united-states canada european-union business belgium
Is it legal to bill a company that made contact for a business proposal, then withdrew based on their policies that existed when they made contact?
<p>Based on a <a href="https://twitter.com/MahDryBread/status/1674078434178285575" rel="noreferrer">Twitter thread</a> from a mid sized YouTube personality:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have been emailed MORE THAN 10 TIMES by a service I'd like to be sponsored with that I will not name<br />
Every time they email me, I say I'd love to work with them, then the middle men come back to me and say they don't work with gaming channels<br />
THEN WHY DID YOU EMAIL ME</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Would it be legal for this creator, or another creator, to stipulate on their contact information page that contacting them for a sponsorship deal when the contacting entity has policies that would make a sponsorship arrangement not possible, and then withdrawing that sponsorship offer when the creator replies with interest, incurs an automatic administrative fees invoice for wasting the creator's time? And would the company be legally obligated to pay that invoice?? I think I've heard a couple of stories about people who put a clause like that on their contact page, sent the invoice and had the company pay the invoice. I'm interested in Canadian, USA and Belgian/EU laws on the subject.</p>

<p>If you have an agreement with a company that specifies &quot;you agree to give me something of value, in case I give you something of value&quot;, you have a contract. In order for there to be a contract, there has to be actual acceptance of the offer. You can put out on a web page some contract stating those terms, and if you get positive acceptance of the contract (hence the standard click-through technology), then as long as you have done the thing promised, you can bill them for doing the thing promised.</p>
<p>It's not clear what thing of value you are offering on the web page, since it's not &quot;doing actual work&quot;. Them sending you an email isn't you doing something. One thing you could do is block all incoming emails, and for money you agree to unblock emails from registered subscribers.</p>
<p>Just announcing that you will bill anyone for emailing you does not create a contract, because the emailer need not have even seen your announcement. This is why e-contracts need a click-through button. It's legal to request money, but there is no legal obligation for them to comply. That will be $10, please.</p>

<p>In theory it is possible to actually bill them. Whether you can get paid is the other matter, and whether you want to go to court is again something very different.</p>
<p>Most people consider legally binding &quot;contract&quot; to be a lenghty text on paper, signed and stamped by representatives of parties involved. This is not entirely true. Most of the daily activities that involve exchanging money are also contracts, although in different form.</p>
<p>For example, the combination of the offer and acceptance of the said offer constitutes a legally binding contract. So for example, when you see a person with a hot dog cart with the advertisement &quot;hot dogs, $10&quot;, that's an offer. When you approach the person manning the cart and say &quot;I will have one&quot;, that is your acceptance of the contract.</p>
<p>If you find stone in the said hot dog and break your tooth, that is breach of the contract, because the offer &quot;hot dogs $10&quot; clearly stipulates edible hot dogs, and the seller did not deliver promised goods. If you get your hot dog and run without paying, that is breach of the contract.</p>
<p>All of these can be legally enforced through courts.</p>
<p>Back to your case. If you carefully document their persistent offers and make sure they are not pranks, that they are clearly made by people with authority to offer you something, and you accept it each time, then perhaps you could build a legal case that would have some chance of succeeding to enforce their payment (of course you NEED to supply the services as well).</p>
