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I have been reading on these forums and have seen some posts about copyright material.

I had a customer call me today wanting Norton motorcycle decals for his motorcycle that he is restoring.

He mentioned to me that he has the files he needs cut! I am thinking this might be someone out 'shopping' around!

Let me know your input!

I am nervous about printing these things as it is copyright to nortel, I am going to have to turn this job down..Which I hate to do, it is not worth it in my opinion over some decals to get sued.

How do you tell customers in a nice way you can't print copyrighted material?

Do I bluntly say " I am sorry I cannot print anything that is copyrighted?"

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Kinko's used to have (probably still does) a form they'd make you fill out for material that looked like it might be under copyright. Basically it said the person was assuring Kinko's they had the right to copy the material. That way if someone/company comes back they could shift responsibility to the customer. I'm no lawyer, but I bet it something like that would be good for this situation.

Any lawyers in the house??

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The form is called a "hold harmless agreement".....It is an attempt to transfer liability to another party.....But at the end of the day lawsuits are about "deep pockets".....Both parties will be sued and if you have deeper pockets than the other guy, they will get their settlement from you....Then with the "hold harmless agreement" you can attempt to go after the party that gave you the agreement.....

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Again, not a lawyer. But if a poacher walks through your door and requests the graphics and they willingly sign the form, they're not going to have much of a case against you.

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You can have the customer sign what ever you want, but the liability will be on who ever duplicates the artwork for profit. 

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You can make a customer prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have the right to copy. How??? Make Steve Jobs send you a personal email?? And what customer will ever come back to your shop with such an onerous requirement.

You do the absolute safest thing you can legally do. Which is to only use your own artwork and text. No school logos, No municipal logos, No team logos, no business logos. Good luck staying in business.

Or you can have a customer tell you they have the authority to use a piece if artwork covered by copyright in writing. Most easily with a Hold Harmless.

At some point you have to take a customer's word. The Hold Harmless puts you in the position of being able to say that without a doubt the customer made the claim that they had the right to use the artwork.

Again, not a lawyer. Not advising. Engaging in a discussion only.

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You can make a customer prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have the right to copy. How??? Make Steve Jobs send you a personal email?? And what customer will ever come back to your shop with such an onerous requirement.

You do the absolute safest thing you can legally do. Which is to only use your own artwork and text. No school logos, No municipal logos, No team logos, no business logos. Good luck staying in business.

Or you can have a customer tell you they have the authority to use a piece if artwork covered by copyright in writing. Most easily with a Hold Harmless.

At some point you have to take a customer's word. The Hold Harmless puts you in the position of being able to say that without a doubt the customer made the claim that they had the right to use the artwork.

Again, not a lawyer. Not advising. Engaging in a discussion only.

If they have permission, they should have proof, have them show it to you...

And I agree, better safe than sorry...

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There are 2 issues . 1 is the law that is broken & the other is the civil action . In either area no matter how many people agree/decide/assume to any degree of anything ... that does not matter . It is only the law that is used to determine responsibility . I don't know how the law is written, but it is something to the effect of the person making or offering copyrighted stuff ( does not have to be for a profit ) that is breaking the law & is finacially responsible . All the previous reasoning gives what the lawyers call " something to hang your hat on " ( an excuse ) . Having something to go after somebody else , does nothing to help you when you get sued or charged ( I have never heard of anybody getting charged with breaking the law about copyright , just civil action ) . IMO , everybody takes what chances they want to & VERY few get any grief , but some do . It gets expensive very quickly . Laura ( a member here who started a thread about getting sued over a 95 cent DeWalt decal ) spent $1,000 on the lawyer & never did post what the settlement was . Most likely because non disclosure was part of the settlement . There seems to be plenty of legal companies that are hunting copyright violators , especially with the bad economy . Once they have proof or a witness , it is a open & shut case ... easy money for that company . They most likely have a deal that pays the copyrighted company a set % of any settlements . I am not a lawyer , but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night  :thumbsup: ( 1 of my best buddies is a lawyer though )

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I am not a lawyer , but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night  ;D ( 1 of my best buddies is a lawyer though )

:thumbsup:;D ;D

Oh crap, can i be sued because I didn't include ALL of your comment???  ;D

HELP! Any lawyers in the group that can help with this one???  ;D

I've been dealing with people for... well hell, all my life!

But as a business owner since the mid 80's and I'm always asked to do something illegal.

To make a long story short, and without any incriminating evidence, I helped a nun (yes, a nun and about 80 years old to boot!) once and that almost got me sued for 1/4 mil. (tg for my good looks and quick wit! ;D)

Needless to say that was enough for me - better to lose a few $$ in a sale than a LOT of $$$ from being nice!

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Yes , you can be sued for anything I believe . File the paperwork & it is a law suit . Frivolous things gets dismissed quite fast though ;D

Hmmm ... JUST what did you do for an 80 year old nun :thumbsup:  ;D

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Watch it, you're starting to cross that thin line!!! :thumbsup:

And I'd rather burn in hell than hafta tell  ;D

;D

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Well I bet after a case of Jack , those lips might let loose with that story  :thumbsup:

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Well I bet after a case of Jack , those lips might let loose with that story  ;D

roflmao  :thumbsup:;D

I wouldn't bet if i were, but an insider tip would be well before the case, by end of case, I'd be sleep'n like a baybee!  ;D

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I've asked for and received from their respective marketing departments HONDA, TRIUMPH, GMC and KTM logos/vectors for jobs in the past. As long as I tell them that I'm a local sign maker doing a job for a customer of theirs it's been free and they don't even ask me who the customer is.

Some even have marketing/press areas on their websites that have all the logos, I believe the biggest concern is with people doing them in incorrect colors or mass producing them for knock offs.

If you're worried either turn down the job or give it a shot and shoot Norton an e-mail.

RG

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Tell him that you'll only do it if he can give you written permission from the company that the logo belongs to. If he can't, then you'll have to politely tell him that you can't risk being sued over it.

I've done it a few times myself. If they REALLY want it done, they'll call or write the company to obtain written permission to use their logo, and 9 out of 10 times, the company will say yes, because it's free advertising for them. If you need further varification, call the company and make sure that they did in fact obtain that permission.

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I know it's really hard to turn down the requests for trademarked items, but in the long run it will make you money. I just explain, the reason and most people understand and those that don't do you really want to do business with them?

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What phrase is that :huh:

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