Do concepts rejected by the client belong to me?
polycounter lvl 4
No, I didn't think to specify it in the contract beforehand. The client says it's ok, but it's not hard to imagine for me that I use the design somewhere else, the thing becomes successful and the client suddenly realises "you know what? Actually it's mine...". When money appears, people change - and the bigger the money, the bigger the change may be.
The contract specifies deliverables and the subject of the contract (3D model files prepared for 3D printing), so, technically, 3D concepts rejected by the client would belong to me?
Replies
Well, why waste your time worrying about such vague hypotheticals ? You are still in contact with your client and you guys seem to be in good terms. So go ahead and set up a contract that states how the unlimited exploitation rights of the designs are being transferred back to you, get that approved and signed, and ... that's it really. Unless I am missing something obvious ?
So go ahead and set up a contract that states how the unlimited exploitation rights of the designs are being transferred back to you, get that approved and signed, and ... that's it really.
Never crossed my mind that I could do that.
Hello,
Isn't that pretty much exactly the same thing that you signed when you started that job, just the other way around ?
The point is, if rejected concepts were not part of the contract in the face of the law, then how can the client transfer the rights to something they never had the rights to?
And now you totally lost me !
First of all if no contract was ever involved, then the designs belong to the person who created them, obviously.
But if things were being done properly there was a contract signed between the designer and the client clearly stipulating what kind of rights were being granted to the client for the use of the designs. Each party can ask to have any kind of specific detail in the agreement : the rights can be limited or unlimited, be valid only for a period of time or forever, or only for a certain number of units (in case of print for instance). Absolutely anything goes. Business is business. And the contract can be modified at a later time too, as long as the two parties agree to the edit of course.
And then, just as easily, any rights can then be resold to someone else. Or, the original designer can propose to buy back the rights. And anyone else can too. Anything goes.
Of course I assume here that you were the original designer. Were you not ? If not, of course you currently own nothing at all at the moment (which isn't much different from being the original designer and having sold all the rights to the client anyways). Whether the designs are being used or not is 10000000% irrelevant. If you don't own them, you don't own them, period.
But if you do want to own them, then you just engage negotiations with the current owner, set up a contract stating everything clearly, both party agree to it and sign it, you pay what you agreed to pay, and boom, done.
This stuff is really quite simple overall ... Want to buy stuff ? Make an offer, and if accepted, make a contract. That's all you need to be protected by the law in case someone who doesn't own the rights tries to use the art without the rights to do so.
If you want to be clear make 3 prices (just like pior said above). Always work with a contract.
Highest price: client owns everything and has permanent non disclosure.
Middle price: client owns everything but you can publish publicly after a year of delivery.
Lowest price: client owns everything but you can publish whenever you wish. You could go even further and give yet another price affording ownership only of the accepted design. I've never done that and it sounds a bit weird to me. I don't think it would be a successful business model,.... but who knows.
Can't recommend this book enough! If you're cheap you should be able to find it at a library.
https://graphicartistsguild.org/the-graphic-artists-guild-handbook-pricing-ethical-guidelines/