christiana98
New Member
Hey guys, I literally just made an account so this may be in the wrong place, or not allowed entirely. I would love to get some input on a situation I'm dealing with right now, from anyone who's dealt with bad clients. This is going to be a long one, so buckle up. TLDR; Client had a refund, took my work and altered it, said another designer made it, refuses to give me credit.
The situation is this:
I am primarily a book cover designer. I found a client, contracts were signed, and then contracts were broken. I designed 45 total book cover variations for said clients book. I purchased stock, I purchased fonts, I used elements in Photoshop that I made and sell. This client spread around on Facebook that my cover was awful, shoddy, and unusable. I saw this, and confronted the client and told her that after all the work, time, and money I put in, I quit. I gave her a 50% refund and washed my hands of her. The cover, however, I was quite proud of. It's sat on my harddrive as I'm at a loss for what to do.
A few weeks after we part ways, she posts the cover on her Facebook page, saying her book was going to be released in a month. I ignore it, and don't care that she used the cover she didn't pay for. Then I see that there has been a slight alteration to the design, an alteration that is so minor, I didn't even see it initially. She'd hired another designer to add to the design, and he put something in the top right corner that smudged some of the title font, and she said that he made the cover, and that he's a great designer. I commented, asking for her to change the attribution as he didn't design it. The other designer commented saying he didn't make it, and I emailed him to chat about what he did -- he had no idea that she had taken my design, hired him to change it without permission, and that it was me who worked on it. She's outright refusing to change the comment she made about him making it as "he finished the job, didn't", despite there being only a minor change. She has since used the cover on her paperback editions without any changes, and the other designer is still credited.
I've asked several business owners what to do in this situation. Some are saying I should sue, others are saying to serve a DMCA takedown notice. Others are telling me to report her book to Amazon for copyright infringement. I don't know anything about the legality of this, she paid me for three bundled services at a £400 discount (I needed the cash to make rent, I didn't care if I was undercharging by £400), and I refunded her half, after I had completed all three services and she told me they were awful and she couldn't use my work. Either way, I'm angry about the whole "he made it, not you" debacle. What can I do? Legally? Both myself and the client are in the UK if it helps. I had someone inform me that she's paid for my time, not the work, and that I am the copyright holder... but I really don't know.
The situation is this:
I am primarily a book cover designer. I found a client, contracts were signed, and then contracts were broken. I designed 45 total book cover variations for said clients book. I purchased stock, I purchased fonts, I used elements in Photoshop that I made and sell. This client spread around on Facebook that my cover was awful, shoddy, and unusable. I saw this, and confronted the client and told her that after all the work, time, and money I put in, I quit. I gave her a 50% refund and washed my hands of her. The cover, however, I was quite proud of. It's sat on my harddrive as I'm at a loss for what to do.
A few weeks after we part ways, she posts the cover on her Facebook page, saying her book was going to be released in a month. I ignore it, and don't care that she used the cover she didn't pay for. Then I see that there has been a slight alteration to the design, an alteration that is so minor, I didn't even see it initially. She'd hired another designer to add to the design, and he put something in the top right corner that smudged some of the title font, and she said that he made the cover, and that he's a great designer. I commented, asking for her to change the attribution as he didn't design it. The other designer commented saying he didn't make it, and I emailed him to chat about what he did -- he had no idea that she had taken my design, hired him to change it without permission, and that it was me who worked on it. She's outright refusing to change the comment she made about him making it as "he finished the job, didn't", despite there being only a minor change. She has since used the cover on her paperback editions without any changes, and the other designer is still credited.
I've asked several business owners what to do in this situation. Some are saying I should sue, others are saying to serve a DMCA takedown notice. Others are telling me to report her book to Amazon for copyright infringement. I don't know anything about the legality of this, she paid me for three bundled services at a £400 discount (I needed the cash to make rent, I didn't care if I was undercharging by £400), and I refunded her half, after I had completed all three services and she told me they were awful and she couldn't use my work. Either way, I'm angry about the whole "he made it, not you" debacle. What can I do? Legally? Both myself and the client are in the UK if it helps. I had someone inform me that she's paid for my time, not the work, and that I am the copyright holder... but I really don't know.