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.
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.