Should you Sign an NDA?

When you start working with a new client, they might ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. They’re actually quite common, especially on bidding sites where you might not get the job. An NDA protects the intellectual property surrounding a project…but as a writer, is it a good idea to sign one?

Image: sxc.hu

First, let’s understand want an NDA really is. Sometimes called a confidentiality agreement, and NDA protects ideas and works-in-progress. For example, let’s say that Company A wants to hire a writer to work on a brochure for a new cell phone they’re developing. Before telling all the writers they’re considering hiring about the phone, they ask each to sign an NDA. If they hire Writer B, there’s always the chance that Writer C, upset about not being hired, will tell the competition about the new cell phone so that they can develop a similar product. An NDA stops that from happening.

It also protects ideas for websites, articles, and other intellectual property (IP). If you sign an NDA, and a client tells you about a cool new website they’re creating, you can’t break away and create the same thing, even if the client ultimately decides to fire you or never hires you in the first place.

So, should you sign an NDA?

Often, you don’t have a choice. Many clients won’t share their ideas with you until you sign an NDA. Some even won’t agree to share ideas unless you sign a non-competition agreement, but that’s a bit extreme.

In any case, I’m all for signing an NDA if it gives you the chance at a job. A NDA really just ensures that you’ll be ethical, to be honest. When a client shares his or her ideas with you, you shouldn’t be so sneaky as to go to their competition with the idea or steal the idea for yourself. Ideas can’t be copyrighted, but in most cases, an NDA only ensures that clients don’t have to worry about immoral people stealing ideas on a technicality.

Of course, before you sign anything, make sure that you read the agreement thoroughly. You don’t want to limit the jobs you can take just to have a chance to bid on a project.

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