View topic - Copyright on your Webdesign

Stylegala Forums » Forums list » General design

Copyright on your Webdesign

Goto page 1, 2, 3 Next Post new topic Reply to topic

Author	Message
dreikelvin New member Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 20 Location: Dessau, Germany Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 21:43 Hello, I had a quite interesting chat with a client today regarding copyrights for website designs. He wondered why I shouldn't hand out all the source files after completion and putting a section in to the contract about transferring all the copyrights to him. What would you do in such a situation? Is it normal to send your clients everything and not charge anything for a copyrights transfer? I would be interested in what's the general approach on this. Could anyone tell me? Thanks in advance... dreikelvin

Sponsor

tzmedia Site Moderator Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 1108 Location: Mars Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 21:53 Where I work, the copyright is property of the client, I think. They are obligated to a period of time for hosting services as well, just what we do here. I'm not a lawyer. In the contract though I believe is the right for our company to place a graphic link at the bottom of the page to our hosting design services homepage. If you incidentally created logo's and things, that the client may use in print, it get's a little trickier maybe. That would depend on the scope of the project. The source files meaning photoshop files and things like that, the client never sees or gets, unless there were provisions for that.

Joshua Kendall Full member Joined: 23 Jun 2006 Posts: 143 Location: York, PA Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 21:58 Yeah handing out PSD and AI files is never a good idea... even if you have been paid. Me personally, I give the client copyright over anything a end-user would see. I also place a text or img link to my site in the footer.. and generally the AUTHOR meta tag has my name and URL in it... they don't check for it or they don't care. :) Technically they own it because they paid for it, but they never get source files. _________________ LiveLoveAutumnFall : Joshua Kendall : 'Veg For A Term'

DittoBox New member Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Posts: 16 Location: la la land Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 22:12 How does this translate into print work? Should I hand off PSD/AI files to my client if he asks?

dreikelvin New member Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 20 Location: Dessau, Germany Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 22:20 Thanks for the answers. So I think I've got the same opinion. Charging extra for the copyright might be too much ;) so I won't do this in the future. The handing out the source files is always critical because the client can make future revisions and additional work on his own. You might get out of business if you give out your sources to all your good clients. But I guess it makes only sense on bigger projects. it can get really annoying if clients only wants to change a letter here and a small point there and pay small bucks for this. It just costs time and nerves. Last edited by dreikelvin on Mon Aug 21, 2006 22:21; edited 1 time in total

tzmedia Site Moderator Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 1108 Location: Mars Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 22:20 My tie-in to print work was I had a client Rip the design comp, never finish the project and print business cards, and would have used the design for a catalog cover as well. If you can pull of a higher-res version of anything designed for the web, then you have a print design, such as a logo. That type of design costs a little more. You may have to charge a few hours to create print design versions if requested. So they can't just be handed over and shouldn't be, unless discussed up-front. They'ld most likely want Eps or pdf format.

dreikelvin New member Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 20 Location: Dessau, Germany Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 22:23 yeah, that's why I sometimes create reduced PSD versions of my vector artwork. the client does only need a certain rastered size if the job was not very big. I assume he is not gonna scale it to a huge company sign e.g. - If he wants this, he maybe asks me again to do it;)

Bill Posters Site Moderator Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 258 Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 22:28 Technically they own it because they paid for it That's not how it works here in the UK. They only get what they're contractually entitled to. It's common to give clients full copyrights over the work you produce for them, but strictly speaking they're not entitled to anything. It's typical that clients are given licence to reproduce the artwork you've supplied to them, but unless otherwise stated, copyright itself typically remains with the designer. In cases where a client want full copyright ownership and artwork files, it's generally considered acceptible - and advisable - to charge extra. How much extra is up to the designer, but of course, you need to balance your desire to keep the copyright and artwork production files with the desire not to create a situtation where the client will simply finds another designer. I tend to give unconditional licence for the client to reproduce the artwork (incl. adaptations), but retain copyright ownership and artwork files unless they are requested and paid for. It can often be lead to issues when the client is told (or realises) that the artwork files will cost extra if they want them, but it's usually possible to explain the situation and assure them that it's not simply an extortion tactic. As said, the value of copyright ownership often comes down to how much the copyright is likely to benefit you in the future and how precious you're feeling about retaining the artwork production files. In cases where the client additionally buys the artwork production files, they usually agree to letting the designer retain a copy in the event that they're called upon to do more work on that project in the future. If you wish to include a promotional link to yourself as designer/developer (or references within the code itself), you'll often find that clients don't mind, so long as it's subtle - though don't do it without first asking/telling them. It's worth reserving the right to do so in the contract, unless you feel that it's likely to create problems and the job otherwise is one worth keeping. This might be something you wish to ensure if the job itself doesn't pay what you'd like for the work - meaning you'll want to find supplimentary ways for the client to 'pay you back'. e.g. it might not be a cracking piece of creative design which will attract desirable clients, but if it's for a popular site, then a backlink can produce a number of commercial leads and could potentially improve your own site's performance in the serps. Don't forget that word of mouth recommendations can often be the most assured leads, so whilst I would never subscribe to the view that 'the client is always right', it can pay extra dividends to keep them on-side. It's worth drawing up a standard contract to present to clients. Everything in it will probably be open to negotiation - though you'll likely find that some things (such as paying extra for copyright ownership and artwork production files) become non-negotiable as your career starts to take shape and your reputation and worth increases - , but it will at least set out what they should expect to get for their money. Clarity is often the best way to a smooth transaction. _________________ aka 'clemi'

DittoBox New member Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Posts: 16 Location: la la land Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 22:42 (Edit, in reply to the two comments above Bill Poster's) I see then. I've already done most of this guys print work (including signs). Still I'm a little hesitant to give him the files, though I do trust him (for whatever that's worth, heh). We'll see, thanks. Edit in reply to everyone: This isn't my thread but it's got me thinking nonetheless. Even though this is really a side job at the moment I'd better start doing some research into the legal and business side of things. Not everyone's nice and I'm likely to get screwed royally if I don't start at least using contracts on work and thinking about copyrights and such. Thanks for turning me onto this, it's honestly something I hadn't thought about much.

dreikelvin New member Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 20 Location: Dessau, Germany Status: Offline	Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 23:12 thanks for this detailed information. that was exaclty I was searching for. an exact statement. so I assume, the whole issue "copyright" is something very flexible. there are clients who are willing to pay for - and some not. usually, these are the clients with a more tight budget, like a startups or the bakery from your local town ;) - I will keep track on this and handle these things individually. thanks! dreikelvin

Goto page 1, 2, 3 NextPage 1 of 3

Post new topic Reply to topic