Question about your rights as a designer
angel26girl (8 pencils) | Sun, 2007-11-25 07:24Hello, I need some help please. I am a student as well as a freelance graphic designer. I have been working for my College for 5 years now designing their college catalogs. This last catalog I designed for them they changed several things on it with out my knowledge. I have always revised my own work for them at no extra charge and with no complaint at all. Now there is a college catalog with my name on it but with only part of my design on it. Can they change my design because they have paid me for it?? I never signed over my rights to them. I am just so frustrated because there is not a horrible design out there with my name on it. What should I do????
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Do you have contracts with this client for every job you do?
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
No I do not have a contract with them.
Thats a shame. A contract would have protected you. But listen, I had a contract with a magazine publisher recently to revamp their magazine. They took my design and changed it themselves into something truly horrible but kept my company's name on the masthead as the designer. I asked them please to remove it, which I notice they did in the most recent issue. This sort of thing happens. I don't have a specific clause in my contract to prevent this, because the client owns the work after they pay me for it. I'd love to hear from Nat and others what they'd recommend in the way of wording. I don't think the AIGA or GAG prototypes address this exactly.
As to what you should do, I'd suggest going to the person in charge of the catalog and making clear to them, nicely of course, that you have a problem with your name being associated with design work you didn't actually do. Make it a two-sided ethics issue -- they shouldn't have chnged your work without consulting you, per the establish routine, and you don't feel you should have been given credit for something you didn't do. Maybe for now, they could give you a letter confirming that they changed your design and acknowledging your concerns. Just having to deal with the hassle will remind them not to do this again. Of course, they may have someone new on staff who thinks they'll get the job from now on, in which case making an issue of it may cost you the job. But really, so what? You're on the verge of a post-college career. Move on (wiser for this incident) and don't look back.
Mara
Thank you so much for your input. I wrote them a email stating my concerns and they decided to pull the plug on 3 of my other designs and not use them at all. Which hurt because I have always worked hard for them. But like you said move on and dont look back. Oh and by the way, my graphic advisor was after the job I was doing for the college, and guess what he has got it now. Thank you again it helped me so much.
Angel :-)
If your advisor knew you had the job, his actions seem a little bit unethical. Sorry you had to deal with this.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
Ownership should be very clearly defined in your contract (AIGA and GAG cover this extensively). I wouldn't transfer ownership automatically after a job is done, you are giving away future work that way. Keep ownership by default and if it must be transferred, try a limited time. The price goes up according to the duration.
Though the artwork is assumed to be yours since you created it, not having a contract makes it much harder to prove.
More here.
And a Standard Form of Agreement for Design Services. Start with this as a template, and add terms as you need them.
Clients must be constantly educated about this, and I'm amazed still at how few of them actually understand artwork ownership and how it works.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
Thank you so much for all the information.