Free design work is getting expensive.

[oshkoshbijosh]

Here's my situation:
I have a small project that provides free cooking advice. (web-based)
I have zero budget, so I was excited when a college design student approached me about his senior project. He needed to overhaul the "look" of a company, and I needed a makeover.
At the beginning I made it very clear I could not pay him for his work.
The process went fairly well, mainly resulting in a logo I'm happy with. Most of the work he gave me worth using is already in use.
At the end of the project I proposed us drawing up a contract after the fact giving me rights to the logo. He kind of changed his tune about the pro bono work and I don't know what to do. (There was no preliminary agreement on paper---- shame on me)
I want to be as fair as possible. I'm happy to pay him a something, but the value he's placing on his work is out of my range. And he's refusing to give up rights to the logo.

What rights do I have in this situation?

I'd hate to have to scrap his work and start over, as we both put a lot of time into it, but I don't know what other choice I have.

 

[divgradcurl]

Here's my situation:
I have a small project that provides free cooking advice. (web-based)
I have zero budget, so I was excited when a college design student approached me about his senior project. He needed to overhaul the "look" of a company, and I needed a makeover.
At the beginning I made it very clear I could not pay him for his work.
The process went fairly well, mainly resulting in a logo I'm happy with. Most of the work he gave me worth using is already in use.
At the end of the project I proposed us drawing up a contract after the fact giving me rights to the logo. He kind of changed his tune about the pro bono work and I don't know what to do. (There was no preliminary agreement on paper---- shame on me)
I want to be as fair as possible. I'm happy to pay him a something, but the value he's placing on his work is out of my range. And he's refusing to give up rights to the logo.

What rights do I have in this situation?

I'd hate to have to scrap his work and start over, as we both put a lot of time into it, but I don't know what other choice I have.

Given the facts as you've laid them out here, a court would probably find an implied license to continue to use the logo -- but no rights to edit or modify the logo in the future. But that's what would happen if you ended up in court, and you probably don't want that. Either figure out a way to purchase the rights to the work, or cut your losses and start over -- that's the only way this is going to work out in the long run! If you go ahead and use the logo without his written permission, you will run the risk that he will sue you or file a DMCA notice to take down your website at the worst possible time.

If you can't reach an agreement, maybe you could hire a neutral party or a mediator to help you two reach an agreement. You might want to make the point that even though he retains the copyright to the logo, your use of the logo to date may mean that nobody else has the right to use the logo, so the only way he is going to get ANY compensation for the logo would be to negotiate with you. That might be a little confrontational, but keep it in mind.

 

[oshkoshbijosh]

Thanks!

This is a huge help, and my fears were true.

I actually own the trademark to my company (and tag-line), he just stylized the words. So hopefully I'm not at too much risk.

I hope to work something out with the guy. If not I'm going to scrap the work and start over.

Thanks again