‘World’s Longest Invoice’ draws attention to plight of unpaid freelancers
High percentage stiffed by clients in the ‘gig economy’
Illustrator and designer Jay Quercia, who recently left Brooklyn for Portland, Oregon, was stiffed $6,500 by a deadbeat client. German artist Wolfram Kampffmeyer, who makes 3-D paper sculptures, is owed $250. Documentary filmmaker and photojournalist Laura Fravel was never paid $27,000 for videos she produced. Chris DeLoach, an illustrator in Alabama, is owed $110.
These figures and more can be found on “The World’s Longest Invoice,” published online on Monday by the Freelancers Union, a Brooklyn-based group of more than 300,000 independent workers. Roughly 130,000 of these workers live in New York City.
Hours after the invoice was launched, artists’ unpaid bills had added up to $302,580.16. [Update: By 4 p.m. on Monday, the amount had risen to $388,317.] The Freelancers Union expects the invoice to grow in length as freelancers become aware of its existence.