Hi guys
Some years ago my partner & I started a small business from our home producing embroidered clothing, CAD-CUT vinyl etc etc. We then purchased a textile printer that allows us to print directly to any colour fabric - we mainly print to t-shirts.
I participate in several related forums and it was from one of these forums that I received a request to produce printed t-shirts for a website owner and despatch them direct to the client. The artwork was supplied to me by the website owner and we've been printing for a couple of years since - not in large quantities, maybe 6 a week. All the artwork is music inspired.
As we didn't have our own website I struck a deal with the website owner that if he designed a website for us with the same look as his, we'd print his shirts for free. He designed our website but of course we had very little to put on it so, he suggested he populate our website with his artwork which he would licence to us.
When a sale was made through our website, we'd pay the designer 40% of the net purchase value for the use of his artwork.
From the very beginning I made it absolutely clear that I didn't want any copyright issues and the artwork had to be his designs.
So you've probably already guessed what's coming next! Last month we received a FEDEX Expedited letter from an attorney in Miami. In short, it's what's commonly known as a 'cease & desist' and of course we immediately complied. In addition we refunded payments to customers who'd purchased specific artwork. Without hesitation I also removed every piece of the website designer's artwork from our website.
As a result, I started researching some of the artwork designs that I understood were of his own making and discovered that most appeared in the 1st or 2nd page of a Google search. When I confronted him with this information he stated that he'd spent some time modifying the artwork and therefore it was his!
Here's an example of a shirt we printed with HIS artwork:
And here is an image I found on the first page of Google:
Yes, there are differences in the artwork in that he 'distressed' it, but I think you'll agree, there's an uncanny resemblance.
I've severed links with the website/artwork designer as I found nearly all his artwork were simply copies with some adjustments for printing.
I've now received an invoice from him for £956 representing 40% of the t-shirts sold from our website. He continues to state that as he'd spent some time altering the artwork to make it suitable for printing on t-shirts, the artwork is therefore his to licence to me.
So my basic question is, is he right and should I pay his invoice? He owes us quite a bit more than £956.
Sorry this post is rather long, but I had to get the details in.
Regards
John
Some years ago my partner & I started a small business from our home producing embroidered clothing, CAD-CUT vinyl etc etc. We then purchased a textile printer that allows us to print directly to any colour fabric - we mainly print to t-shirts.
I participate in several related forums and it was from one of these forums that I received a request to produce printed t-shirts for a website owner and despatch them direct to the client. The artwork was supplied to me by the website owner and we've been printing for a couple of years since - not in large quantities, maybe 6 a week. All the artwork is music inspired.
As we didn't have our own website I struck a deal with the website owner that if he designed a website for us with the same look as his, we'd print his shirts for free. He designed our website but of course we had very little to put on it so, he suggested he populate our website with his artwork which he would licence to us.
When a sale was made through our website, we'd pay the designer 40% of the net purchase value for the use of his artwork.
From the very beginning I made it absolutely clear that I didn't want any copyright issues and the artwork had to be his designs.
So you've probably already guessed what's coming next! Last month we received a FEDEX Expedited letter from an attorney in Miami. In short, it's what's commonly known as a 'cease & desist' and of course we immediately complied. In addition we refunded payments to customers who'd purchased specific artwork. Without hesitation I also removed every piece of the website designer's artwork from our website.
As a result, I started researching some of the artwork designs that I understood were of his own making and discovered that most appeared in the 1st or 2nd page of a Google search. When I confronted him with this information he stated that he'd spent some time modifying the artwork and therefore it was his!
Here's an example of a shirt we printed with HIS artwork:
And here is an image I found on the first page of Google:
Yes, there are differences in the artwork in that he 'distressed' it, but I think you'll agree, there's an uncanny resemblance.
I've severed links with the website/artwork designer as I found nearly all his artwork were simply copies with some adjustments for printing.
I've now received an invoice from him for £956 representing 40% of the t-shirts sold from our website. He continues to state that as he'd spent some time altering the artwork to make it suitable for printing on t-shirts, the artwork is therefore his to licence to me.
So my basic question is, is he right and should I pay his invoice? He owes us quite a bit more than £956.
Sorry this post is rather long, but I had to get the details in.
Regards
John
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