Legalities when Hiring an adhoc copywriter

[HomeComputerGames]

Hi All,
I have been considering hiring a copywriter lately and decided to give it a try.
I found one person that gave a great price and their demo work looked nice and clean. Good article title, Articulate, etc..

My concern is that this person is not a firm thus there are risks of non delivery.
So I thought I best protect myself as best as possible.
This is part of the negotiation email from me.
I am thinking since this is going through PayPal and the email address verified, that I should be somewhat protected in case of a dispute.

What do you all think?
Should I add more to it?

HCG

This confirms that HomeComputerGames.com (PayPal account ken@homecomputergames.com) will pay you $50 to your PayPal Account (xxxxx@gmail.com) for a return of 20 Unique Articles containing a minimum of 300 words per article, written by you (xxxxx@gmail.com) personally for HomeComputerGames.com.

• HomeComputerGames.com will have exclusive rights and claim to all 20 articles to do with as seen fit.
• The same measure of quality and creativity should be evident in all articles.
• $25 to be paid to you via PayPal in Advance.
• The remaining $25 to be paid within 24 hours upon delivery of the articles.
• By accepting initial payment for the above stated you (xxxxx@gmail.com) are agreeing to this proposal.

Please let me know if this correct and acceptable.
Thanks!

[HomeComputerGames]

UPDATE:
They agreed to the proposal and I deposited $25 into their account.
I believe if I am going to continue to hire copywriters I will draft up something a bit more legal. Though $50 isn't that much money, an ebook or larger articles could get costly.
I'll post how it goes.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!
HCG

[GregK]

Having taken a few legal courses in school I can tell you this. If it came down a case on non-delivery, you wouldn't have much of a case, and even if you did it wouldn't be worth it to pursue it. If however they tried to sue you for copyright, you should be pretty well covered and once again, it probably wouldn't be worth it for them.

You're doing the smart thing in paying 50% up front and keeping the orders small. Worst case scenario the guy takes off with $25 and you consider that a $25 lesson learned. If you were placing an order that cost $10K and paying 50% up front, that would be a different story.

I would say you did the right thing and should be fine.

[HomeComputerGames]

Thanks,
Yes, I would never place a large order without knowing someone for a bit. And then it would be divided up in phases of payment. I do know that there is a lot of scams going on so one will want to watch themselves when doing this.

I ended up creating a detailed list of articles for them to write including Title, keywords to target, and resource URLs on the information they will need.
They are supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so we shall see. If they create quality articles I will tip them a few bucks and place a larger order.