 25 §38.4 Releases: model and property; consent to film vs publish
9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 19, 25 §38.5 Music/footage licensing and copyright
11 §38.6 Getting and keeping clients