First of all, I have to thank LOGODESIGNLOVE for the post regarding this significant issue.

I could not in good faith recommend purchasing a logo from istockphoto.com when they actually start offering them. They are leaving it to the designer to ensure that they are not infringing on any copyright or trademark.

And quite frankly I cannot envision the designer taking the time to do the research. It’s a lot of work. And the payment to the designer would never be sufficient in the event they were sued for infringement.

References:
LOGODESIGNLOVE
iStockphoto Forum

Well I found another company (LPH Internet Services) located in Laguna Beach, CA taking my content, and actually linking directly to it using my bandwidth. I am so not amused. And yes, I have sent them a Cease and Desist.

If you go to any of the following pages and either select “View Source” or “Source” (depending on your browser) you will see the direct link.

http://www.lphinternetservices.com/colors/warm.html

http://www.lphinternetservices.com/colors/site.html

http://www.lphinternetservices.com/colors/green.html

http://www.lphinternetservices.com/colors/red.html

http://www.lphinternetservices.com/colors/blue.html

I also believe they may have downloaded my Worksheet, and were interested in a design I did for one of my clients.

Last December I filed for a Federal copyright for this website after another site literally stole the content from this site. They didn’t even bother to remove my business name from the content. Yes, it was that bad. Well this website is now protected by Federal copyright.

Having a Federal copyright filed and approved means that I can actually sue for damages and perceived economic loss.

Well after finding out that someone was using my copyrighted material on their website this topic is timely. And yes, my website is copyrighted and a copyright is filed. So don’t take my content because I can be awarded monetary damages. If I didn’t have the copyright filed I couldn’t.

What is a no-no.

• Taking content (the words) from someone else’s website.
• Taking images or graphics or linking to someone’s images (it’s never nice to steal someone’s bandwidth)
• Duplicating the design

To learn more about Trademarks visit the US Patent and Trademark website and information about copyright can be found here.

You should have a contract and detailed site specification done and signed by both the client and the designer/developer before any work is done.

You need to know what you are paying for and what is going to be done. There should be no hidden surprises.

A contract will protect you as you can enforce it. It also protects the designer/developer also from scope creep. Scope creep is when you plan for something at X price and pretty soon the client wants more and more.

An example would be a client I have. It was planned to be a 2 page website. Soon the client was asking to have a page for each item. I went and figured out the additional cost, and the client decided against it.

Another example was a small 5 page site. The client had just a few items for sale. Not a problem. Well those items were actually categories. The project should have been scoped at $3,000 versus $500.

A maintenace contract are used to provide maintenance on your website. Not to create a new website. A maintenance contract is used for after the launch of your website, and most designers/developers state a specific time that you have to completely review your website for errors. The time frame is generally a week.

If you think you can just send tons of changes to your developer and expect them to not charge you for the work then you are mistaken. I only make minor changes within that week period. If you want to completely change the content you are going to be charged for my time.

Tip1: Save your changes and send them all at once. It will cost you more money to send items piece meal.
Tip 2: If you have a signed maintenance contract you are somewhat protected from price increases. All designers change their rates from time to time.