Logo Design Copyright

[damion]

Hi there,

I am a graphic designer and specialise in creating logos. Could you please tell me the rules on copyright for the logo designs I produce, the actual ownership I have for each logo I create for clients and what kind of route I should take?

Thanks in advance.

Damion.
DEGRAFIK (newbie!)
_________________
DESIGN .: WEB .: PRINT .: ADVERTISE
http://www.degrafik.co.uk/work.html

[CopyrightAid]

Hi Damion

As (I presume) you are working freelance, rather than as an employee/contractor, it is likely that you are the copyright owner.

Briefly copyright legislation (1988 CDPA) states that the individual or collective that authored the work will normally be the exclusive owner of the work.
However, if a work is produced as part of employment then it will normally belong to the person/company who hired the individual.

You can therefore hold onto your rights, or - as most clients will (I expect) want to own their own logo, what often happens in is that the designer may hand over (sell) the copyright to his creation to the client. So that copyright is transferred when full payment is received.

This kind of detail should really be included in your terms of service, and if this is a new venture, it's a good idea to get a solicitor to draw up proper terms and conditions (or if you write your own terms, at least discuss the types of things to include).