Copyright Theft

[Chris Wool]

might be another reason like the dealer had it done as part of the deal.
as he was a customer worth a phone call. then ask.

how would you like to pay card now over the phone or shall i collect a cheque in 15mins.

😉

yes we have just had to tighten up as well

[Graeme Harrold]

Just send them a bill for unauthorised copyright infringement on intellectual property grounds.

[Peter Normington]

it happens Phil,
how was the company supposed to know it was your design in the first place?
did the design include any exclusive content, like a logo that you designed,
and was anything watermarked?

We have all been there, but how do you prevent it? your "disclaimer" certainly wont, customers don’t understand why they cant get a quote from another company, they can do it in many other areas, double glazing, fitted kitchens, building a patio, so why not vehicle livery?
its up to you to decide if you are gong to release a drawing or layout without a deposit, all we can do is look after ourselves.
I know you are Honorable, and would not copy another design, if you knew it was from another member of the trade, alas, us Honorable gents are few and far between.

Ignore it and move on mate,

Peter

[Nigel Hindley]

‘shame on the company that used my artwork for commercial gain without questioning the persons right to use it’

Indeed, no morals some folk.

Right, this is what we do when this happens, we just send a bill, not for copyright infringement but simply for artwork. That way it doesn’t sound antagonistic, when they come round to query simply say, you asked me to do a layout, i did a layout at what point was free mentioned? simple. And the next time he does do the same.

Works every time for us. I think the last time we charged £200 for the layout.

Nigel

[Colin Bland]

This has happened to us a few times even though we have copyright notice on all our drawings

I have even had one where the guy did not know what the telephone number would be for his new shop so we dropped in our own number just for the purposes of the visual and a few weeks later we saw our design on his shopfront complete with our telephone number !! 😀

Next time we are going to pursue a design fee

Colin

[Robert Lambie]

It s an annoying thing to happen. we have been stung like this several times over the years. invoice the company for your design/time. i have, and been paid. however, they may NOT pay it and argue out the bit, but at least you will knock them a bit by them actually being caught out.

[Peter Dee]

I have written on this subject here extensively in the past.
All you need is "Copyright your name, and the date", no essays.
If you are happy that the design/layout was your own inspiration and is unique to you then sue using the Small Claims procedure on line.
Been there, done it and won, several times.

Even then, you only permit them to use the design under licence, no-one else can ever own a copyright other than the originator.

Incidentally, the last idiot who came in with a nice printed layout for a quote was asked who drew it up, he said he had. So I asked what program he had used.
His answer – oh it was jpg. 😮

Yeah pants on fire and all that.

See here;
http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … =copyright

and in particular, this page of that post;
http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … t&start=30

[TonyMoore]

Unfortunately all sign makers worth there salt have had this happen. You can chase for compensation and you may even win, but in the long term this will not really make a difference to your business surviving or not.
Due to this happening a lot to me i now charge a layout fee of £50, if the customer is serious they will not argue this and protects me against my time.
Also whilst ranting, you still get unprofessional sign makers undercutting with stupid prices ie my cost £275 customer quoted £100 cash? reason – job done with cheap vinyl, all the layout and hardwork done by someone else, no guarantee, no insurance, not TAX, no H&S policies etc…. During these times we should all be putting our prices up, not getting into price wars, after all when was the last time vinyl prices where slashed!!!!!

Rant over ;_)

[darran Mead]

Tony Moore I agree.
It as happened to me as well. And just getting back into the business after a 15 year brake, how things have changed. It was bad then within the general print sector, now it is as bad in the large format sector. I only started up again 11 months ago and have seen the change in customer attitude, you give a price and then you get "how much". They all wont it for cost price, Retail as well as trade and you will always find the printer down the road will do it for less!! HOW they do it i will never know.
Why should the customer dictate the price? i have not yet seen the price of media, inks and fittings come down in price, unless i buy a container full and store it for months, cash flow is bad as it is!

As for the people/customers using my design/artwork, i learned my lesson years ago, i will always put place a copyright tag along the bottom of the proof with our name and PROOF across the images. If the customer is a customer worth working with they will understand why you do this, and they should be able to see past this to review the artwork.

Let’s hope thinks pick up soon, no more stack it high sell it cheap!!!!!!

[Bob Clarkson]

Because people will willingly do these drawings and then let the customer leave with them, this is always going to be a bit of a issue. That’s not a criticism, because if you don’t, someones else will, so it’s more of a vicious circle. It seemed to start, when it was first possible to impress more than help the client and has now become more common place. I remember the first one I saw, which was done by another local sign company, it really was state of the art compared with the fact I could only draw it on a piece of paper. Just very fortunate they could only do a nice pic and not a good design or I’d have truthfully been in real trouble.

Personally I do the layout while the customer is there, and the vehicle is parked ready to be written. If it’s a sign I have a deposit before I set anything out.

I have been shown numerous layouts by people trying to get a better price, often pretending they printed it out on their home computer. Generally if this is what I believe has happened, I just tell them I’m too busy and best they use someone else. If they are honest with me, I’ll do the job, but not unless I can do it exactly how I see fit, which will be nothing like the layout they have.

I often get emailed by people asking me to quote for a job, and supply a layout with the price, it goes without saying I’m not falling for that, as they’ll have done it to a dozen companies, will pick the best design, then seek the lowest price.

My existing customers never ask me for layouts, new customers are shown pics of what I can do, but I have commitment, or deposit before I as much as pick a pen up.

You will be amazed by the change in 15yrs Darran. These days I’m sometimes spoken to like they’re the ones doing me a favour by letting me quote for a job. That didn’t happen 20yrs ago. Now it’s so much more price orientated, and they think they have the upper hand. It’s only handwritten signs and coach lining where I’m still treated as a craftsman.

[Phill Fenton]

quote Bob Clarkson:

These days I’m sometimes spoken to like they’re the ones doing me a favour by letting me quote for a job. That didn’t happen 20yrs ago. .

I tend to agree with you Bob

I was asked to quote a job an hours drive away (and another hour to drive back – then the time spent actually doing the quote) he was at great pains to point out to me that he had two others quoting as well. When I explained that it was really not cost effective for me to spend half a day and a couple of gallons of fuel to quote his job he seemed a bit put out.. 🙄

[Martin Pearson]

Phill sure it won’t be the last time it happens to you, I got caught out a few times and never seemed to learn my lesson.
As for the other sign company well it’s not always that straight forward as some people can be really sneaky. Someone I know had done a van with my design, I found out because we were talking and the customers name got mentioned.
When they found out it was my design they were quite apologetic and said they hadn’t realised, even showed me the artwork the customer had come in with which was very neat but a pencil drawing not a computer printout.

Apparently they had even joked with the guy saying that if his new venture didn’t work out he could always get a job as a designer.