[thelist] designer's rights

Adam adam at hallinteractive.com
Wed Nov 14 08:22:55 CST 2001


hello my list friends
I've received a disturbing email from an old client (from when I was
freelance) asking me to remove any mention of his company from my portfolio.
I'm not using any visual representation of his trademarked name, rather a
comp I did that he never was shown and that he never paid for. I'm also only
referencing his company in the context of previous commissioned work. What's
important to note is that he only paid me for website work I did and not for
logo work which he requested later. We exchanged unpleasant communications
through lawyers and he still promised $ that never came. I had the option of
small claims court (the invoice was for $675.00 CND- (which at the time was
the only money I had coming.)

So I left it, and hoped I'd never have to deal with such an ass ever again.
SO now. I believe there are 2 issues.
1: Does he really have the right to ask me not to reference his trademarked
name in my portfolio (which incidentally isn't finished and only accessible
from an SE,- damn the power of google!) Remember- no trademarked imagery is
used only a text reference.

2: He still owes me $675.00. Which makes him a dick considering his enormous
wealth and my overwhelming poverty at the time. I also think that since we
never discussed my use of created materials in a self promotional context,
that any rights he may have had  end where our agreement became unfulfilled
(he received no work, I received no $).

I would refer you all to the references themselves but I fear violating some
obscure law.

I've got a lawyer in the family looking into intellectual property rights. I
would very much enjoy hearing thoughts from you.
Cheers,
 Adam





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