I signed an NDA!

[Guest shubh2012]

Hi!
When I joined Fiverr I had so many other gigs.
Proofreading in Hindi was one of them. One day a gentleman contacted me for a proofreading job. I agreed.
He asked me to sign an NDA. initially, I was hesitant but later when he said we would not move further if I don’t sign it, the order will be canceled.
So, I simply signed it and sent it to the buyer before order.
He said I am sending you the book now.
It’s about 2 months now. He is not responding and I see him online all the time.

Later, when I was going through the Fiverr rules, I came to know that I have made a huge mistake I reported his messages but I am not sure what to do now!

Please suggest me what should I do and what can I do?

[startlelabs]

I wouldn’t worry about it too much. While I avoid signing NDA’s for lots of reasons, the truth is that they are very hard to enforce, especially across jurisdictions, and very rarely ever brought to court. Without knowing the contents of the NDA it’s impossible to speculate, and even with knowing it it would still just be speculation.

Perhaps you can write back simply that as you have not heard from him, you understand your professional relationship to be terminated. Then try not to think about it anymore. If it still worries you, seek the advice of a legal professional.

But you are correct that Fiverr frowns upon NDAs for lots of reasons.

[Guest shubh2012]

Thank you for the advice. 🙂

[silkroute]

RE : So, I simply signed it and sent it to the buyer before order.

Did he eventually place an order or was this communication through the messages?

If he has ordered a gig but not submitted the required data for the gig to begin, you can ask CS to cancel the gig.

If he didn’t order anything then he was not a buyer in the first place.

[mariokluser]

So there was no order to cancel. What’s the fuzz about. He doesn’t order, case closed. Just focus on other orders.

[emmaki]

NDAs are bullshit. Just do what I do:

“I vant a sample”.
“I do not give out samples due to client confidentiality. As you want samples of sales copy, click on my name and ready my gig descriptions”

“I vant an en dee ah”
"Whatever, here"
poof

That is rather flippant. I’ve had a few (not many, maybe 5 in 3 years?) requests and I’ve always contacted CS. The CS attitude is generally to be careful and it’s OK. Interpret this how you like; I just inform them anyway in case of difficulties.

Forget this dude though.

[Guest shubh2012]

@mario It has my genuine signature.
Thanks!

[Guest shubh2012]

@emmaki thanks for the kind advice.

[Guest shubh2012]

He is “Crown” buyer.
He asked me to place a custom order and then for the NDA.
It has my genuine sign.

[vince007]

I turned down many NDAs even the single order was all over $100+
It just not worth my time and the amount earned to have countless sleepless night if the buyer using the NDA taking advantages on his/her end.

[emmaki]

Why? All it means is you can’t talk about whatever the NDA is about. I said they were bullshit above because typically they come from people with wildly over-inflated thoughts about their “great idea”.

But if you want to shoo away this goldmine because of projected expectations of wildly sleepless nights, go ahead. I can guarantee you most buyers on Fiverr who introduce this are just using them because it makes them seem more official and corporate or whatever, and it’s actually just a free template that they got off Google.

I somehow doubt this piece of paper would have much standing in a court of law across international jurisdictions, particularly if it had been misleadingly presented, but then again, the law would also assume that you read the whole thing and signed it to agree with it, so just read the thing and sign it and take the job. Or read the thing, gasp in horror at the nefarious behavior of this “hot shot” NDA-dealer and get rid of them.

That’s if they bother to come back, of course. Even if they did come back to “haunt” you, all the communication is on Fiverr and it would be thrown out of court for being a load of stuff and nonsense. The fun may then start as not only would the NDA-dealer have to pay court costs–and possibly for you, too (hello, bankruptcy!) you could probably sue them for slander or something, win $1m damages then ride off into the sunset with your true love and a witty quip.

But I’m not a lawyer. This is just what would happen in my feel-good fake NDA buyer Hollywood blockbuster movie.

To conclude: it’s all bullshit and you guys need to stop worrying about it so much.

[djgodknows]

Also, if the NDA being signed is between a buyer who is in ONE continent, and the seller who is at the other spectrum of the world, the NDA means zilch!

What? You wanna come to Bangladesh and sue me??
hahahaha

Jokes on you bruv!

[kanefire]

amazing… when you spend 10k-100k investing in something, yes an NDA is a basic minimum to protect your investment…

[kanefire]

Why? All it means is you can’t talk about whatever the NDA is about. I said they were bullshit above because typically they come from people with wildly over-inflated thoughts about their “great idea”.

But if you want to shoo away this goldmine because of projected expectations of wildly sleepless nights, go ahead. I can guarantee you most buyers on Fiverr who introduce this are just using them because it makes them seem more official and corporate or whatever, and it’s actually just a free template that they got off Google.

I somehow doubt this piece of paper would have much standing in a court of law across international jurisdictions, particularly if it had been misleadingly presented, but then again, the law would also assume that you read the whole thing and signed it to agree with it, so just read the thing and sign it and take the job. Or read the thing, gasp in horror at the nefarious behavior of this “hot shot” NDA-dealer and get rid of them.

That’s if they bother to come back, of course. Even if they did come back to “haunt” you, all the communication is on Fiverr and it would be thrown out of court for being a load of stuff and nonsense. The fun may then start as not only would the NDA-dealer have to pay court costs–and possibly for you, too (hello, bankruptcy!) you could probably sue them for slander or something, win $1m damages then ride off into the sunset with your true love and a witty quip.

But I’m not a lawyer. This is just what would happen in my feel-good fake NDA buyer Hollywood blockbuster movie.

To conclude: it’s all bullshit and you guys need to stop worrying about it so much.

ty for your reasonable approach. I require NDAs for ALL IC and employees. Not to prevent them from working, but to protect what I have poured the last decade of my life into. I have been burned and it takes 1x to learn that lesson.

[fastcopywriter]

By signing to you mean you print it the NDA, then signed, then scanned, then uploaded? I already do that with my taxes, and I hate it.

My accountant is great, but he needs to join the 21st century. In Real Estate sometimes you have to sign 10 documents, at my condo they’re doing it electronically. No printing, no scanning.

Furthermore, NDA’s are ridiculous. You’re not an employee, it’s a one-time project, you’re not even supposed to tell your buyers your real name, so how can you sign? How will they even know you’re using your real name? I could sign as Barry Bonner and they would have no idea.