Looking for old threads about Artwork Theft

[jfiscus]

I recall reading some old threads about how other sign shops have handled customers taking their proof artwork and going elsewhere to have the artwork printed/cut. Finally had it happen to me...

Designed a couple layouts for a new customer after speaking to them about fleet graphics, and they stopped returning emails/calls. I've been busy so I didn't continue pestering them; but the other day I drove by a van of theirs with my wife & said "There's another one we did", then thought - wait a minute, I designed that - but we never finalized the project.

Apparently I couldn't get the search terms right to turn up any good results here, anybody have a link or two for me to peruse about how to handle this, or advice of their own?

 

[skyhigh]

got pics?
Are you talking "identical", or similar features?

Hate to beat a dead horse, but DEPOSIT, DEPOSIT, DEPOSIT before any artwork. Especially for a new customer.

ps. Had that happen to me also (thats all it takes to learn your lesson). I was slightly more pissed at the shop that reproduced my artwork than I was at the customer.

 

[Jillbeans]

I can't help you find a thread but remember to NEVER even turn on your computer without a deposit. Ever.

Save/print out your emails, take pix of the offending stolen artwork, take it to small claims court. You can more than likely collect your design fee.
Love....Jill

 

[Joe Diaz]

Easy solution.

1st: As others already pointed out, Deposit. Deposit. Deposit. People tend to not take your artwork to the next shop down the block when they have already invested in yours.

2nd: You need to verbally tell them what that Deposit covers. i.e. not ownership of the artwork, or ownership can be transferred when the project is completed and paid for in full. I emphasized the word "can" because at our shop, ownership of artwork is an additional cost quoted before we work on the project. So as you can see from the very beginning of our relationship with a future customer we are discussing the ownership of the artwork. If they don't want to purchase the artwork, that is fine, but then it is limited to only projects that come out of our shop. They can always decide to purchase it at a later date if they wish. But it's important to explain this to them before doing any work.

3rd: You need that all in writing too. Have them sign off on it.

4th: Watermark and disclaimer the crap out of your sketches if they leave the building. Show the other sign makers that you mean business.

Optional: Avoid emailing artwork like the plague. Here is what we do if the client is local. We talk them into coming in. Our explanation is we can avoid a lot of back and forth, thus saving time and money. (they like that part) If the client stops in, then we can make revisions in person. We like to have home field advantage when discussing revisions, we tend to get our way then. They usually go for that and it really does save time.

 

[AnotherSignManiac]

+1 on the deposit, always get it!!, luckily when this happened to me we had a deposit so it wasn't that bad. But yes,I would be more pissed at the sign company that reproduced the artwork than the idiot customer that did it in the first place.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

Easy solution.

1st: As others already pointed out, Deposit. Deposit. Deposit. People tend to not take your artwork to the next shop down the block when they have already invested in yours.

2nd: You need to verbally tell them what that Deposit covers. i.e. not ownership of the artwork, or ownership can be transferred when the project is completed and paid for in full. I emphasized the word "can" because at our shop, ownership of artwork is an additional cost quoted before we work on the project. So as you can see from the very beginning of our relationship with a future customer we are discussing the ownership of the artwork. If they don't want to purchase the artwork, that is fine, but then it is limited to only projects that come out of our shop. They can always decide to purchase it at a later date if they wish. But it's important to explain this to them before doing any work.

3rd: You need that all in writing too. Have them sign off on it.

4th: Watermark and disclaimer the crap out of your sketches if they leave the building. Show the other sign makers that you mean business.

Optional: Avoid emailing artwork like the plague. Here is what we do if the client is local. We talk them into coming in. Our explanation is we can avoid a lot of back and forth, thus saving time and money. (they like that part) If the client stops in, then we can make revisions in person. We like to have home field advantage when discussing revisions, we tend to get our way then. They usually go for that and it really does save time.

+1 on this so hard. Like Joe said, make them come in, don't email, and get a deposit. I never e-mail, customer only gets a printed proof if they pay a $20 dollar deposit that is good for one week and I always ask for deposits on art ... almost always don't get them ... but I still have to do the old "basic layout is included in the price, if you want something designed out above and beyond, I would need to get an art fee for any illustration or logo work I need to do."

 

["Deposit Please"]

...a deposit is their commitment to you....and means you got the job! ....never design anything without one

 

[MatthewTimothy]

not just a deposit but a contract, you cant do anything really because you have no proof other than he said she said with the design. NEVER provide artwork till a deposit is made AND a contract, work order, or bill of service is signed.

 

[jfiscus]

I guess I should have asked for some type of deposit... but work was slow that day and the "customer" wanted to come in and work work with me on the design. It took about an hour start to finish to design the artwork, maybe I should just send him out an invoice for the artwork/design labor?

After we were done I printed out a proof with the pricing.
It's not a big job really, just the point of the matter.

 

[J Hill Designs]

yep send an invoice and see what happens

 

[jfiscus]

Easy solution.

1st: As others already pointed out, Deposit. Deposit. Deposit. People tend to not take your artwork to the next shop down the block when they have already invested in yours.

2nd: You need to verbally tell them what that Deposit covers. i.e. not ownership of the artwork, or ownership can be transferred when the project is completed and paid for in full. I emphasized the word "can" because at our shop, ownership of artwork is an additional cost quoted before we work on the project. So as you can see from the very beginning of our relationship with a future customer we are discussing the ownership of the artwork. If they don't want to purchase the artwork, that is fine, but then it is limited to only projects that come out of our shop. They can always decide to purchase it at a later date if they wish. But it's important to explain this to them before doing any work.

3rd: You need that all in writing too. Have them sign off on it.

4th: Watermark and disclaimer the crap out of your sketches if they leave the building. Show the other sign makers that you mean business.

Optional: Avoid emailing artwork like the plague. Here is what we do if the client is local. We talk them into coming in. Our explanation is we can avoid a lot of back and forth, thus saving time and money. (they like that part) If the client stops in, then we can make revisions in person. We like to have home field advantage when discussing revisions, we tend to get our way then. They usually go for that and it really does save time.

Thanks Joe, we are trying to make the transition to charging a deposit currently. Most of our current customers are loyal regulars, (everyone else is COD) so we will be implementing it with new customers/artwork.

 

[Bly]

It's not theft if you gave it to them for nothing.

Chalk it up to experience.

 

[Deaton Design]

If he used your design verbatim, he needs to pay you. If you let him get by with it, he will do it again to someone else. But if he changed things up on the design, you probably will have to let it slide. You've already got good advice here, but dont let him go if he stole your work.

 

[spm]

Lawsuit is a waste of time unless you want to waste money to prove a point.
But According to Copyright Law, Any artwork produced by Any Artist is Owned by the Artist, As long as you can prove it's yours. (Keep your Dated EMAILs or Digital Creation Dates on Files, ETC.)

But I'm with the Others on this ALWAYS, ALWAYS Get a DEPOSIT.

Tired of other Sign Artist Giving there Time away, While the rest of us Charge 4 it.
That's Why We Price What We Price.

Good Luck

 

[signswi]

Easy solution.

1st: As others already pointed out, Deposit. Deposit. Deposit. People tend to not take your artwork to the next shop down the block when they have already invested in yours.

2nd: You need to verbally tell them what that Deposit covers. i.e. not ownership of the artwork, or ownership can be transferred when the project is completed and paid for in full. I emphasized the word "can" because at our shop, ownership of artwork is an additional cost quoted before we work on the project. So as you can see from the very beginning of our relationship with a future customer we are discussing the ownership of the artwork. If they don't want to purchase the artwork, that is fine, but then it is limited to only projects that come out of our shop. They can always decide to purchase it at a later date if they wish. But it's important to explain this to them before doing any work.

3rd: You need that all in writing too. Have them sign off on it.

4th: Watermark and disclaimer the crap out of your sketches if they leave the building. Show the other sign makers that you mean business.

Optional: Avoid emailing artwork like the plague. Here is what we do if the client is local. We talk them into coming in. Our explanation is we can avoid a lot of back and forth, thus saving time and money. (they like that part) If the client stops in, then we can make revisions in person. We like to have home field advantage when discussing revisions, we tend to get our way then. They usually go for that and it really does save time.

Great post Joe, though we email artwork all the time--only it's low resolution with watermarks and I have the PDF profile set up to completely flatten and down sample everything. JPG is even better but a lot of our clients like to be able to zoom in on stuff so we typically use PDF. Every other point here is entirely spot on! Bonus points for people using actual contracts that they require clients to sign before work starts explaining the IP restrictions and transfer conditions (including ideation and design).

The AIGA has a great "default contract" that is good for mix and matching language out of at http://www.aiga.org/standard-agreement/

 

[signswi]

It's not theft if you gave it to them for nothing.

Chalk it up to experience.

I agree with the later point but unless IP rights are specifically transferred he didn't actually give them any rights of modification, reproduction or distribution so he still has (tiny) legal legs to stand on.