hope you guys can help with this one,. i have been searching for homebased clients to sell my artworks to, and i found this guy who says he would pay me every 15th and 30th day of the month for all the artworks that im going to give him, and so i believed in him and send him my works, then he gave me the first payment for the first work i did for him. to make the long story short, i just saw my "unpaid" artwork on a site and i was shocked! the artwork was copyrighted to our name and ihave all the psd and copyright certificate for that artwork but the thing is i can't afford to file a lawsuit... i asked some friends and they said that i was supposed to present them a written contract that i worked for that guy (as homebased designer). what should i do? is there a free lawyer for that?
2007-05-15 03:24:17 · 6 answers · asked by yanne 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
You would be wise to hire a private investigator
2007-05-15 03:26:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You need to hire a lawyer as soon as possible. You also should be filing a police report of the theft and all the information you have on the person that you sent your artwork to.
You can get legal work done and will not have to pay for it until there is a settlement. The legal system may actually require the thief to pay for all charges incurred by this.
You may or may not get a settlement in this matter. This will be an extreme lesson to never sell anything to anyone without a written contract, and being paid up front for the items.
Most states have legal assistance available, and most lawyers have to do a percentage of pro-bono work and will be glad to assist you in this matter.
Good luck, I wish you the best.
2007-05-15 10:46:23 · answer #2 · answered by Sue F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I don't see how you CAN'T afford to file the lawsuit. Call an attorney and discuss it. You may find that they are willing to let you make payments, and when you win your case, you might be able to sue to have the perpetrator pay the expenses. Otherwise, the only other thing you could do is call the cops and see if they will do something about this "theft." The catch is that you may never get your money.
Lesson learned, I hope. Next time you'll collect the money before you hand out the merchandise!
2007-05-15 10:29:56 · answer #3 · answered by Mr. Taco 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
dear friend,
i can understand how bad you must be feeling to see ur hard work stolen and to have seen it put up elsewhere. anyways now that it has happened, you should do all that you can to get it back. but first before u go in for a lawyer, why not check out the site/s given below. if they are able to help you, then y shell out money unnecessarily.
Hiring a lawyer for minor legal problems can be expensive, but there are websites like LawGuru, FindLaw and other places where you can get free legal advice. I found this website useful - http://www.uelp.org/freelegal.html
2007-05-16 08:11:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many cities have Law Centres where people who cannot afford to pay a lawyer can get free legal advice. In UK, these are funded by local councils, and by other organisations such as Commission for Racial Equality.
There are sometimes also 'Pro Bono' clinics, where regular lawyers give free advice as a form of community service.
2007-05-15 10:34:57 · answer #5 · answered by lakelounger 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can't afford not to. Most lawyers don't charge you anything unless they win - then it can be 30 to 40% of the settlement.
Call a couple and find out. What have you got to lose?
2007-05-15 10:29:00 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋