Hi all, wondering if anyone has any pearls of wisdom to offer..... Here's my problem.

 

 

I'm just putting together my first website, stupidly without a contract as it is for someone I know (not a friend, more like an acquaintance).

 

She gave me a bunch of pictures to add to the website, I told her time and time again I could only use pictures if she owned the copyright or had a licence. I highlighted the importance of not being in breach of copyright etc, both verbally and by email. I then offered to take some pictures myself, both of the business and staff, which I did, I also took some time editing them and making them look great (I'm no being arrogant here, I really did a great job and she was very obviously delighted with the results). Stupidly, I did it for no extra charge, thinking I had made it clear enough the pictures were for the website alone (I thought it would be better for my portfolio!).

 

Anyway, sorry I digress. I went to see her 2 days ago and found new brochures she's had printed using some of my pictures, needless to say without my permission. I feel like she's taking advantage of me and she knows it. As soon as I picked the brochures up she said "oh sorry, I probably should've asked you first". Which shows she realises she's infringed my copyright.

 

I now feel like I should charge her for the pictures somehow, obviously I don't want to get on the wrong side of her as without a contract I fear she might just pull out and I won't see a cent for my efforts. But on the other hand I'm seriously annoyed that she's knowingly taken advantage of our friendly relationship and is going to get away with it. :mad:

 

Does anyone know where I stand with this??? I thought of charging her extra saying it's not that I've changed my mind about charging her for taking the pictures as such, but that it's for the "licence to use the pictures other than for the website" which would "cover her for what she's already done with them".

 

Anyway, sorry this is getting a bit long, I'm upset and frustrated and don't know what to do! Many thanks to anyone who may be able to offer some advice, I need to do something SOON!

 

Many thanks for reading

Katie

Did you give her a broken down quote before you started?

 

As far as I see it you have 2 choices.

 

1. Add a reasonable charge for the time you spent taking and editing the photos onto the final invoice you send once work is complete. When she asks about it you can say you assumed she realised there was a charge (unless you discussed it and said there wasn't). It's pretty fair to add a charge for additional time spent and as she *assumed* it was ok to use the photos in her brochure, no one is *assuming* more than anyone else!!

 

2. Forget about it & chalk it up to experience. We all make a mistake like this when starting out. Early days, no contract, family/friends/acquaintences, but everyone is out for themselves and web designers are the first in line to be taken advantage of. It's kind of the nature of the business, at least in current times. In future always have a contract & you should think about getting a down payment/deposit of a certain percentage too!

 

Hope this helps. I totally understand your rage, I've been there (as have most people here). Try not to feel too bad about it.

^ nicely put!

 

@kitteicat - this is a common problem and we've all probably experienced something similar at one time or another. What's more important, your relationship with this friend, or the money - perhaps that might sway your decision?

Hi guys, thanks very much for replying, it does make me feel better to know that I'm not the only muppet who's left herself open to "abuse" like this....

 

To be honest I'm not so much annoyed about the potential loss of earnings as I am about her cheek, after I went on and on about copyright and warning her not using anyone's pictures without permission, I just feel like she's laughing in my face and that's where it truly hurts.

 

I realise I've still got a lot to learn, I suppose I'm mostly annoyed with myself because although I don't have much experience about web design or running my own business, I'm old enough to have "life experience", and I should've known better. Give him an inch and he'll take a yard, as the saying goes.

 

I'm not bothered about my personal relationship with her as she's not a friend, just someone who owns a beauty salon where I've going for treatment, and we've got talking... but I guess I am bothered about a professional relationship as this is after all my first client and I'm hoping it'll lead to more assignments. She knows this and this is another reason why I think she's taking advantage.

 

We did agree on a price verbally (which is by the way a pittance, but I figured better than nothing) and I did offer to take the pictures "for the website" at no extra charge. So yes, I think you're right and she's using the "I assumed...." trick.

 

Anyway, I think I'll just have to tell her how I feel about this as I won't be happy if I don't get it off my chest. Plus she needs to know what she's done is wrong (though I'm sure she knows this already), both morally and legally.

 

I'll make sure she signs a contract this time and understands she's got away with it once, but that's it. If she wants to use the pictures again she'll have to buy a licence from me. And as you say I'll just take it as a valuable lesson and take steps to make sure it doesn't happen with future assignments.

 

I'd like to thank you both for taking the time to reply, and for putting my mind at rest that this is in no way a unique case.... I just feel so disappointed that I've gone out of my way to do a nice job for her and this is the thanks I get! Ah well, hopefully I'll benefit from my work in a different way....

 

Thanks again

Some good advice above... always, always, always have a contract, backed up by terms of business if necessary, and always, always, always get it signed - whether it's your best mate, wife, husband, father, family lawyer, secret lover, bloke you meet in the pub every week, anyone.

 

Over the years I've learned the hard way that relatives and "friends" are usually the people who will try to take the p*ss the most - whether in web development, buying/selling property, or anything else for that matter.

Providing the client has not distributed the brochures to the public then issue a verbal notice to remove and destroy all copies and all images

Keep one brochure for yourself

 

Check again regularly to see if any are using your images

 

For images, use Picture Shark

The latest version has a digital signature, although for client websites you can place a big banner on them!

 

An alternative is to use a 1x1 image overlay

Anyone copying the image then ends up with the transparent image instead of the image they actually see in the browser, although it can be easily found from the source code or their Temporary Internet Files directory

For those reasons I would still recommend Picture Shark

 

Finally, setup anti hotlinking on the server

ZigPress - yep, you're absolutely right. Those who should be more appreciative of your time and efforts are the ones who take the p*** the most. I should know this from experience - my husband is a computer programmer, therefore "good with computers" which means every one tries to rope him in to sort out their computers issues. He doesn't mind spending a bit of time helping people, and if they're family I guess you just have to do it, but where do you draw the line!? Someone we barely know tried to get him to rebuild their whole computer for them, as they just "didn't know what to do". He had to put his foot down and explain very clearly that this could take a whole day at least and he wasn't giving away all that time for free! I just don't understand why people would pay you for your services if you were a plumber but don't see fit to pay you for technical assistance!

 

 

M8, great advice, thanks very much!! Had no idea you could do the overlay thingy, definitely worth a try. I had thought of adding a "no right click" javascript to the code, but this could have unwanted side effects. I did look into adding a digital signature, but only knew about Digimark and they're a bit expensive for me. Will look up Picture Shark, thanks for the tip!! Don't think I can do the anti hotlinking as I've got no control over the server?

 

 

Finally, I was wondering if you have any advice on whether I should add a clause to the contract basically saying that she agrees to keep me out of any disputes that might arise from the use of images provided by her?!? (or something along those lines). This is because she gave me some pictures to add to a slideshow and I suspect she's just taken them from the internet without permission. Naturally I fear that if the copyright owner finds out, they might want to seek damages and I might be in the firing line since I'm the one who designed the website. I just don't trust her as far as I can throw her anymore and I really, really want to cover my back as much as possible.

 

Any thoughts? I really need to find a sample contract somewhere!!

 

Thanks again for your replies, they're very, very much appreciated

Defiantly add a clause to your contract about copyright. Needs to say "you own the copyright or have permission to re-use any elements on the site" or words to that effect. If the copyright owner does find out you will be in the firing line.

 

As for sample contracts, Eskymo's effort on the forum is pure gold. I then added some Andy Clarke "Contract killer" flavour to mine.

Defiantly add a clause to your contract about copyright. Needs to say "you own the copyright or have permission to re-use any elements on the site" or words to that effect. If the copyright owner does find out you will be in the firing line.

 

As for sample contracts, Eskymo's effort on the forum is pure gold. I then added some Andy Clarke "Contract killer" flavour to mine.

 

Excellent, thanks soooooooooo much!! I have already started putting one together using examples found in various places, but these will make my life a lot easier. Thanks for letting me have the links, and of course thanks to Eskymo and Andy for sharing their efforts with the rest of us!

 

I'm guessing I should negotiate a higher rate if she wants me to transfer copyright of images and graphics etc to her?!?