Terms of engagement.

Unless the quote states otherwise:

• 50% deposit is payable on acceptance, before any work begins or dates are committed.
• 50% balance is payable on delivery, with payment due within 14 days of the final invoice date.
• For engagements of three months or longer, monthly invoicing in arrears, NET 14, applies in place of the deposit and balance split.
• All sums are exclusive of VAT, which is added at the prevailing Cyprus rate.
• All bank fees, currency conversion costs, and intermediary charges are paid by the Client. Wire transfers must arrive in our account at the invoice amount in full.

The Client agrees that any invoice not paid by its due date accrues interest and recovery costs from the day after the due date, automatically and without further notice:

• Interest: the higher of (a) 1.5% per calendar month on the outstanding amount, compounded monthly, or (b) the statutory rate under Cyprus Law 123(I)/2012 implementing EU Directive 2011/7/EU, being the European Central Bank main refinancing rate plus 8 percentage points, recalculated every six months and published by the Cyprus Ministry of Finance.
• Fixed recovery fee: €40 per late invoice, payable as a contribution to recovery costs in accordance with Article 6 of the Late Payment Directive.
• Additional recovery costs: all reasonable costs of recovery above the €40, including legal fees, debt-collection agent fees, and our internal administrative time charged at €120 per hour.

These rights are mandatory under EU and Cyprus law. They cannot be waived by counter-terms in a purchase order or contract amendment.

The 50% deposit is non-refundable once paid. It compensates us for blocking calendar time, declining other work, and starting pre-production. If the Client cancels:

• More than 14 days before the agreed start date: deposit retained; no further charge.
• Within 14 days of the agreed start date or after work has begun: deposit retained; in addition, we invoice for work-in-progress and any third-party costs already committed (crew bookings, equipment hire, travel, talent), payable on the original terms.
• After delivery has begun: the full project fee is due as if delivered in full.

Date changes requested by the Client are accommodated where possible but may attract a re-quote if costs change. A move within 7 days of the original date is treated as a cancellation unless we expressly agree otherwise in writing.

On full payment of all fees, we assign to the Client the intellectual property rights in the deliverables created specifically for the Client under the engagement, for the agreed use. Until full payment, all rights remain with Backlight. The following are not transferred at any point:

• Pre-existing tools, methods, templates, scripts, and software we own or license.
• Third-party assets (stock footage, music, fonts, plug-ins) licensed for the Client’s use under their respective terms.
• Raw footage, project files, and working files (we retain these and may license them separately on request).

We reserve the right to display deliverables and behind-the-scenes material in our showreel, portfolio, case studies, and marketing channels, unless the engagement is subject to a written confidentiality restriction. Where confidentiality applies, we honor it.