Design-related legal, copyright, trademark, or intellectual property rights confusion? NoD guest author and legal expert Jean S. Perwin is taking questions. If you have questions for Jean, email them to us using editor (at) notesondesign.net. Jean will reply to questions frequently here under the “Intellectual Property” category of NoD.

NoD reader Rochelle says:

Hi Jean,

I’ve been asked to write for a character in a series of comic books. Should the publisher and I do a licensing agreement or writer-for-hire? When I decide to spin-off from that character to the character of my own creation what type of agreement should I obtain under those conditions?
-Rochelle

Hi Rochelle:

I would be very surprised if the Publisher did not give you a work for hire agreement to sign. If you are considering spin offs they have to be specifically exempted from your work for hire agreement otherwise you will not have the rights to do anything related to the original character. All rights will belong to the Publisher. Do not sign anything until you have an attorney review it for you.

- Jean

Note: This is part 5 in an 8 part series by design instructor and NoD author Dave Holston. To view Dave’s previous entries please click here.

Strategy guru Michael Porter states that the underlying idea behind strategy is alignment, that is, getting employees to make good choices based on a common value proposition. The reinforcement of the proposition is critical, and must be expressed through every aspect of the organizations culture, in particular the design of its communications, products and services.

For designers, the client’s business strategy is an essential ingredient in making design decisions. Through business research designers answer the question, “how do we articulate the client’s strategy through design?” Design’s role in supporting strategy takes on many forms, including bringing efficiencies to the design process and Read the rest of this entry »

Design-related legal, copyright, trademark, or intellectual property rights confusion? NoD guest author and legal expert Jean S. Perwin is taking questions. If you have questions for Jean, email them to us using editor (at) notesondesign.net. Jean will reply to questions frequently here under the “Intellectual Property” category of NoD.

NoD reader Stephen says:

Hi Jean -
Thanks for keeping up to date such a great resource.

My question relates to work I did for a client in late ‘05-’07. During this time I performed a number of strategic and creative (i.e. product naming and initial logo mocks which were communicated to client via email). Since, the relationship has gone sour.

The former client filed federal trademark registration a week after our name suggestion and it is currently published for opposition for the past year (another brand is opposing). The product has just launched.

My question is, Read the rest of this entry »

Design-related legal, copyright, trademark, or intellectual property rights confusion? NoD guest author and legal expert Jean S. Perwin is taking questions. If you have questions for Jean, email them to us using editor (at) notesondesign.net. Jean will reply to questions frequently here under the “Intellectual Property” category of NoD.

NoD reader Cath asked:

We purchased an original piece of art from our neighbor. Last Sunday she asked to borrow it back to make prints. My spouse and I orally said ok, and the neighbor took the piece from our home. Due to other issues with this neighbor my spouse and I have decided against letting this neighbor use our piece of art. I have called her home and her cell and informed her that we have revoked our permission, and request immediate return of our art. I understand she owns the copyright to this piece, I do not have intent to copy or redistribute it. Do I have to let her copy it for prints after we have purchased it from her? Thank you in advance for your response.
Be well. Cath

Hello Cath:

As you pointed out, even though you own the artwork itself, your neighbor owns the copyright to the work and has the right to make prints from it. You can’t revoke permission that you do not have the right to give. Your mistake was relinquishing possession. (It is 9/10th of the law, after all.) My advice would be to give her a deadline after which she has to return the painting or the money that you paid for it.

- Jean

Sheri L Koetting speaks at Spark Boot Camp Event on issues relevant to small design studios

Spark — an Organization Offering a Support System for Independent Designers

In the spring of 2003, a handful of independent graphic designers got together for drinks to discuss our businesses. All of us had one thing in common; we were either working completely alone or aided by a small number of support staff, creating design solutions for clients. Not only did we crave the professional insight from other designers, but we also faced the new challenges of running a business. The responsibilities of an entrepreneur were far greater than the tools and skills we had previously learned as designers.

Six years later, the specific, yet important, needs of small design firms we defined in those first meetings led to the establishment and growth of a niche organization, Spark. Read the rest of this entry »

Design-related legal, copyright, trademark, or intellectual property rights confusion? NoD guest author and legal expert Jean S. Perwin is taking questions. If you have questions for Jean, email them to us using editor (at) notesondesign.net. Jean will reply to questions frequently here under the “Intellectual Property” category of NoD.

NoD reader Michel asked:

I want to sell photographs that I have taken of action figures (toys) that I took and own. However, these action figures are of course representations of copyrighted characters such as popular heroes like superman, or from movies such as the matrix. Is this infringing on the rights of the toy manufacturer to sell images of their products? Does it make a difference if I don’t use written or spoken word that references their product, just the image?

Hello Michel:

This is a trickier legal issue than it looks like and one, which I don’t think, has been tested yet. As the creator of the photograph, you have the right to sell the picture. The problem is that you are also using the copyrights and trademarks of others to sell the work and that’s potentially infringing. It does not make a difference whether you use nothing but the image. I would argue that you do have the right to sell your own photographs. But, if I were representing the copyright and trademark owners, I could also make a pretty good case that you don’t. You just have to decide if it’s worth the risk. There’s no question that it is a risk.

- Jean

Note: This is part 4 in an 8 part series by design instructor and NoD author Dave Holston. To view Dave’s previous entries please click here.

The proverbial “seat at the table” has always been a coveted spot for designers. The price of an invitation is the ability to show accountability in design decision-making and a return on design investment. Design research is the foundation of these two areas. Without it, design decisions cannot be made, and success cannot be measured. However for most designers, research takes a back seat to the familiar and comfortable creative side of the design process.

The goal of a designer’s work is to influence a target audience’s thinking, and ultimately their behavior. We know that the craft of design has great power in determining the success or failure of these outcomes. Consider how the nuances of typography can change peoples understanding of words, or how a powerful image can touch people in meaningful ways. Yet there is little rigor for design decision-making. Most decisions are made on the designer/client level, often based on intuition, past experiences and assumptions.
Read the rest of this entry »

Design-related legal, copyright, trademark, or intellectual property rights confusion? NoD guest author and legal expert Jean S. Perwin is taking questions. If you have questions for Jean, email them to us using editor (at) notesondesign.net. Jean will reply to questions frequently here under the “Intellectual Property” category of NoD.

Thomas says:

I am a freelance graphic designer. Over the course of 5 years, I conceptualized and designed all the branding, corporate identity, website design and illustration work for COMPANY A – at a reduced hourly rate. It was a small startup company with a website product, and I had a somewhat personal relationship with the owner.

Now, there was money exchanged for design services, with this set hourly rate paid for the work. There was also – however – a COMPANY A promise of a lot of future work once the COMPANY A product was sold.

No agreement was ever signed, and ownership of the copyright was never discussed. There was an inherent promise to compensate us once the product was acquired, but that has not materialized.
COMPANY A was recently acquired by a major Magazine, which will bundle the COMPANY A product into their features on their website.

So basically the product was sold, but i’ve been cut out of any profit or promise of continuing work. The Magazine’s creative director is now requesting original art files from us as well, so they can take over the maintenance and further marketing of the product.

My questions are as follows: Read the rest of this entry »

Note: This is part 3 in an 8 part series by design instructor and NoD author Dave Holston. To view Dave’s previous entries please click here.

The term “professional designer” can apply to anything from a service provider to a strategic partner, depending on a person’s individual experience, their approach to problem solving, and their relationship with a client. At one end of the scale, a design vendor simply responds to a specific request made by a client and provides them with a commodity. They perform tasks that can be easily replicated by others. Competition at this level is based primarily on cost. In the middle of this scale are design professionals who offer direction and some degree of specialization. They bring not only expertise to the table, but also a degree of professionalism. At the far end of the scale stands the design consultant. They are able to serve in an advisory role, guiding the client through the design problem solving process. As design problems become more complex and require broader collaborative thinking, advisors provide not just solutions, but actually lend insight and depth, and help synthesize information amassed or created by collaborators.
Read the rest of this entry »

The World Wide Web Consortium is planning to implement a new version of the Web accessibility guidelines this year, and it seems like many people have had negative things to say about the version 2.0 update (not official yet). These guidelines affect the way designers and developers build sites for the disabled, so it’s more important than ever as the Web becomes the de facto repository for information, commerce and entertainment.

People smarter than I think the project is confusing, long overdue, and that the process of revision is broken.
Read the rest of this entry »