Legal, copyright, trademark, or intellectual property rights confusion? Notes guest author and legal expert Jean S. Perwin is taking questions.
Jean is a Miami-based lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property Law, Entertainment and General Corporate Law for a wide range of clients, including graphic design firms, advertising agencies, visual artists and photographers. Her firm handles copyright and trademark registration, copyright, trademark and patent licensing, entertainment, computer, internet and general business contracts, partnerships, and corporate matters. She is co-author of The Artist’s Friendly Legal Guide, a columnist for HOW magazine, and has a forthcoming featured industry interview on the Notes on Design blog.
If you have questions for Jean, go ahead and post them as comments below. Jean will reply to questions frequently under the “Legal, Copyright & Trademark” Category of Notes on Design.
Hello, Jean,
I have an idea for a “workbook” that people would use in conjunction with a self-help book and movie already in existence. Although this is just an example, it’s as if I wanted to design, write, and sell “Implementing POWERFUL LIVING in Your Own Life,” when “Powerful Living” was written by a different author.
Naturally, I don’t want to contact that author with the idea, because he could implement my idea himself.
Is this possible? Legal? What’s your advice?
Thanks,
Merry Guido
Salt Lake City
Hi Jean,
As I’m designing corporate training classes I often have topics where it would be instructive to show brief excerpts from movies.
If I want to do that, is it necessary to get the studio’s permission–and how would I go about obtaining it? I’m wondering if there’s a relatively straightforward process for doing that. I don’t have lots of time or money to spend on it.
Thanks,
–Patrick
Hello Jean,
So nice to hear that you are doing this. I am new to the field and my first question is:
On all sites you see the copyright symbol. who is responsible for obtaining the copyrigh on a website and how does one go about getting this done.
Also, when I design a label or do artwork for a client, he/she pays me for the job, who is the rightful owner of the work? From what I have read it appears that they can use the artwork for the purpose it was created for and that is all. Beyond that I read somewhere about selling the “Right to Use” to them. Could you please clarify this? or direct me to a place where the explanation is understandable and in a language that I can understand. Thank you.
Jill Hoben
Regarding architects sketch design solutions, produced after a request from
a client, but without prior fee or professional appointment agreement.
How can I protect my copyright of the sketch design solutions that I have laboured over?
Do I simply show and discuss the scheme to the client but not release or handover copies of the work?
or do I go about formally copyrighting all sketches legally and get my fee proposal signed before issueing copies?
After the agreement is made for my services, presumably the copyright of the work is still retained by me?
Hi Everyone! Jean will be back ‘in the office’ after August 3rd… Look out for a response post to one question at a time starting around then.
In the meantime- keep up the legal decoding!
I was asked to make some copies of Grandma’s old picture. It is a probably 40 years old picture, but it has copyrighted by photographer. what is the best way to make copies?
I draw designs for greeting cards (my own little “company” for family and friends, complete with logo.) After much encouragement, I would like to attempt to have my designs copyrighted so that I can take them around to gift shops and such.
My question is this…do I need to copyright every single design separatly (which will break me if I do! I have a lot of designs!) or will a trademarked logo protect them? If I have my logo trademarked, does that protect just the logo or does it protect the designs in any way? I have seen some cards that have the artist’s name with the copyright symbol, how does that work? I obviously have no clue as to what to do concerning copyrighting greeting card designs.
(guess that was more than one question!)
Hi Jean!
I run a Creative Services dept. in a large corporation. I am creating a brochure for a tradeshow. In this brochure is a 30 year timeline showing events in the industry, company milestones and cultural fads. As part of this timeline I wanted to include images of specific products including a Rubick’s Cube, a Viewmaster, Etch-a-sketch and an iPod or iPhone. I have not seen stock photography of these objects. I was going to have a photo shoot so I have original photography we own. Is it permissible to use the images (no names will be mentioned) in the brochure.
Thanks!
Hi Jean,
Great site! If you design a stationary system for a client and you take your files to the printer and the client in turn pays the printer for the work but does not pay your bill (the designer) in full. Do you have a right to refuse to let the printer reprint any of the work until you get paid in full ?
I have on all my agreements that there is “no usage until payment in full is received”. And my client paid the deposit, but is now not paying the final bill after they received the work. And is seeking to reprint some items…
It is a confusing time with digital files!
I appreicate your help! Thank you,
Hi Jean,
I deal with a lot of PDF editing and on occasion have had requests to “unlock” a secured (PDF) document.
Do you know of any existing legal forms that would require a prospective client with such a request to
a) state that they are the owner/creator of such document, and/or
b) state they have permission from the owner/creator, granting them access to extract, copy, or reuse the information from a specified document.
Any information or insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Jean,
I am a freelance web and graphic designer, I work on logos, photography, graphics and web design, but I have never really protected any of my art pieces with copyright. I am not quite sure whether I need/should do it?
Do I have to register every single graphic I create? It seems like a very annoying and time consuming task…
Is there a way to generally protect all my artwork by registering once and then submitting pictures of every piece? or some other process that will make the task easier and faster??
THANKS,
Susana E.
Dear Jean,
My situation and the questions are exactly like Elizabeth’s (Elizabeth Says: August 2nd, 2007 at 12:44 pm). Do I need to copyright all my designs of greeting cards separately that I give to the gift shops to sell?
Thanks, Khaled Asif.
i have some designs and i have a logo label i want to know how do i copyright it so no one can take it
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. [...]
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. [...]
Hi Jean,
I asked a question back on August 7, 2007 and did not see a reply. If possible I appreciate a response.
Thank you!
Hi Jean,
I think this is wonderful that you’re helping out with your legal advice. I’m just wondering if you are able to give me some guidance on how to copyright my logo for my new endevor?
Thanks,
Daniel
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. Hello Jean, [...]
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. [...]
[...] Jean Perwin is a Miami based attorney who specializes in Intellectual Property Law, Entertainment and General Corporate Law. She is most recently a recurring author for Notes on Design, and has a just launched a new series of informational posts to answer all your burning trademark/copyright questions. For those unfamiliar with the genius of Jean, we asked her ten questions ranging from the widest-held copyright hooey to the reason she likes working with people like you. [...]
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. Hi Jean, [...]
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. Hi Jean, [...]
Hi Jean,
We are wanting to design a tshirt and market it. The name for the company we want to use is out there already and they sell clothing also. Would it be legal for us to still use that name with a different spelling and a totally different look and logo?
Thank You
Hi Jean,
Thanks for educating us on the copyrights we hold as designers. Could you point me in the direction of a good template for designer/client agreements (both for keeping and transferring copyright)? Thanks so much.
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. [...]
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. [...]
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. [...]
Hi Jean,
I have a friend that was contacted by another party who has trademarked the same production company name my friend uses. Unfortunately, my friend never trademarked the name but does hold the longer dba (since 2001; opposing party since 2006). The email indicated that my friend may have to discontinue using the name. My friend’s company is for Graphic Design; the other company has a trademark for video and film production only.
My questions are as follows:
- Would my friend have any legal recourse to continue using the name as she had a dba first, even though she did not trademark the name?
- If so, would it behoove her to fight for the right to use that name? In
other words, what would need to be done in order to notify the other party? Would this require a letter from an attorney? And if so, what should my friend expect to pay? Essentially, would the end justify the means?
- If not, in your opinion, by adding the word “Graphics” to the name, would that negate any conflict of interest as the trademark only registered for video and film production; not Graphic Design?
Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much!
Shannon
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. [...]
Jean –
I have an application for a trademark in and someone with a similar “name” mark has had their lawyer send me a letter stating we may be infringing on ther trademark rights. While the name is similar and the goods are similar, we feel it is significantly different, but have agreed not to use the mark until the trademark attorney has made a decision on our mark. Could we use the name in a different language? say our name was FISHBOYZ and theirs was FISH BOY – could we go ahead and use the name FISHBOYZ in german or french and move forward until we had a ruling?
[...] You asked your legal, copyright and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are taken from comments posted on the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. Hello Jean, [...]
From an in-house design team:
When we were going through the interview process to gain potential employment here, we used portfolios filled with previous work samples to demonstrate our experience. That also included our presence on the Web. It’s the way creatives promote their talents and professional expertise.
Now, something interesting has happend here.
Our leadership has communicated to the in-house design teams: if you have [corporate] images, artwork, photographs, or other [corporate]-owned intellectual property on an external, personal Web site we respectfully request that you disable. If you have printed materials for your business (including CD or other digital storage media) that contain [corporate] images, please cease distributing them immediately. All images and artwork are copyrighted by [corporate] and are covered under [corporate]‘s Intellectual Property Policy.
As the work-for-hire rules allow, we can use physical expressions of our work created for externally-published media, as long as the images are not extracted from the media or reproduced in any way. So, if I designed a spread for our corporate magazine, for example, I could show someone the physical magazine, or provide a link to my employer’s external website, but I could not excerpt the work (a magazine spread) and put it on my own web site.
So now, we can’t show anything [corporate] in our portfolios. The idea of having blank pages to demonstrate what I’ve accomplished here doesn’t seem right. Plus it’s a double-standard [corporate] has put upon us. I’ll comply, but the ability to show our work, in abbreviated form, is our livelihood. It is important for professional growth.
We’re working with Legal to help update some of the legal mumbo jumbo and help it reflect current digital environments. Could you offer any advice on creating a “blanket” statement that would be used for all employees-rights to show the creative work (in abbreviated form)? Certainly this is something we don’t want to ask permissions for on a project-by-project basis.
Hi Jean,
I have a client that is publishes a directory. Previously they have sold franchises to private owners who have used me to design and layout the book. As of just recently they have sold a franchise to a large publisher who has the resources to layout the book on their own. My client wants me to supply the original files to this franchisee to this publisher so they can use it as a template. I have a signed contract from the client stating that I own the rights to these files.
So, that being said, what is normally done in a situation like this? How would I go about licensing these files to my clients publishers that want access to them? What would be a reasonable fee?
Dear Jean,
I am a website designer. Recently the brand/company that I worked for was sold to another company and I was “sold” with the brand. The new company that “bought” me with the brand treated me very poorly and my new boss was very verbally abusive to me so I was forced to quit for my own health and well-being. They were very upset when I quit and have threated to sue me for anything they can come up with. They recently sent me a letter saying they were going to sue me for using their logo in my portfolio on my personal website. To clarify, all images of my work were artworks I created long before the brand was even sold to this company. I have taken the images down to be safe
So my question is, is it legal to display examples of your own work in your personal website portfolio if you made it for a company?
Thank you so much,
Mitch
[...] You asked your legal, copyright, and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are culled from the comments section attached to the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. Hi Jean, [...]
hi
i want to open a design company on the net,
is it possible to just get a domain and start off or will i need an office or anything else.
reply ASAP
Thankyou
hi
i have recently made a website to a client. i have published it and now he is not replying to my emails.
can i legally force him to complete payment
thanks
[...] You asked your legal, copyright, and trademark questions, and Jean has answered! All questions are culled from the comments section attached to the original ‘Ask Jean’ post. We invite you to ask more questions. Dear Jean, [...]
Hello,
I have been asked to record the audio of a local High School Choral Concert.
The school has the rights to perform the music but not record it. The only reason for the recording would be for personal uses; listening to improve. measure progress throughout the year etc.. They are requesting no more than 50 copies.
Would this fit into the “Fair Use” category?
When I called some of the publishers, they had a hefty minimum $ amount.
It would not be possible for a public high school to afford such minimums.
Thank you,
Jeff
Dear Jean, I don’t have all the facts yet, but my friend recieved a letter from an arbitration board that claimed all of the stockholders must refund a certain percentage of their stock value, that was sold back to the company prior to another company buying them. Apparently the purchasing company won a settlement case claiming the stock was overpriced, (or something) regarding a patent infrigment case. They won, then lost the appeal, then apparently it went to binding arbirtaration.
So……here’s my question:
Is there ever a case where a stockholder is liable for a settlement (against the company) atfer a stock has been sold back to the issuing company at market price? Would the stockholders then, have a case against the board or CEO, to counter-sue?
thanks
Hi, Jean
I need to scan some pictures and restore (phto-retouching) them then print them as a poster. Do I have to get all the copyright release from the cliant? Would you tell me any concerning with this job?
Thanks
Hi Jean,
I am a graphic design and have been designing some stationery, cards and invitation based on royalty free artwork. It has recently come to my attention that other designers are also using the same royalty free artwork, and there are some pieces that are similar, though not exactly the same. What can I do to protect myself? I could forsee the scenario where 5 designers who all have the same royalty free piece of artwork, all put the same graphic at the center top of a card and write in the invitation text at the bottom. If you place them side by side, they would look the same, but no one every copied another person. What do we do in these cases as one of those 5 designers? How do we protect ourselves?
Thanks!
Hello Jean,
I am a partner in a small market research company. We are developing a new website and that has raised some legal questions.
1. Is it legal to use client logo’s on our site as a way to show who we have done business with? If permission is required, who grants permission?
2. Is it legal to have pictures on our site of the inside of retail stores that do not have any explicit brands/labels, but it is obvious which retailer the picture was taken in?
Thanks!
Hi Jean,
I’m wondering about copyright in situations where there is a need or a desire for the copyright holder to maintain their privacy, and therefore publish their work under a pseudonym, etc.. I’m working on a blog that covers some pretty personal subject matter, and I don’t really know how to approach copyright, because I don’t want to use my real name in copyright notices, etc.
I appreciate any insight you could give me on this.
Dear Jean,
Help! I am projecting to launch a new line(brand) of clothing and apparel that caters to children and adolescents later this year. The person responsible for doing the research reported that our company trademark had not been registered by any other company yet, however, it was just discovered that a particular on-line store bares a very similar name to our company’s. While our company’s designs (which could be compared to the Hello Kitty Line – to give you an idea of its scope in merchandise) are completely original, the store we discovered does not use their own designs. They appear to have a licensing agreement which allows them to sell clothing for children that promote various musical bands. Although the concepts for both are different, we do both cater to the same consumer age group.
My question is, if both our trademark names differ by a few characters, could it still be considered an infringement? To provide you with an example, let’s say their name is Lil Tike and ours is spelled Lil’ Tikes. I know the possibility of creating confusion seems to be great and so we are considering modifying our name to Lil’ Tikez or even Little Tikes instead. Would adding a Z at the end or spelling out Little as opposed to using Lil’ create enough distinction between both companies and also enough distinction to avoid legal problems?
Thanks so much!
Jeannie
Dear Jean,
I do a little freelance work and I wanted to know the legal issues regarding using typefaces in logos.
How much leeway do I have using a typeface (for example, Times or Arial from the Core Web Font set) in a logo? If I use those typefaces as a base and tweak the outlines does that free me from liability? Or was there any liability to begin with?
I’ve also been looking into fonts with a SIL Open Font License. The fonts are so-called open-source, but I haven’t read anywhere about what happens when it is used in a design. Can the resulting logo be trademarked or protected by copyright? Does it make a difference if the logo is only text (like the FedEx logo) or if it also contains original artwork?
Dear Jean,
Hope all is well with you.
I am in the music entertainment business and recently one of the company I do business is selling out to another music company. I licensied many songs to them as well as they administrate my publishing. I was not contacted me to say that they will be selling out to the other company, which I think they should have done as a sign of courtesy. I called to speak with them, put keep getting the run around (not in office, sick, in a meeting, on holiday……).
What are some of the questions you think I can ask them concerning them selling out and transfering all my catalogue and publishing to the other company (my publishing contract would expire in 2010). What are my rights and what might I be entitled to from the company.
Hope you can answer my questions.
Thanks inadvance.
Cathy
Hi Jean,
I asked a question awhile back that didn’t get answered – I’m wondering what to do in situations where an author wants to maintain copyright, but needs to remain anonymous. I am working on a blog and book that are being done under a pseudonym, and I don’t know how to go about protecting the material while not publishing my legal name.
Thanks for your help,
Kelly
Hi,
We own the trademark for a fashion label in the work form and stylisied form. We have been trading as this trademark for over 30 years. However recently another company released a new fashion brand with the same name except they changed one of the letters from an n to a l (the fourth lettter).
Do we have grounds to sue them and make them pay financial compensation for this since our trademark covers all fashion classes, including all of those they are involved in. How is the compensation generally agreed upon, and how much should we expect?
Many thanks for your help.
J
Hi, Jean.
I’m designing a board game, and I want to use the names of real television corporations in the game. What are the rules as far as usage of names (not logos) of real television companies? The game is historically based, and any events that would take place in the game took place in real life. I’d also love to use the names of real shows on those networks… would it all fall under the same umbrella, or would that be a different issue entirely?
Thanks so much!
R.