The contracts toolkit
What is a contract
Implied terms
Some contract terms are implied by statute usually where Parliament has intervened to protect the consumer. They are 'implied' into every contract unless otherwise agreed and can apply to works of art and craft just as much as to other 'products':
Right to sell
The seller must have the right to sell the article being sold and it must not be owned by someone else.
Conformity with description
The goods must correspond to the description given by the seller.
Sale quality
Goods sold must be of 'satisfactory quality', meaning reasonably fit for the purposes for which that type of article is commonly bought.
Fitness for purpose
Where the buyer makes known that the goods will be used for a particular purpose, the law implies a term into the contract that the goods will be reasonably fit for the stated purpose.
Reasonable care
Where an artist is providing services, as opposed to merely selling work - this is common in residencies and commissions contracts - there is also an implied term that the services will be performed with 'reasonable care and skill'.
Other implied terms
Where it is clear that both parties intended to enter into a contract but some important term was not discussed a court can decide that an implied term of contract arises. The court will try to make commercial sense of the arrangements made by the parties. For example, a photographer is contacted by the editor of a publication and asked to take a shot of a landscape. The photographer acted on this, took the shot and sent the image to the publication, but no fee was ever discussed. Although technically a court could say that because there was no 'consideration' there was no contract, in practice the court would try to make commercial sense of the arrangements made by the parties by deciding the fee for them (or imply it into the contract), either on a 'quantum meruit' basis, based on what was reasonable in the circumstances, or else based on the publication's standard fee for a commission of this kind.