Artistic Copyright - Getting ripped off
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- brandaddy
I'm curious of how many people have experience with taking clients to court or squeezing payment out of them when they are illegally using your work.
I've revamped a logo and now they don't want to pay for the work - on top of that they've "registered" my copyright protected material without my consent.
See - http://www.lottorace.net/
I've been in this business for over 20 years and this is the first time I've considered legal action in the case of non payment.
- cannonball19780
Hopefully you have something on paper.
- brandaddy0
I've been digging around for copyright associations and the like in Canada and the UK. As the company that I am about to begin this dispute with is based out of Toronto with a corporate shell in the Isle of Mann. It's always interesting to learn more in relationship to copyrights and those who've actually taken these kind of cases to the full extent of the law.
Too bad there's not more interest on the subject here.
- ETM0
Well here in Canada, artists owns all rights for original work out of the box. Copyright is automatically with the content creator. It's gets more difficult though when you are using a registered or trademarked name, logo, existing prior art etc. to create your work.
Did the entity exist prior to you doing work for them?
Per Canadian Copyright Act:
A work must be original and can include literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works or compilations. Copyright is granted the moment the work is created and does not distinguish work of a professional or that of an amateur. There is also no distinction between for profit or commercial use or for hobby purposes. Literary work includes anything that is written, such speeches, essays and books and may be in any form. However, a short string of words or spontaneous speech is not covered. Dramatic works include the characters, scenes, choreography, cinematography, relationship between characters, dialogue and dramatic expression. Artistic works include sculptures, paintings, photographs, charts and engravings. Musical works include any musical compositions with or without words. Unexpressed ideas are not protected work.Moral Rights
The concept of moral rights refers to the idea that an author has a separate right over their works, in addition to copyright. Despite any assignment or sale of copyright, the author retains their moral rights, a form of personal attachment to the works. Moral rights can only be waived. There are three attributes of moral rights: attribution, integrity and association. Moral rights were originally raised in the Berne Convention and was later incorporated into the Copyright Act. Moral rights allows the author of the work to determine how the work is being used and what the work is being associated to
- ETM0
^
This is why it's important that you sign over copyright in writing to your clients and also include that you have waived moral rights. After, of course, you are paid in full and both parties are happy.
- whatthefunk0
My contract/work agreement explicitly states that "Upon receipt of full payment, Designer grants to the Client the following rights in the Designs. For use as (this is where I grant them rights for a design only to be used in print, website, logo, etc.) With respect to the usage rights above, the Client shall have exclusive rights.
I've learned through research that unless you detail, in writing, the transfer of usage rights then by law you retain those rights, especially if not paid in full. That's how I do it in NYC, not sure about Canada.
- omg0
bring them to QBN court. many have been tried here, and have suffered the wrath of justice.
- omg0
it seems the best place and way to deal with artistic theft is to balance out and use the thievery to promote your own business. It's smart and makes sense. Lost Type Co-op shows us how they handle type thieves.
