Stolen Art Work
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- pufeta
I need some advice that I think each one of you can help me with.
Six months ago I freelanced for this guy. I worked on several jobs for him and once the jobs were completed, he payed in a timely fashion. Before the end of year, last year, he asked me to come up with a concept and design for this new company he was investing in. He wanted me to create a marketing piece as well as an interactive cd that introduced his company to prospective clients.
Therefore it took me several weeks, several meetings and a lot of my time to come up with a marketing piece. Anyhow the clients loved it and I needed to go ahead, purchase the art (royalty free photos) and get it to the printers. Before I did this I gave him pdfs to review and an invoice for 30% of the bill. i explained that i needed to purchase the art cause this was only a comp and so forth. Anyhow.. he never returned my calls since then and left me an email saying he didnt want to pay. Since I could not reach him anymore and he was avoiding me I sent him an email saying he WAS NOT allowed to use my ideas and design unless he paid me.
Anyway,.six months later I call the company as an annonymous client and I ask for a marketing kit. They send it to me and It was EVERYTHING I DESIGNED AND WROTE. ALL MY IDEAS - INCLUDING the low res comp photo he used and never paid for.
WHAT DO I DO? Please give me some advice....
thanks in advance
angelina
- stewart0
get yourself a lawyer.
this is serious stuff.
- rabattski0
that sucks! what a bastards.
send a letter that you've found out that they have been using your artwork/concept/txt without your permission and you want to settle this. initially without lawyers. leave it up to them what happens. if they don't contact you back go to a lawyer.
- silencer0
Yup, rabattski is totally right. Ask for a settlement, then threaten them with a lawyer if they do not comply.
- rabattski0
also gather all the e-mails / snail mails / written stuff you have regarding this project. all the files (with dates if possible).
wouldn't go to a lawyer right away. takes time, annoyance, costs money etc. the one who profits from this all are the lawyers. try to settle it first without any lawyer. plus try to get some confirmation out of them, that they used your material without your permission. that way you have more solid proof. if you threaten them right away with lawyers you might miss that.
- pufeta0
ok.. i just an email out to him.. i thank you guys ..... i cant believe this.. i am also gonna call the photo stock company where i used the comp from.. is that a good idea.. he is using a photo without paying for it.. what do u think?
thanks
- sauceruney0
you did have a contract, didn't you?
- rasko40
I'd use that to back up your threats, wait for his response first
- pufeta0
yes i did have a contract... thank god.. but it never said he couldnt use any of my work without payment.. i am afraid he will find a way out of this and i get nothing...
- rabattski0
rasko4 is right. hold that as an extra thread.
pufeta: where do you live? depends a bit on what your country's law says about it but as far as i know every country has a solid copyright act which protects the artists. in holland you could even sue them without even having a contract.
- MichaelFelt0
You need something with this persons signiture on, something that could be an agreement for you to complete the work, like a customer order form.
Ive been here before and you need something in the form of a contract!!!
or call his bluff and say that you have all these legal documents and try to get them to pay up???
- Dancer0
yeah this is true, you have a case, it's your intellectual rights (I think that's what it's called). Did you put a copyright on the PDF's you sent?
Please let us know the out come, I want to here that people don't get away with this shit – it annoys the hell out of me.
Thankfully I have never exprienced it though.
- rabattski0
it really depends on where you live. in some countries you can do without contracts, signatures. dancer is right, intellectual rights.
see, if you would be an artist and you would have painted something which is in some gallery and someone takes a picture of it and uses it for his own commercial purposes there is no contract, no signature etc. but still you can sue. based on intellectual rights. same goes for graphic design or any other creative profession. but it helps a lot if you have it. makes it a lot easier.
this happened to me once and it has all been resolved without any lawyers. they know they are wrong. and it will costs them more as well if there are lawyers involved since you also gonna claim your lawyers costs etc.
- pufeta0
To all... u guys are great and I appreciate all your help. yes I am getting together all my documents and am waiting for a responce from him..
I live in New York so I was told that I can take him to Small Claims court for NO FEE.. also the photo company will get notified for illegal use of the Comp photo and they will have to STOp the cirulation of the prints,
I will keep u all informed.. and PLEASE be careful with all your jobs. People dont realize how much work we do !!!!!
thanks
angelina
- k0na_an0k0
you have two options.
1) a flaming bag of dog poo on their doorstep.
2) get yourself a lawyer. they will talk to you for free and tell you if they have a case. it would help if you went in there with what you client gave you, and also printouts of the work you did way back when INCLUDING PRINTOUTS OF THE DATES at which you completed them.
Good luck.
- Dancer0
Even Architects can claim rights, i.e If you take a picture of the, say, of the Crysler Building in NYC you cannot use it, you need the expressed permisson of the owner/architect - something like that.
Not that it has any relevance to you but thought I would mention it.
I only know this cause Mirmax were nearly sued by the owners of the Crysler building for putting it in the Spiderman poster.
Good luck
- rabattski0
yeah good luck! and keep us posted! i really would like to see how this ends (and i'm always up for gossips, slander and news regarding bastards that get burned for fucking over creatives).