A bit of a grey area in my line of work to say the least, it's a long shot but is anyone here clued up about it?
I'm having trouble getting money out of a UK publisher for whom I've done a Sci Fi illustration for a book cover.
Before I go through the dreary dance of pursuing them for the money I'm just wondering if I can go in with all guns blazing from a different angle. Rather than chasing for a bad debt can I threaten them with a more serious breach of copyright...
Can I say to them - until I am paid in full, I remain the author of this work and hereby withdraw permission for this artwork to be reproduced in print.
I know this cover has been printed, the threat of having to pulp an entire print-run would make them take notice wouldn't it?
Does anybody genuinely know where I stand?
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I assume it was a fixed fee, what kind of contract (if any) was signed?
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Dunno about the original contract but I do recall when I hired an ad agency to produce a magazine ad we got into hot water when we subsequently tried to use the image for additional purposes such as display / showcards. Cost us a lot of wonga because we hadn't realised that the photo was still the property of the photographer and we only had permission to use it for the specific ads. Could be that if "your" publisher re-uses your image in other ways, posters etc. you might have a case.
I reckon you need a friendly lawyer with a bit of spare time.....
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New client, fixed fee, no contract, the kind of thing I've done a thousand times before. I know they're trying it on because I'm "non dom" and they think I won't chase. That's why I want to go in heavy.
Normal practice for me Humph is to allow all and any promotional use of my work for the one-off fee. I want to withdraw permission completely and hoping a convincing verbal threat will do the trick...
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Where are they? I'm sure I've still got a double breasted suit somewhere and baseball bats are cheap enough......
;-)
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Salem Road, W2
I've actually done that before Humph, and it worked. Stood there, arms folded, legs apart, with my best mate, Mike beside me, in the reception of a film company in Ealing Studios for two hours and left with a cheque for full amount.
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>> Where are they? I'm sure I've still got a double breasted suit somewhere and baseball
>> bats are cheap enough.... ;-)
>>
Shall I bring the 'Wheels'. No no no you fools....not the Colt!!
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You're on fire tonight Martin!
Cheers!
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.....where are we going to get a white Capri and a Dennis Waterman mask at this time of night.....?
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>> .....where are we going to get a white Capri and a Dennis Waterman mask at
>> this time of night.....?
Thats no good - he needs scary.
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...I've done a Sci Fi illustration for a book cover...
Couldn't you zap them with your inter-galactic anti-matter decombostulater?
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BBD, you are entirely within your rights to withhold permission until they have paid. I'm 90% sure of that, but I'll check with my gf tonight - she's a patent attorney and therefore well up on IP law.
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§90(3) CDPA - an assignment of copyright is not effective unless it is in writing aigned by or on behalf of the assignor.
Remedies for infringement, see §96 et seq. If copyright is infringed you have a right of having the infringing goods seized and delivered up to you.
Any IP lawyer could sort this out pretty quickly.
Biggles
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UK copyright law ............ tinyurl.com/5qyat
Last edited by: L'escargot on Sat 13 Mar 10 at 06:46
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Copyright is filled with potential pitfalls. For instance, if you commission a wedding photographer he/she retains the copyright to all the images taken on the day.
That means it would be illegal to copy, scan or reproduce any such photographs without the permission of the photographer.
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My experience is that when disputes arise, publishers almost invariably have the whip hand, the snivelling carphounds. I have only once been defrauded by one, but they are often a bit languid about payment, either deliberately or through inefficiency or genuine cashflow difficulties.
Good luck BBD. I hope you bankrupt the, er, excrementhawks.
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Copyright - anybody know anything? - Zero
