Liability cap · Writing
Liability cap in writing: what is normal
Writers should cap liability at the fee and carve out client-caused issues; uncapped indemnity on editorial work is off-market.
Typical range
Liability capped at the fees paid, with consequential damages excluded and carve-outs for content the client edited, approved, or directed.
Off-market
Broad indemnity with no cap, making the writer liable for any claim arising from a published piece, including changes an editor made after the writer delivered it.
One-line fix
"Writer's liability is capped at the fees paid. Writer is not liable for edits, additions, or approvals made by Client after delivery, or for claims arising from Client-supplied material."
What we see
Writing carries a specific liability worry: a piece is often edited, headlined, and fact-checked by the client after the writer hands it over, then published under conditions the writer no longer controls. An uncapped indemnity can leave the writer on the hook for a defamation or accuracy claim over wording they never wrote.
Two protections matter together. First, a cap at the fees paid, so exposure stays proportional to a per-piece rate. Second, carve-outs for anything the client changed, approved, or supplied, because the writer should not indemnify the client for the client's own edits or source material.
The off-market version is a blanket indemnity with no cap on ordinary editorial or content work. That structure treats a freelance writer like an insurer of the client's publishing decisions. Capping liability and carving out client-side changes brings the clause back to what the writer actually controls: the words they delivered, on the brief they were given.
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