No.

For detailed information about information you provide through our website, please visit our Privacy Policy.

We protect your project information in a few important ways. First, we only work on your project if it doesn’t conflict with other work we have planned or completed. Second, only people who work on your project will ever see your project information. Third, we give you access to our work product over a secure connection.

1. Don’t provide copyrighted information when you submit a contact form or reach out to us.
2. We won’t ask you for any information that you could copyright until after you sign a contract with us.
3. The contract protects your rights to information you own and our rights to information we own.

No. We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice or represent clients. You could look for legal advice or representation through your state’s bar association, which will list licensed attorneys where you live.

We make it easy for you to verify our sources.

We always provide legal information in two ways: without citations and with citations.

• Information without citations is easier to read.
• Information with citations allows you to verify the sources we use and find them if you ever need them. As much as possible, we cite to primary sources available for free online.

We offer research and writing services for law-related, business-related, and creative projects.

Law-related projects typically ask question of law.

Business-related projects typically involve:

• Creating or updating internal handbooks,
• Researching and drafting internal handbooks, or
• Researching and drafting request-for-proposal (RFP) requirements or bids.

Creative projects typically involve:

• Historical or other fact-based research or
• Researching and drafting short-form or long-form narrative content

No. We provide law-related information. We do not provide legal advice, counsel or representation.

You could contact your state bar association for a list of licensed attorneys in your area.

As a customer, you get:

• Personalized services,
• A contract that protects your rights and ours,
• Information you request in plain English,
• Creative content you request in the style and voice you instruct,
• Our work delivered over a secure connection, and
• Usually, a license to use our original work as defined by U.S. copyright law.

Our work might include research findings, briefs and summaries, content, original works as defined by U.S. copyright law, or some combination.

See our FAQ section on Ownership & Use for more information on licenses, copyrights, and use.

A law-related service is a research and writing service that focuses on questions or topics of law. When you submit a question of law, we research primary sources and gather information in a readable format backed by citations.

A business-related service is a research and writing service that researches legal and industry standards for operations and bid processes. When you submit a request, we meet with you to determine your needs for internal documents or requests for proposals (RFPs) then work with you to provide the narrative resources.

A creative service is a research and writing service that provides research for creative projects and creative content from blog posts to books. When you submit a request for creative research or content, we research and write based on the scope of your project, including any style and voice instructions.

We research:

• Answers to legal topics and questions of law,
• Legal and industry standards that guide internal operations documents and requests for proposals (RFPs), and
• Awide range of creative topics like historically accurate events.

For law-related services, we write documents that explain a law, identify potential legal barriers, connect laws to compliance needs, and improve the readability of law-related content.

For business-related services, we write policies, handbooks, RFP responses, and RFP requirements.

For creative services, we write fact-checking briefs, short content like blog posts, and long content like articles and books. We write fiction and nonfiction, as well as academic content for teaching and text purposes.

No. We do not create work products when we know or strongly suspect a customer intends to use the work to fulfill academic course requirements.

Yes, we can reject any request for services, but we usually look for fit, or how well our skills meet your needs. Fit is important for you and for us. That’s why we meet together virtually or by phone or email before you ever sign a contract.

For law-related services, we only accept service requests for legal information about the laws and regulations of the U.S. and States.

For business-related services, we only accept service requests for projects related to internal operations, requirements for receiving request for proposal [RFP] bids, and bid responses on RFPs.

For creative services, we only accept service requests that do not conflict with our planned, current, or existing work. We check for conflicts before you provide any copyrighted information. This protects you and us.

Yes, sometimes. We’ll meet to discuss your needs and any limitations we might need before you ever sign a contract. We’re not the best fit for some topics, themes, or elements like content featuring derogatory slurs, pornography, sexual violence, highly technical science, or political rhetoric.

Your costs depend on the scope of your project and the choices you make in your contract with us. We have three kinds of cost: communication rates, service rates, and licensing and copyright rates.

For hourly rates, time is digitally tracked, appears on the invoice, and is billed in partial hours (minutes) so you only pay for the time we work.

Deposits

Sometimes a deposit is due before work begins. If you need to pay a deposit, the contract you make with us will describe the reason, the amount, and the timing of payment.

Invoices

Most of the time, you pay for services when we invoice you. We typically invoice you after the project is completed.

If your contract involves a long-term project or ongoing services, we may invoice you on a regular basis. The contract you make with us will provide invoicing details.

Yes! Every project and person has a budget, and we’re no different.

When we meet with you, we’ll ask about your budget for the project. Your budget will not determine whether we take the project or how we perform.

By understanding your realistic budget, we can help you set contract terms that make sense, like:

• efficiently scoping the project, or doing only the work you need and can afford right now,
• establishing an ongoing arrangement where we work as you can pay,
• breaking up the project into cost-manageable pieces and contracting for one piece at a time, and
• setting appropriate project check-ins so that we can communicate about the project periodically without additional costs to you.

You must pay for work we do as described in your contract with us. In limited situations you can withdraw from a contract with us. Please review our withdrawal policy and all contract terms before you sign the contract.

We strive to produce satisfying work. Please contact us when you first feel dissatisfied so that we can adjust our work if possible. Project check-ins are a great opportunity to review our work, touch base, or provide feedback at no additional cost to you.

You are buying our services to research, write, or both.

Typically, the contract between you and us will grant you a license to use our original work. The contract will detail the rights we license to you and limitations (if any) on how you can use the licensed work. We work with you to set licensing rights and limitations.

These are some licensing rights and limitations that we typically use in our contracts:

• The license might not expire.
• You might have to credit us as creators.
• You might be restricted from using original characters and other elements protected by law.

We own our original work that is protected by copyright law.

Copyright laws are complex. In the U.S., both statues and case law help define the work that can be protected by copyright. The U.S. Copyright Office publishes several documents, called Circulars, that help explain copyright laws. See their Circulars page (link opens in a new tab). Some categories that may be particularly helpful include:

• Foundations of Copyright, especially Circular 1, and
• Copyright Concepts, especially Circulars 14, 30, 33, and 34.

No, not necessarily. When you hire us, you are buying research services, writing services, or both. Those services typically come with a license to use our original work as defined by U.S. Copyright law.

Some commissioned works are considered “works made for hire” and have special copyright rules so that the buyer owns the copyright. The U.S. Copyright Office explains this topic on their Circulars page (link opens in a new tab). See Circular 30, Works Made For Hire.

When you and we set our contract terms, you can specifically ask us to consider our original work to be work made for hire. First, we’ll see if the work is a type covered by the “work made for hire” law. If it is and if we agree to consider the work to be “work made for hire”:

• We expressly say so in the contract,
• You agree to pay an extra amount, and
• You own the copyright.

We own any fictional characters or other elements that we create when they could be protected by U.S. copyright laws. You own any fictional characters or other elements that you create when they could be protected by U.S. copyright laws.

This is a complex question that depends on facts as well as law. We cannot advise you about the facts of your situation. We can tell you some important things the law says.

Generally, a work can only be protected by U.S. copyright law if it contains a sufficient amount of original ownership.

The law does not protect:

• Ideas or concepts for a work of authorship,
• The idea for or name of a character,
• The title of a work,
• Catchphrases, or
• Stock characters, settings, or events that are common to a particular subject matter or medium.

For example Wonder Woman is protected by copyright because the character contains a sufficient amount of original ownership: she has an origin story, a costume, specific powers and tools, and other elements of originality and creativity. A character who is a woman with superpowers is not protected by copyright unless the character is sufficiently original.

The information in this answer was found in the Compendium of the U.S. Copyright Office Practices Section 101, Chapter 300, Sections 313.3(A), 313.4(H), 313.4(I), and the Glossary (3d ed. 2021). https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/chap300/ch300-copyrightable-authorship.pdf, https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/docs/glossary.pdf

Yes if we agree. We can choose to sell you some, all, or none of the rights related to our original work. Typically, when you buy our services we will grant you a license to use our original work.

When you and we make a contract, you can ask to buy more rights, like full copyright ownership. If we agree:

• The contract will expressly say so,
• You will pay extra, and
• You will own the rights as described in the contract.

The U.S. Copyright Office publishes documents about copyrights on their Circulars page (link opens in a new tab). Circular 1 describes the exclusive rights of a copyright owner.

Most of the time, our law-related work will not be protected by copyright as an original work. Merely gathering and restating facts, including laws, is generally not considered an original work, because it does not involve originality.

Use our law-related work:

• To inform your decisions,
• To frame conversations and concerns with your attorney,
• To communicate with stakeholders,
• To develop compliant operations, and
• To explore new ideas.

Don’t use our law-related work:

• to resell, or
• in place of legal advice or counsel.

Most of the time, our business-related work will not be protected by copyright as an original work. Merely gathering and restating facts, including how your business operates, is generally not considered an original work, because it does not involve originality.

Use our business-related work for any business purpose, including internal operations and bidding processes.

How you can use our creative work depends on:

• Whether our creative work can be copyrighted,
• Whether you buy ownership of the copyright,
• Whether you buy a license to use the copyright, and
• The rights we license to you in our written contract.

When you buy ownership of the copyright, you can do anything with the work you could do if you wrote it yourself.

If you buy a license to use the copyright, you can use the work in any way that the contract allows.

On its Circulars page, the U.S. Copyright Office publishes documents, called Circulars, to help explain copyright law. Circular 1 describes the exclusive rights of a copyright owner, things that are not protected by copyright, and transfer of some or all ownership rights.

We sell digital downloads that focus on storytelling, personal organization, or simple research topics.

No. We own our original work as defined by U.S. Copyright law.

Copyright laws do not protect every kind of work product. To be protected, a work must have at least a minimal amount of originality and creativity in its content or expression of content.

The U.S. Copyright Office publishes several documents, called Circulars, that help explain copyright laws. See their Circulars page (link opens in new tab), particularly Circular 1, Copyright Basics.

Occasionally, in very limited situations. Please read our refund policy for detailed information, including how to request a refund.

Plain language is an approach to writing that is used to make complex writing more accessible to more readers.

We use our plain language principles to write and edit our writing, particularly law-related writing, so that more people can easily read and understand the information.

We are not the final word on plain language. At the bottom of our principles page, we link to additional information.

Inclusive language is an approach to writing that empowers and includes all people.

Language becomes inclusive when writers use thoughtful word choices in an intentional effort to respect all people.

Inclusive language can take many forms and mean different things to different people.

Our inclusive language principles outline how we apply this tool to our writing. We are always learning and welcome feedback. Contact us.

We are not the final word on inclusive language, so we’ve place several linked resources at the bottom of our principles page.