(a) That's right. In this case both parties have agreed that A will not be legally liable if she fails to turn up for one or two of the ten shows at which she has promised to sing. Under the doctrine of freedom of contract, the courts will normally give effect to terms in a contract which exclude the liability. Accordingly, A would not be legally liable for a failure to turn up for one or two of the performances. But if A failed to turn up for more than two of the performances, or breached the contract in some other way, then she would be liable for that breach.

Of course, to be effective, it is essential that the exclusion clause be properly included as a term of the contract.

In Causer v Browne [1952] VLR 1 it was held that not enough had been done to draw attention to terms that would have excluded liability. Accordingly, these terms did not become part of the contract.