Terms and Conditions

These terms apply to all transcription and anonymisation services provided by Localscript Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 17388152, whose registered office is at 13 The Terrace, Barnes, London, SW13 0NP ("Localscript", "I", "me").

They form a contract between Localscript and the person or organisation ordering the Services ("the Client", "you"). By placing an order you accept these terms.

Where a signed Data Processing Agreement is in place between us, and anything in it conflicts with these terms in relation to the processing of personal data, the Data Processing Agreement prevails.

1. Definitions

"Recording" means an audio or audiovisual file you supply for transcription.

"Transcript" means the completed document I return to you, together with any anonymisation log and re-identification key.

"Services" means transcription, speaker attribution, anonymisation and formatting of Recordings.

"Sample Transcript" means a transcript of a short extract of a Recording, produced free of charge so you can assess quality before committing to paid work.

"Order" means your written instruction to proceed, following a quotation.

"Audio minute" means one minute of recorded material, rounded to the nearest whole minute per Recording.

2. Quotations and orders

2.1 I will provide a written quotation before any paid work begins, stating the rate per audio minute, the number of speakers assumed, the turnaround, and the total estimated cost.

2.2 A quotation is valid for 30 days and is based on the information you provide about the Recording. If the Recording differs materially from that description — for example more speakers than stated, or a substantially longer duration — I will tell you before starting and issue a revised quotation for your approval.

2.3 An Order is accepted when I confirm it in writing. I may decline any Order.

2.4 No work begins until a Data Processing Agreement is signed and, where your institution requires one, a Data Sharing Agreement is in place.

3. What the service includes

3.1 Every Transcript includes, at no additional charge:

(a) intelligent verbatim transcription (or strict verbatim, where ordered);

(b) consistent speaker labels;

(c) timestamps;

(d) anonymisation, including a re-identification key and an anonymisation log;

(e) formatting suitable for direct import into NVivo, ATLAS.ti or MAXQDA, or to your own template where supplied.

3.2 There is no surcharge for regional or second-language accents, or for background noise.

3.3 Transcripts are produced using speech recognition and entity-detection software installed and run locally, followed by a full review against the audio by me personally. No Recording, Transcript or associated data is sent to any external service or third party at any stage of processing.

3.4 Passages that cannot be reliably determined from the audio are marked [unclear] with a timestamp rather than guessed at.

4. Your responsibilities

4.1 You confirm that you have the right to supply the Recording for transcription, and that you have obtained any consents, ethics approvals or permissions required.

4.2 You are responsible for choosing the method by which Recordings are transferred to me, in accordance with the Data Processing Agreement. Recordings must not be sent as email attachments.

4.3 You should tell me at the point of quotation about anything that will affect the work: the number of speakers, specialist terminology, known audio problems, or a template you need matched.

4.4 You should retain your own copy of every Recording. I delete all copies 30 days after delivery and cannot return a Recording after that point.

4.5 Lawful use. The Services may be used only for lawful purposes.

4.6 Indemnity. You will indemnify me against any claim, demand, loss, cost or expense arising from a breach of clause 4.1 or 4.5 — that is, where you did not in fact hold the rights, consents, ethics approvals or permissions needed to supply a Recording for transcription, or where the Services were used unlawfully. This indemnity does not apply to any loss caused by my own breach of these terms or of the Data Processing Agreement.

4.7 Ordering on behalf of a client. If you are an agency or consultancy commissioning the Services for your own client, you remain the Client under these terms and are responsible for payment. You confirm that you have your client's authority to supply the Recording and to enter into the Data Processing Agreement in respect of it, and that any onward supply of the Transcript to your client is on terms no less protective of the participants than these terms and that Agreement.

5. Turnaround

5.1 Turnaround is quoted in working days or hours from the point at which I confirm receipt of the Recording — not from the time you send it.

5.2 Turnaround times are per Recording and assume a single standard interview. For multiple files or larger studies I will confirm a written schedule before work begins.

5.3 Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays in England and Wales.

5.4 If I cannot meet an agreed deadline I will tell you as soon as I know. If a Transcript is delivered late and you tell me within 7 days that the delay has made it materially less useful, I will reduce the charge for that Recording to the rate for the next slower turnaround tier, or waive it entirely where the Transcript no longer serves its purpose.

5.5 If your project does not fit the deadline you need, I will tell you when you ask rather than after you have committed.

6. Price and payment

6.1 Rates are per audio minute and are published on the Localscript website. The rate applicable to your Order is the one stated in your quotation.

6.2 Localscript is not currently registered for VAT. No VAT is charged. If Localscript becomes VAT-registered, VAT will be added to Orders placed after the date of registration, and I will give you at least 30 days' notice.

6.3 I invoice on delivery of the Transcript. Payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date.

6.4 Purchase orders are accepted. Where your institution requires a purchase order number on the invoice, please provide it before delivery.

6.5 Payment is by bank transfer to the account shown on the invoice.

6.6 Late payment. If an invoice is not paid when due I may charge interest and compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and may suspend work on any other Order for you until payment is received.

6.7 Prices may change, but a change will never affect an Order already confirmed. I will give at least 30 days' notice of any change to published rates.

7. The free sample transcript

7.1 I offer a Sample Transcript of up to 15 minutes of a Recording, free of charge and with no obligation on either side.

7.2 A Data Processing Agreement must be signed before you send the Recording for a Sample Transcript, exactly as for paid work.

7.3 The Sample Transcript is produced to the same standard as paid work, and these terms apply to it in full, including clause 11 (Liability).

7.4 One Sample Transcript is offered per Client. I may decline to produce a further one.

8. Accuracy and corrections

8.1 I review every Transcript in full against the audio before delivery.

8.2 I do not guarantee a numerical accuracy percentage. Accuracy achievable from any recording depends on audio quality, overlapping speech, accents and specialist terminology, and no provider can sensibly guarantee a figure independent of the source material.

8.3 Free corrections. If you find errors, tell me within 14 days of delivery and I will correct them free of charge and return a revised Transcript promptly.

8.4 Beyond 14 days. If a Transcript falls materially below the standard described in clause 3 — for example systematic misattribution of speakers, or identifying details missed by the anonymisation pass — I will put it right whether or not the 14 days have passed.

Because I delete all copies of a Recording 30 days after delivery (clause 4.4), correction against the audio is only possible within that 30-day window. If you tell me after the Recording has been deleted, I will credit the charge for that Recording instead, or correct the Transcript from a copy you supply.

This does not extend to changes of preference, requests to reformat after delivery, or corrections to material that was genuinely inaudible and flagged as such.

8.5 Poor audio. If a Recording is too poor to transcribe reliably, I will tell you before starting and will not charge for it. I will not begin work on an unusable file and invoice you afterwards.

9. Cancellation

9.1 You may cancel an Order at any time before I begin work, at no charge.

9.2 If you cancel after work has begun, I will charge for the proportion of the Recording completed at the point of cancellation, and will deliver what has been completed.

9.3 I may cancel an Order before work begins, for any reason, and will not charge you. If I cancel after work has begun, I will not charge you for any part of it.

9.4 On cancellation, Recordings and any partial Transcript are deleted in accordance with the Data Processing Agreement.

10. Confidentiality and data protection

10.1 I treat every Recording and Transcript as confidential and will not disclose them to anyone.

10.2 The Services are performed solely by Montagu Franks. No employee, contractor, freelancer, agency or transcription pool has access to your material.

10.3 Recordings and Transcripts are never used to train, fine-tune, evaluate or improve any machine learning model, and are never used for research, benchmarking, marketing or portfolio purposes.

10.4 I will not name you as a client, quote you, or refer to your project publicly without your written permission.

10.5 The processing of personal data contained in Recordings and Transcripts is governed by the Data Processing Agreement between us. In relation to that processing, the Data Processing Agreement prevails over these terms.

10.6 My handling of your own contact and billing details is described in the Localscript privacy policy.

11. Liability

11.1 Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else which cannot lawfully be limited or excluded — including where limitation is prohibited by data protection legislation.

11.2 Subject to clause 11.1, my total liability arising out of or in connection with an Order, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, is limited to the greater of:

(a) the total charges paid or payable for that Order; or

(b) £1,000.

11.3 Subject to clause 11.1, I am not liable for loss of profit, loss of business, loss of anticipated savings, or any indirect or consequential loss.

11.4 Transcripts are a record of what was said in a Recording. Decisions about how a Transcript is analysed, interpreted, cited or published are yours, and I am not liable for the consequences of those decisions.

11.5 Physical media. Recordings should be transferred electronically by the route agreed under clause 4.2. If you send physical media — a memory card, dictaphone, USB drive or disc — it travels at your risk, and I cannot accept liability for loss or damage in transit. Keep your own copy of anything you send.

11.6 Insurance. I hold professional indemnity and cyber liability insurance appropriate to the Services from the commencement of the first paid engagement, and will provide details of cover on request. I do not represent that such insurance is in force before that date.

12. Intellectual property

12.1 You retain all rights in the Recording.

12.2 All rights in the Transcript pass to you on payment in full. Before payment, I grant you a licence to use the Transcript for the purpose for which it was commissioned.

12.2A All rights in a Sample Transcript pass to you on delivery, whether or not any paid Order follows.

12.3 I retain all rights in the software, methods and templates used to produce the Transcript. Nothing in these terms transfers any right in them to you.

13. Things outside my control

13.1 I am not liable for delay or failure to perform caused by events outside my reasonable control, including illness, equipment failure, power or internet outage, or the acts of third parties.

13.2 If such an event occurs I will tell you as soon as possible and we will agree a revised schedule. If a delay would make the Transcript materially less useful to you, you may cancel the Order and I will not charge for it.

13.3 Localscript is operated by one person. Where an event under clause 13.1 means I cannot complete work within a timescale you can accept, I will say so promptly and release you to go elsewhere, rather than hold the work.

14. Ending the agreement

14.1 Either of us may end our working relationship by written notice. Orders already confirmed will be completed and paid for unless we agree otherwise.

14.2 I may suspend or end the relationship immediately if you fail to pay an invoice when due, or if I reasonably believe the Services are being used for an unlawful purpose.

15. Complaints

15.1 If something has gone wrong, email monty@localscript.co.uk and I will respond within 2 working days.

15.2 We will try to resolve any dispute directly and in good faith before either of us takes formal steps.

15.3 The full procedure, including the timescales I work to and the independent routes available if my answer does not satisfy you, is set out in the Localscript Complaints Policy, published at localscript.co.uk.

16. Changes to these terms

16.1 I may change these terms. The version in force is the one published on the Localscript website at the date of your Order.

16.2 A change to these terms does not affect an Order already confirmed.

17. General

17.1 These terms, together with your quotation and the Data Processing Agreement, form the entire agreement between us.

17.2 You may not transfer your rights under these terms to anyone else without my written consent.

17.3 If a court finds any part of these terms unlawful, the rest continues in force.

17.4 A delay in enforcing any part of these terms is not a waiver of the right to do so.

17.5 These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.