What do you call info that u have generated on your computer?- I thought it was "intellectual property"

Question

Talking about designs, drawings, photos that I have done - client wants this all returned so that he can give them to someone else - have given him soft copy of all I have but beleive I do not have to give anything that has been generated by me and stored on hard drive in computer. I have not yet been payed for work carried out.

Answer 1

I think it is intellectual property.

Answer 2

whether or not it's "intellectual property" is a moot point.

The problem here is what were you hired to do - and what did your agreement stipulate.

It sounds (though you haven't really elaborated) like you were hired by the client to do some sort of design work. For whatever reason, the client likes the work - but doesn't want you to continue working on it.

Did you negotiate a contract? Did you have a formal (i.e. written agreement) as to what form to deliver the end product (the design) in? Did the contract stipulate what sort of usage rights? Who "owns" the end product?

Check out the links below - they are to a section of About.com for Graphic Designers and Desktop Publishers. In your case, I would pay special attention to #3 on the list "Ownership and Copyright".

Unless it was specifically covered in your agreement- you own the copyright on the design you created. You can make the argument that the client bought the right to use the design for a specific (i.e. business cards, letterhead, website, whatever) use - and did not, in fact, agree to buy the "rights" to use the design for whatever purpose they wanted.

What I'm guessing is that the client now wants to take your design somewhere else, and have them use it. It would be bad enough for him to do this when he just paid for a single use of the design - it sounds like the client is being cheap and doesn't want to have to pay for anything (probably saying "that's not what I was looking for - I'll just go somewhere else).

At this point I would tell the client that you have delivered what they asked for - a copy of the design. They have yet to pay for that. Since the original contract appears not to have specified who owns the rights to the design, and whether or not the client is entitled to a electronic (i.e. alterable) copy of the design - then you should negotiate that with the client - and come to a fair agreement. Find out what the client intends to use it for - is it for a whole company, branding, letterhead, promotional items, etc.? Is this an established company that already makes a profit - or is it just a new thing that's starting that might not make a dime.

Obviously, the client is going to want it for as little as possible - since you're the designer, you screwed up by not finding out what they wanted to use it for - for not being specific up front - now is not the time to hit the client with a whopping bill that's unreasonable. Find a fair middle ground.

Of course, all this is dependent upon the client paying for the initial copy of the design. I've heard of a "hard copy" - which means a printed version - I'm not exactly sure what a "soft copy" is supposed to be.

You might also kindly remind the client that the design is copyrighted by you - and he has not paid for usage rights (hasn't paid for anything yet) - and if you see your design used in any way, shape or manner - including a design that uses your design as it's inspiration - you will take him to small claims court for copyright infringement and breach of contract (be prepared to back up that claim before you make it).

In the future, use a contract, be specific, and let the client know - there's a difference between 1 printed copy of a design, and the rights to use the design for whatever they want.

And checkout the about.com website - they have a lot of good information on this sort of thing.

Answer 3

In Australia we call it 'Graphic E Design' and it is property that we own due to the fact that we created it - either paid or unpaid. The end result of such work is the product being purchased by the client, not the work involved to reach the desired outcome.
If I were you I would burn it to disk, store it and then inform your client that:

A: They are not legally entitled to the soft copies without payment, however out of good will you have supplied this.

B: The hard copies are no longer being held in your computer, they are in store with a solicitor on CD for safe keeping.

C: Since the time you have put into creating this information has been done in your own time, a price tag will be attached to the discs, although no opportunity to reach a figure will be given until the original bill is paid in full.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

I do design work for a custom label bottle water company. In our research we have found other companies retain the rights to the designs they create for their clients. If their clients want a copy of the art files then they must pay like $200 - $500 for them.

Although one time in my programming class at college a few years ago I heard about a guy who developed a piece of payroll software for a company he worked for. He later was fired. A few weeks after his termination the software stopped working. Apparently he had written in the source code that after a certain number of times of his name not appearing in the payroll list the program was instructed not to continue working anymore. He supposedly got into a lot of trouble for sabotage. I thought software was considered intellectual property too.

Answer 5

The following is the meaning of intellectual property I found online: A product of the intellect that has commercial value, including copyrighted property such as literary or artistic works, and ideational property, such as patents, appellations of origin, business methods, and industrial processes.
I think it would be worth it to go to an intellectual property lawyer and ask him/her your questions. It may cost a few hundred dollars but that would be cheap compared to maybe being sued somewhere down the road.

Answer 6

Data in its simplest form.
If they haven't paid for it, then them giving it to someone else is stealing from you.
Even if you did it for them AND they paid you for it, they could only give it or sell it if you sold them all rights. If they only pay you to license it, you own it and they have no right other than using it.
Think Windows XP.
Also, he wants it RETURNED? Did they give it to you and you only made changes?
If you originated it, there is nothing to return.