Non-Compete Clauses When Leaving A Studio

[fletch1701]

Hi ladies (and gents). I signed up for an account here to help a friend of mine who is having a rough time. I'm hoping for some expert advice.

I'm a male who has a female friend who is down on her luck. She's pretty and is doing web camming for a sleazy studio but wants to do it from home instead; she enjoys this line of work and could make some good money. Her boss (also a female) is an ex-meth addict who told her she's "just another vagina". Nice, huh? :-x She is broke, but she was very popular at this studio, and this is the fastest way for her to get back on her feet. I'm going to loan her my extra PC, webcam, and I picked up a monitor for her to help her get started. I do web development and marketing, so I can also help her get some clients as quickly as possible so she can start earning money again.

Her boss threatened her with a non-compete clause, in a contract she signed that they won't even give her a copy of. I have no idea if the contract, or the non-compete clause is legally enforceable, or just an intimidation tactic. So here's my question:

Do any of you ladies have any experience with non-compete clauses, or being threatened with one? I could really use some advice from the experts. My friend is in a bad spot, and I'm doing what I can to help her get back to a place of empowerment and independence. Any advice you have would be appreciated, and thanks!

 

[AerynShade]

It's pretty common for studios to have a non-compete clause. She most likely won't be able to sign up for an account on her own with that particular camsite for 6months to a year. (I think those are the most common time frames I've seen people complain about on here.)
We've also heard from models that their studio owner won't give them a copy of their contract.

So... best thing to do is leave the studio and start working as a new model on another site for a few months. She could try to open a new account herself, but if she's on MFC they've been known to close those new accounts without warning.

*I'm not an expert, I've just read a lot of threads like this one.

 

[fletch1701]

Thank you, AerynShade, for the quick response. Much appreciated. She was feeling like it was game over, and I said hell no, there is a way for you to work from home if you really want to. Being able to do so will improve her life immeadiately.

EDIT: I'll start looking for threads like this one as well.

 

[AerynShade]

There are SO MANY sites that she can use. It's definitely not game over.

 

[mynameisbob84]

The best thing she could do is to sign up here herself, I'd say. She can register as a model and get access to the model's only section, where there'll be even more models/threads to help her find the information she needs. She'll also be able to answer pertinent questions and readily give people here any information they might find useful in assisting her :twocents-02cents:

 

[fletch1701]

Oh she is going to sign up. She is feeling completely overwhelmed right now, so I'm kind of helping her take one step at a time to get her life back together. Once I get her set up with my spare PC, monitor, etc, she'll be able to surf the web more easily and get advice from all the awesome talent and experience on THIS message board!

Glad I signed up; I appreciate the advice! :-D

 

[Sevrin]

What site does she work on? Some sites respect studio exclusivity and some don't. MFC, for instance, doesn't appear to, but Streamate does.

 

[fletch1701]

What site does she work on? Some sites respect studio exclusivity and some don't. MFC, for instance, doesn't appear to, but Streamate does.

I'll be honest with you, I don't know anything about the web cam biz, but I know the site she was working on was Streammate. So in order to build a clientele working from home she would need to move to another site, maybe the one you mentioned, MFC.

I also learned today that generally speaking, in Florida, non-compete clauses are not taken very seriously by the courts, so the non-compete threat by her now ex-boss is just an intimidation tactic. Thanks, Sevrin, for responding!

 

[Sansa]

I was going to say, I thought that MFC didn't care when a model left a studio to work on her own. Could have sworn that there was a model with a 7K camscore some months back who left the studio on that account and got a new one.

Either way, there are a TON of sites out there. With the experience she has, she'll probably do fine elsewhere before going back to the original site (if she even wants to).

Sorry to hear that your friend is having such a hard time, no one should have to put up with that kind of nastiness!

 

[Sansa]

What site does she work on? Some sites respect studio exclusivity and some don't. MFC, for instance, doesn't appear to, but Streamate does.

I'll be honest with you, I don't know anything about the web cam biz, but I know the site she was working on was Streammate. So in order to build a clientele working from home she would need to move to another site, maybe the one you mentioned, MFC.

I also learned today that generally speaking, in Florida, non-compete clauses are not taken very seriously by the courts, so the non-compete threat by her now ex-boss is just an intimidation tactic. Thanks, Sevrin, for responding!

Oops, double post. Definitely see if she'd be willing to try out MFC. A lot of new models have trouble on MFC, but with her previous experience she will probably do just fine! Also if she picks the same name, old members will always be able to find her easily again if they search for her. There's a site called MyCamGirl and if she makes an account, she can probably link her old Streamate account name to her profile on there and that will make old traffic be able to find her easier still.

 

[fletch1701]

That's great information, LuthienBlythe, thanks! I'll share that with her.

In her panic about her situation she was talking about doing porn. My advice to her was if you're going to do porn, do it because you've thought about it and know what you are getting into and are comfortable with it, not because your back is against the wall.

When I get her set up with the PC I'm going to direct her to this message board, she can set up an account and once she gets accepted as a model she can get into conversations in the models-only section.

 

[fletch1701]

Happy update; my friend found a loophole that will allow her to webcam. :-D She explored doing phone chat, but was told she'd have to be comfortable with subjects like scat and pedophelia and she couldn't say no fast enough. Ugh.

Happily, she found another studio where they treat the girls much better, and according to Florida law, FL is a right-to-work state, which makes her an independent contractor, and any non-compete clause almost impossible to enforce. This new studio won't take a huge cut of her earnings and will help her get set up, and I've been helping her with the technical side of things, so she can start web camming. She's going to do really well; she likes doing it, she'll have more control over her income and I'm going to build a website so she can attract a following, on the house.

Thank you, ladies, for your helpful advice! I've given her the link; she will be introducing herself shortly and getting to know you all, and learning from the experts here.

 

[fandango]

Why does your friend want to sign up with another studio when she could do it herself.

In fact this is actually quite a general question and maybe any other models will be able to answer but what does a studio actually provide that a cam model couldnt do herself?

It seems to me that all they do is take a chunk of your earnings and maybe provide you a room to cam from and not a lot else. Of course all I know is from posts I've seen here so I'm sure there must be some benefit they provide that I'm not aware of but it always feels like models tend to have a lot of problems with them.

 

[mynameisbob84]

Happy update; my friend found a loophole that will allow her to webcam. :-D She explored doing phone chat, but was told she'd have to be comfortable with subjects like scat and pedophelia and she couldn't say no fast enough. Ugh.

Say whuuuuuuut? :?

If by phone chat, you mean something like NiteFlirt, then she wouldn't have to discuss anything she wasn't comfortable discussing. She might receive requests to talk about those things, but she always has the option to decline.

I too question whether a studio is of any benefit to her assuming she has a computer, an internet connection, and a space to cam from. Unless she's lacking those things, she's essentially handing over a percentage of her pay for very little in return, and nothing she couldn't do herself :twocents-02cents:

 

[fletch1701]

That's good to know; as I said, I know next to nothing about the web cam business; I'm trying to help a friend out, and my understanding is this studio is owned by a friend of hers. She should be on-line this weekend, at I gave her the link to this message board site so she can start learning from the experts. :-D

 

[Jesse0328]

Happily, she found another studio where they treat the girls much better, and according to Florida law, FL is a right-to-work state, which makes her an independent contractor, and any non-compete clause almost impossible to enforce.

Many attorneys will offer a free initial consultation. Based upon your reasoning as to why a non compete clause would be unenforceable, I would highly recommend that your friend contact an employment lawyer.

 

[Kassie_Lynn]

I was in this same situation before, almost to the T.
I'm in a state similar to Florida, which has the same work law you mentioned.

Streamate support literally told me there's nothing I can do (even though no-competes aren't even legal here). I have to wait the 6 months because I'm contracted to SM, not the studio.
Idk how that happened, but if it happened to her, she might just be screwed.

But SM kindly told me about a nice little loophole: open a group/couple account. You can have one of those even if you're "under the 6 month" crap.
She wouldn't be able to be on it alone without eventually getting in trouble, but it's something that gets you past it.
New sites are definitely harder to get into.
SM is always where I felt more comfortable, so when I left my studio for having a tyrannic-asshole owner, I felt trapped because SM could do nothing for me.
Luckily, I'm married and have someone I can cam with when I get on there.

 

[MayaWright]

I'm not sure how 'legit' my opinion is,given I am from Europe and laws might be very different,but here,if somoene makes you sign a no-compete clause,they have to pay you a certain amount of money per month for that clause to stand up after you leave the studio. This said amount of money had to be specified in the clause and has to be payed for the duration of the clause. I have been trough the same scare,I worked for a studio who's owner said that I will not be able to work on MFC after I leave the studio for 2 years. I told them upfront that their clause didnt stand because I've been an MFC model for 2 years before joining them,but they said it still stands. So when I left,I looked into this and unless they are prepaired for some jail time for illegal clauses they should just quiet down. And they did,I'm happy home camgirl again for 5 months and not a problem. It's mostly intimidation. And since she wasnt even given a copy of the contract ..it's probably all fake. Goodluck on her home camming!