回複：Photographer lost all my wedding photos

We did sign a contract/agreement for his photography service, and the paragraghs that are relevant to the case are as follows:

7.  Agreement, Jurisdiction & Severability:  This contract contains the entire understanding between RRP and the Client. It supersedes all prior and simultaneous agreements between the parties. The only way to change or add to this agreement is to do so in writing by providing a document signed by all the relevant parties.

The laws of the District of Columbia shall govern this contract, and any resulting arbitration shall take place within the District of Columbia.  The Client assumes responsibility for all collection costs and legal fees incurred by RRP should enforcement of this contract become necessary. In the event that any part of this contract is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this contract shall remain valid and enforceable. Any failure by one or both parties to enforce a provision of this contract shall not constitute a waiver of any other portion or provision of this agreement.

8. Force Majeure:  A party is not liable for failure to perform the party's obligations if such failure is as a result of Acts of God (including fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane or other natural disaster), war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, hostilities (regardless of whether war is declared), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power or confiscation, terrorist activities, nationalization, government sanction, blockage, embargo, labor dispute, strike, lockout or interruption or failure of electricity or telephone service. No party is entitled to terminate this Contract under Clause 5 (Termination & Cancellation) in such circumstances.

If a party asserts Force Majeure as an excuse for failure to perform the party's obligation, then the nonperforming party must prove that the party took reasonable steps to minimize delay or damages caused by foreseeable events, that the party substantially fulfilled all non-excused obligations, and that the other party was timely notified of the likelihood or actual occurrence of an event described in Clause 11 (Force Majeure).

Does it mean the photographer can assert Force Majeure (computer crash) as an excuse for failure to deliver the service and refund the fees? I think the data lost could have been prevented if he had made backups or hired a professional data recovery service. Instead, he made few efforts in taking proper care of the clients' photos and recovering them and did not even respond to my email.

所有跟帖： 

• 回複：回複：Photographer lost all my wedding photos -henxiaoloulou- ♀ (2202 bytes) () 06/29/2012 postreply 00:13:26

• 回複：回複：回複：Photographer lost all my wedding photos -littlelamb123- ♀ (606 bytes) () 06/29/2012 postreply 08:22:39

• 能煩請老貓和其他能人幫我解答一下以上問題嗎？ -littlelamb123- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/29/2012 postreply 18:06:13

• 回複：回複：回複：回複：Photographer lost all my wedding photos -Henxiaoloulou- ♀ (677 bytes) () 06/29/2012 postreply 19:06:10