Artwork used by another company

[BertyFish]

Just after some thoughts on this please.

I run a sign business, i try to add a little more design flair to the work so the customer and me are happy.

Often this means putting together a few different options for the customer to decide on.

A few months back i put a quote together for frosted windows at a barbers, this included 3 different designs
and mock up pictures showing how it would look fitted. Not a great amount of time but maybe a couple of hours
which i dont mind if i get the job.

Today i walk past the barbers and notice my artwork has been used on nearly all of the windows. Its a simple design
but the same fonts/logo etc are used.

I sent the quote by PDF file so it obvious he has just sent my work and asked them to use it (open in illustrator etc)

Im not sure if to just learn my lesson or kick up a stink..... what do people think?

[PurpleMoonlight]

Send them a bill for use of your design and see what they do.

[IATM]

Not much you can do.

Lesson learned - dont send out PDF's. Send out screenshots or a smaller image to them to check it.

[BertyFish]

I know theres not much i can do but i do want to say my word, one annoying thing is knowing my quotes have probably been
sent to all of the local sign companies so they can see how i work etc.

Heres one page off the PDF with the logos, as you can see there is a template used with the same wording on every page.



PS no copying

In my t&c it states -

Copyrights - Three Fish Sign Company Stafford holds the copyright on any design, sketch, artwork, or other creative work we have furnished unless other arrangements are agreed to in writing. With the purchase of a design the client is granted the right to use this design for embroidered (but not printed) garments, and other non-signage use (Excluding Business Cards, Flyers, Websites). Three Fish Sign Company Stafford reserves the right to be sole fabricator of any sign or vehicle livery we have designed, and to display our work or images of our work for portfolio purposes (both in print and online). With the purchase of a "sign design", the above rights are granted, but Three Fish Sign Company Stafford will not specifically endeavour to create a design that meets all of the above application criteria.
If you do not order Three Fish Sign Company Stafford reserve the right to Copyright any designs we have drawn up indefinitely.
Under copyright law there must be a significant difference between our designs & those that you may use, for example a change of fonts or slight difference in colour would put you in breach of copyright law & in that instance an invoice would be issued.
Initial designs are mainly for quoting purposes & if the design is not used we do not charge for this but if after being quoted the customer asks for any alterations design fees will apply after the first 15 mins, be sure only to ask for adjustments if you wish to go ahead with the design or product or both.

Edited by BertyFish on Thursday 14th January 18:27

[HoHoHo]

I suspect you can shout all you like but you'll simply have to move on.

Last year we pitched for an exhibition stand and lost.

We built for another client at the same show and bugger me................you guessed it, our design had been used and built by another company.

Feck all I could do aside from look at the shoddy workmanship and think we would have done a better job etc.

[Ste1987]

IATM said:

Not much you can do.

Lesson learned - dont send out PDF's. Send out screenshots or a smaller image to them to check it.

Or watermark over the designs?

[HoHoHo]

Ste1987 said:

IATM said:

Not much you can do.

Lesson learned - dont send out PDF's. Send out screenshots or a smaller image to them to check it.

Or watermark over the designs?

In this instance and application a good idea

[remkingston]

Send them an invoice for your services.

I've done it with photos i have taken which have been used without permission or put into print.

I've done the same with designs with flyer drafts which have turned up in print too.

[marshalla]

Being pedantic about it, I don't think your Ts & Cs will stand up. "reserve the right to Copyright", in particular, is meaningless as you don't need to do anything special to create a copyright.

What you need to enforce is your right to copy (which exists as soon as you create the original work) which you have not granted to the other party. You need to hit them with a cease and desist letter suggesting they can either remove the artwork, pay you an appropriate fee to obtain the right to copy for their use only, or meet you in court to let a judge and some lawyers run up the costs. Send it to both the client and whoever did the work.

[Hoofy]

HoHoHo said:

Ste1987 said:

IATM said:

Not much you can do.

Lesson learned - dont send out PDF's. Send out screenshots or a smaller image to them to check it.

Or watermark over the designs?

In this instance and application a good idea

If you're gonna send someone something that is printable then I am surprised you haven't put your name all over the design to make it a PITA for someone to remove.

[Vaud]

marshalla said:

What you need to enforce is your right to copy (which exists as soon as you create the original work) which you have not granted to the other party. You need to hit them with a cease and desist letter suggesting they can either remove the artwork, pay you an appropriate fee to obtain the right to copy for their use only, or meet you in court to let a judge and some lawyers run up the costs. Send it to both the client and whoever did the work.

This.

[HoHoHo]

Hoofy said:

HoHoHo said:

Ste1987 said:

IATM said:

Not much you can do.

Lesson learned - dont send out PDF's. Send out screenshots or a smaller image to them to check it.

Or watermark over the designs?

In this instance and application a good idea

If you're gonna send someone something that is printable then I am surprised you haven't put your name all over the design to make it a PITA for someone to remove.

If it's an existing client we don't, we trust.

We always however only supply examples as low res PDF's that can't be used if we're pitching for a logo design for example.

With regard to our exhibition stands we have to present in full techno-glouriousness and it has to look fantastic. intellectual property is owned of course but often copied unfortunately and it's simply too expensive in our game to worry about it..

[BertyFish]

Lesson learnt it is then.

The work needs to be vector format to cut in vinyl, so its not like they have just seen it and copied it,
it would been opened in illustrator to get to it, first thing deleting the layer saying artwork belongs to.....

Can i still give him a mouthfull though?

Ill have to find a way of saving my work, pdf is a good layout and easy for everyone to open.
Hopefully there is a way of flattening it...

[Magic919]

You should write to them, as said earlier. It's a piss take by them.

[Vaud]

BertyFish said:

Lesson learnt it is then.

The work needs to be vector format to cut in vinyl, so its not like they have just seen it and copied it,
it would been opened in illustrator to get to it, first thing deleting the layer saying artwork belongs to.....

Can i still give him a mouthfull though?

Ill have to find a way of saving my work, pdf is a good layout and easy for everyone to open.
Hopefully there is a way of flattening it...

You have had good advice that does not include "lesson learnt":..

There is a middle ground if you don't want to spend money on a cease & desist.

Go and see them and speak to whoever commission the work and say "Just passing - looks great - glad you proceeded with my work. I'm sure there has been an oversight somewhere but here's a duplicate of my invoice. Payment in 7 days is fine."

[AyBee]

Magic919 said:

You should write to them, as said earlier. It's a piss take by them.

I'd be doing this considering the spirit of your T&Cs - if you can't get any money out of them, you may be able to find out who did it and how much they charged (as an alternative to not 'going legal'...)?

[Spanna]

The Barbers may be the ones pulling the fast one by telling whoever made and fitted the signs that the design was done and paid for, hence the PDF etc.

[Cyberprog]

BertyFish said:

Lesson learnt it is then.

The work needs to be vector format to cut in vinyl, so its not like they have just seen it and copied it,
it would been opened in illustrator to get to it, first thing deleting the layer saying artwork belongs to.....

Can i still give him a mouthfull though?

Ill have to find a way of saving my work, pdf is a good layout and easy for everyone to open.
Hopefully there is a way of flattening it...

I'm sure there is an easy way to render it as a single layer, that or flatten to a single layer in illustrator then export to pdf.

[kowalski655]

Use one of these?

[miniman]

I'd go in and get my hair cut, then tell them I'd pay when they settled the bill for the designs and walk out.