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Re: Reg. Trademarks to co...
EclectiKat@aol.com wrote:
>
> >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
You make some very good points Jeff. What I do is I tell the customer
that the art work is proprietary and copyrighted. This usually is all
you need however I have one customer that really got bent out of shape
and as a result I didn't get the job. I think after seeing that side of
the customer, I didn't want it anyway. I like to sleep through the
night. :-)
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