Copyright Infringement Questions

I don't know if I can call this copyright infringement, but here's my deal. I'm an avid eBayer and from time to time I get people asking me who designed my auction ads. When they find out it's me they ask me how much it'll cost to have one designed and some take it others leave it.

But my question is more about the copyright side. There was one client who came over to me that I had done work for in the past. I made an auction template. Specifically for their auctions.

Now eBay has stores and "about me" pages, but I told this client that the design could only be used in the auctions, not the store or anywhere else. I sent a "read me" file with directions on how to install the template, and get into the html structure to make changes. I stated in this file that the template could NOT be used in the store, "about me" page, and much less their website.

But guess what? They have it everywhere. They also tweaked the template a bit and it's pretty ugly, but the graphics are there and the header and buttons that they're using, it's all intact.

This deal ended on a sour note because the guy was getting hostile and kept trying to suck more work out of me without putting out the cash we had agreed upon.

So what can I do...since contacting them doesn't work due to no response. But can I take legal action against them or is their a way to have their servers suspended or something? This really is annoying to me now and I didn't think they'd go that far as to use the design for the site.

Any information anyone has that might help me put a little pressure on these people would be great. I believe I should get paid to do their website or at least get some royalties or something. Help anyone!

Cheers!

Do you have a written contract where they agreed to the terms regarding how the graphics could be used? Stating who has final "ownership" of the graphics? With policies regarding modifications, etc?

If not, you are probably out of luck. If they are being hostile and trying to get free work out of you and not returning calls and stuff, they are not going to ever pay you anything. If you went to court and don't have a contract, it would be your word against theirs and would probably just be a big waste of your time.

I'd just cut your losses and get a contract next time.

Deker, thanks for your reply. I got the "read me" text file idea from pank. Many moons ago I bought a skin from him to use on a site I was working on and I thought his explanations and his requests of using the graphics on a particular site were pretty thorough in the "read me" file. So that's all I submitted and only have emails stating they agreed.

After much thought, I concluded to what you wrote in cutting my losses and get a contract next time. So I take this as a lesson to be learned.

I have a friend who sends out a contract in a PDF file, has it signed then faxed back. Would this be one way to go about getting a contract, and are there any other better avenues of how to outline all of the terms and conditions?

Your help is greatly appreciated man...

Cheers!

That sounds like a decent way to do it. As long as they have a printer and fax machine or scanner.

You could have a lawyer look over the contract too, and just it for every transaction. If you get that pre-paid legal thing, you only pay like $28 a month for unlimited access to attorneys to look over contracts just like that. It's kind of like insurance for lawyer fees, where everyone pays a little a month whether they use it or not. Very affordable and a good idea for a small business though.

Deker, thanks for the info man. I really appreciate it. I'm going to research this more and see what I can find out. I'll also look into some lawyers in my area to see what is being offered. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Cheers!