Liability cap · Video
Liability cap in video: what is normal
Video liability should be capped at the fee, with location, talent, and third-party-asset risks allocated to whoever controls them.
Typical range
Liability capped at fees paid, consequential damages excluded, and specific risks (location damage, talent releases, music licensing) assigned to the party responsible for them.
Off-market
Uncapped liability making the freelancer responsible for any claim connected to the production, including talent releases the client managed or locations the client secured.
One-line fix
"Freelancer's liability is capped at fees paid. Client is responsible for permissions, releases, and locations it provides. Neither party is liable for consequential damages."
What we see
Video production has more moving parts that can trigger a claim than most creative work: locations that can be damaged, talent who must sign releases, music and stock that must be licensed, minors and permits in some shoots. An uncapped liability clause can make the freelancer answer for all of it, including the parts the client actually controlled.
The healthy structure does two things: caps overall liability at the fees paid (with consequential damages excluded), and allocates specific risks to whoever is responsible. If the client secured the location or supplied the talent, the client owns the release and permission risk for it, not the freelancer.
Because video budgets are larger and the failure modes more physical, an uncapped clause here can be genuinely dangerous, not just theoretically so. A single location or talent dispute can dwarf the project fee. Capping liability and cleanly assigning the production-specific risks is basic protection, and professional clients expect to see it.
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