Design Plagiarism

[guerilladesign]

I've just had something similar to that happen to me. Logo theft, basically. We discussed making the logo and many other things, I sent him some proofs, we got down to talking price and then he told me his design budget was only $500. They are handing out copies of the flier I made them and they have a big sign in front and also have the logo on their T-Shirts. I confronted his wife who was running the stand, its a food cart at the moment but they are about to open up the actual place soon, and she told me that someone else designed that, even though it is exactly my design.

I'm trying to contact the guy directly but he is so far dodging me. I was wondering if anyone here knew any type of action I could take, other then general harassment.

[Laura Lynne]

Get a lawyer

[guerilladesign]

I don't know if the price I would pay for a lawyer would even be covered by the settlement, if any. I've never had to sue anyone before and thus know very little about it. Would they have to pay for my lawyer and the court costs if I won?

[Toon]

What country are you in because that can count for a lot?

[rossable]

if your in the US then all work is instantly protected under copyright laws and if ANY of the work is known to be directly copied then you have a case to sue - even if there was not a contract signed before the work you can at least sue the other designer who should know better than to directly copy something a client brings them without first asking a lot of questions. you don't have to file for copyright in the US, you just have to be able to prove that the work is yours originally via creation files and dates of creation. concept sketches help out a lot too!

(i hated my legal class in college about copyrights but it is one of the most beneficial courses i ever took!)

[guerilladesign]

I am in the good ol' US of A. And I also just talked to the guy who said claims that all designers have the same tools and that anyone could have done what I did and this is the reason as to why it isn't my design, its another designer's. Even though the logo is exactly the same as is the flier that I created.

[guerilladesign]

Thank you Ross. That is incredibly helpful. I'll make sure to point this out to him.

[Toon]

There's a few bits about copyright here....

Graphic Design Business Forum - Page 3 - Graphic Design Forum and Web Design Forum

[rossable]

Originally Posted by guerilladesign

Thank you Ross. That is incredibly helpful. I'll make sure to point this out to him.

your welcome. there are lawyers who specialize in copyright law and i would suggest you consult one. they are a bit more expensive than a regular lawyer but being specialized means that you know you are getting solid council in the matter.

[guerilladesign]

Well I put in a call to a local copyright lawyer and he will be getting back to me hopefully.

I don't have any sketches, I usually just work things out in the program I'm using. But I keep everything so I have plenty of print outs and quite a few illustrator files with the logo in it, not to mention every e-mail between the two of us. The only issue with the flier is that the one I have saved is not the one they are handing out because I printed on off, which I ended up giving to them as a proof right before I thought I was going to paid, that did not have their phone number on the top like they requested so I edited that and let her hold on to it to show him since he wasn't there, but the front is identical, except in that everything has been stretched or distorted in copying, or simply done to mask the fact that they just copied it.

Other then that its a simplified version of the flags at Yankee Stadium. Done in Illustrator. Not a live trace, of course, but hand done in Illustrator none the less.