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Re: RE: Reg. Trademarks to co...
>I know this is a little off topic. . . but when my son (the law student:-)
>) heard me complain that I had a couple of hours of computer time in
>designing a series of suggestions for sign work. . . only to have the
>customer show them to another shop who then underbid me. . . he instructed
>me to always add the line: copyright (year) (author)
>
> copyright 1996 Great Neon Art & Sign Co.
Steve, a _great_ idea! I think I'll follow suit.
Hardly off the subject at all, this is a constant pain in the neck. (Why do
customers think our creative output is "free"?)
The next question, however, is what to do when they go out and use it anyway,
after the copyright citation? How hard is it to enforce this? How much do
they have to change your design to steal it legally?
When we got into business, we found out very soon that if we leave the
drawing with the customer, he will inevitably show it to another sign company
for a competitive bid. Even the nicest customers would succumb to temptation
on this. You suddenly see their eyes narrow to slits and turn red, and horns
grow out of their heads.They suddenly behave like new car buyers on the
prowl, with their wives watching over their shoulders to rate them on
business acumen.
And, since the other sign company has very much less creative work to do on
it, it becomes a lowball contest for them. If you don't leave it with the
customer, their temptation is removed substantially in the first place. One
thing we found out is that it simply isn't possible to be straightforward
with your customer about why you won't leave the drawing, because to explain
human nature to them is to insult them. So you have to simply say,"this is
your only copy", or," you want to do some more work on it", anything, only
don't say that "we think you are going to use it to get some competitive
bids", no matter how good you think your communication with your customer
seems to be. If your contact tells you he has to show the drawing to the
decision maker, you have just found out that you are not dealing face to face
with the real decision maker and your chances of selling are substantially
reduced in that case anyway..
Jeff Golin
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