Derivative infringement on unpublished, unpaid sketches.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas


About 2 years ago while still in art school I began sketching a logo for a gig on craigslist. We discussed compensation on the phone but I do not recall the agreement; being an eager student I probably offered to do the sketches for free. No contracts were signed to the point we got in the project I had not yet sought payment

In a period of a few days I sent 3 rounds of jpgs through email and eventually dropped the project with no notice to the client because I no longer had time for the project. The sketches were comprised of variations of my own handwriting done in Illustrator.

Fast forward to today—I have a full time graphic design position. My work was hiring more designers and I was reviewing portfolios and discovered the person in question had applied for the job. I looked at the person's portfolio and saw the project we had worked on was included. The logo bears a VERY similar look and feel to that of my sketches. Some characters are obviously lifted from the last sketch I had sent. The whole logo looks like a heavy-handed, inexact tracing of my original.

I did not register copyright for these sketches due to 1) ignorance and 2) thinking project was dead in water however there is email proof of our original correspondence including the jpg attachments; I also have sketchbooks full of my handwriting upon which this is based.


I contacted this person as soon as I found the new logo, and the person ignored my accusation of copyright infringement and turned down my request simply to remove the item from his/her portfolio. I have not yet emailed the person back but am considering either consulting a lawyer and/or issuing a DMCA takedown on her portfolio site.

I also recently contacted the company to notify them of what was going on. They seem extremely afraid and waste no opportunities to show me good press about the company; this does not deter me. I requested they take all instances of the logo down, and again I have not heard from the company after reiterating my request. Following my correspondence with the company I discovered the company not only uses the logo on their website but issues a range of products that bear the infringing logo.

I did some reading and it seems yes, if I were an employee of this art director, he/she would own the rights. But I worked from home and was never paid, nor was there ever a written agreement of any kind.
I realize that my 90 days for registration are long past. I recently registered the sketch should I take any kind of legal action.

My question is.. is there a case for a case? All I really care about is getting rid of all instances present and future of the infringing logo; money is not the issue.

Thanks. I'll answer Qs if necessary.

being an eager student I probably offered to do the sketches for free.

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hmm, why would you be attempting to prevent the use of a design that you probably (meaning more likely than not) offered to do for free?

I looked at the person's portfolio and saw the project we had worked on was included.

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who is "we". Initially you said you were working on the designs. Now you imply there was more than one entity working on the design.

justalayman
I MAY HAVE (I don't remember, but compensation discussion was on the phone) offered to do a couple quick sketches for free before fully perfecting the design. Even if I did state an hourly rate, it would not have been paid til after the gig.

Apologies for the unclear pronouns. The "we" in question is me and the person who "art directed" me. By worked together I mean communicated in an effort to create this design. I did all of the design work.

. Even if I did state an hourly rate, it would not have been paid til after the gig.

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well, before stirring up a hornets nest and possibly causing this company untold thousands in costs to alter their logo, I suggest you really try to determine if you meant what you said:

being an eager student I probably (not the same as: may have, which is what you wrote in your second post) offered to do the sketches for free.

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if you did offer to do them for free and are now attempting to obtain payment, it could be seen as extortion or an interference with their business that would cause them losses and if you are in the wrong, they could come after you for damages.

while you ponder your thoughts, stick around for a guy named quincy. He is the resident wise man concerning copyrights and such.

I never offered to do the logo for free. Sketches were like a freelance bid, to see if we wanted to go forward with the project.

This company is family run, to the best of my knowledge. I'd think that it would be in the infringers best interest to make an original logo for them at no cost. I am not attempting to collect any payment, I simply do not want this logo used—period. I have made this clear to both the infringer and the client company, and still they have not honored my (friendly) requests.

Thank you for your response so far; I am grateful to have people other than those close to me hear me out and provide insight.

zoogiejab;3009213]I never offered to do the logo for free. Sketches were like a freelance bid, to see if we wanted to go forward with the project.

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I think I understand now. Sort of a rough idea sort of presentation to determine if it is going in the right direction. If the rough sketches are acceptable, you work towards a more detailed product.

Would that be somewhat accurate?

While you are waiting for quincy (hopefully) here is the law regarding copyright infringement (in case you haven't read it plus it will bump your thread)


U.S. Copyright Office - Copyright Law: Chapter 5

Justalayman--
Correct. Basically we had just started on the project, but I cut it short. I never said "oh, I can't do this project but you have my permission to use these sketches as you wish." The way our emails were going, I didn't think she would ever be pleased with my designs-- so I thought she would find a new designer who uses different lettering styles.

I have read a lot of simplified basic copyright information and also overviews of several cases. I am having a hard time finding a case similar to mine. I will read over this link! Thank you.

zoogiejab, you may wish to have your original sketches and the logo design the company is using reviewed by an attorney in your area, but I am afraid you may find that there is no action you can take against the company or the designer.

For one thing, although logos can be copyrightable, copyright protection does not extend to names or titles or colors or slogans or short phrases or lettering or simple designs. If your logo design is unique and creative enough, it could potentially be registered as a work of art, but generally logos will be protected by trademark laws and not copyright laws.

Logos are used as company identifiers and it is not at all unusual to find substantial similarities between the logo designs of different companies. Most logo designs will use simple colors and lettering and have simple shapes and styles for easy recognition by consumers. For example, compare the logos of Carrier and Ford, Planned Parenthood and Applied Material, Sun Microsystems and Columbia Sportswear. If you go through the logos at http://www.trademarks-logos.com you will find many many more logos that share a striking resemblance to each other.

While it would be infringement to duplicate another's logo entirely, when the scope of a project is limited to a company name and the wants and needs of an employer, most proposals submitted for a logo project will share the same or similar features.

With that said, if your logo design sketches are original and creative enough to be copyrightable, registering them now still will not allow you to collect any statutory damages, should you decide to sue for infringement. It is possible (although I am not sure how probable) that, if you were to win such an action, a court could award you reasonable compensation for the commercial value of the work. But it is highly doubtful that a court would issue an injunction and prevent the company from using the logo that identifies it and its products.

On the positive side, the statute of limitations for filing a copyright infringement suit is 3 years from date of discovery of the infringement, so if you just recently discovered the company's use of the logo that looks suspiciously like yours, you do have time to sue. Just, perhaps, no reason to.

Again, take your designs, and the logo that is currently in use, and have an attorney compare them and review the facts. The attorney can then outline for you any legal options you may have. Your original question was "Is there a case for a case?" and, based on what you have written here, I am thinking there is not. An attorney in your area who can personally review the matter may think differently.

Good luck.

quincy--
Thank you for your response. If there's any hope at all, I think it's worth it to see an attorney. I'm not sure how amount of creativity/uniqueness of a logo is determined but feel as though since it is my own stylized handwriting it might be worth a look. I am not sure if you mean artistic lettering is uncopyrightable or if you meant typed words as lettering. The only typeface in my sketch was for a supporting tagline; this typeface was changed in the "adaptation" of the logo.

There are measurable similarities between the 2 logos; ie the now published one is not inspired by but pulls directly from my sketch. I have laid one on top of the other and certain letters are essentially the same; the heights of the capital letters bear the same relationship to the lowercase letters.. Basically every personal touch to my sketch was lifted.


The LEAST that I would like to accomplish in this is to have the infringer remove the logo from her portfolio site. That she has been uncompromising and yet tacitly admits the infringement makes me angrier.

Anyway, thank you for your advice, and for being (and helping me to be) realistic. To the phonebook.. erm.. internet!

As to the lettering, a logo that relies solely on letters or written words and/or simple geometric shapes would generally not be found original and creative enough to be copyrightable.

It could be possible for you to get a "thin" copyright to protect any original features in your logo, but it really is impossible for me to judge your logo without seeing it. That is why you need the personal review by an attorney in your area.

To view some of the more creative and original logos that have been designed, you can check out "30 creative logos with creative use of letters and text" at the creativefan.com site. The lettering, in most of these, would not be protectable under copyright law. The artwork that accompanies the text would or could be.