999Graffix
New Member
Hi all,
I recently designed a logo, business cards, headed paper, fax template etc. for a company. (I'm still working on their website at the moment.)
Curiously, today I received an email from one of the 2 partners asking -
"· Would it be possible to burn the final versions of the business cards that you designed for us onto a disk?
· We want to have a formal document in place assigning copyright and related intellectual property rights from you to THE COMPANY in the designs you have prepared for THE COMPANY and the layout of our business cards. This is to enable us to take legal action for copyright infringement, etc if we discover that one of our competitors has copied the “look and feel” of the brand you have designed for us. It will also help us to obtain registered intellectual property protection in foreign countries. Would you be prepared to sign a formal document (which we will prepare) assigning the rights in the design for THE COMPANY? As previously agreed we will of course expressly grant you the right to exhibit the THE COMPANY design as part of your portfolio."
I have never come across this before. Lately they have been 'off' with me and seem hell-bent on wasting my time. I wonder if this is part of them 'being awkward'.
Their stationery and in particular, their business card design is not ground-breaking design. Basic typography with a twist really. Just another job as far as I'm concerned, so why on earth do they want to go to such extremes?
I certainly don't want to part with my working files as then they can just give them to any printer and I don't have any follow-on work.
What would you do? Give them the files or give them the files for a fee? How much?
Do I sign a contract? Charge them for signing it (to be as akward as they are) or not?
I have emailed the customer saying I'd have to see the contract first. He's drawing it up as I type. (BTW they're lawyers specialising in Design and IP)
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated,
Jo
I recently designed a logo, business cards, headed paper, fax template etc. for a company. (I'm still working on their website at the moment.)
Curiously, today I received an email from one of the 2 partners asking -
"· Would it be possible to burn the final versions of the business cards that you designed for us onto a disk?
· We want to have a formal document in place assigning copyright and related intellectual property rights from you to THE COMPANY in the designs you have prepared for THE COMPANY and the layout of our business cards. This is to enable us to take legal action for copyright infringement, etc if we discover that one of our competitors has copied the “look and feel” of the brand you have designed for us. It will also help us to obtain registered intellectual property protection in foreign countries. Would you be prepared to sign a formal document (which we will prepare) assigning the rights in the design for THE COMPANY? As previously agreed we will of course expressly grant you the right to exhibit the THE COMPANY design as part of your portfolio."
I have never come across this before. Lately they have been 'off' with me and seem hell-bent on wasting my time. I wonder if this is part of them 'being awkward'.
Their stationery and in particular, their business card design is not ground-breaking design. Basic typography with a twist really. Just another job as far as I'm concerned, so why on earth do they want to go to such extremes?
I certainly don't want to part with my working files as then they can just give them to any printer and I don't have any follow-on work.
What would you do? Give them the files or give them the files for a fee? How much?
Do I sign a contract? Charge them for signing it (to be as akward as they are) or not?
I have emailed the customer saying I'd have to see the contract first. He's drawing it up as I type. (BTW they're lawyers specialising in Design and IP)
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated,
Jo