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So You Thought You Had A Bad Day

Johnny
Posted: April 7th, 2009

Through the twitter grapevine, I ran into an horror story of a freelance graphic designer, Jon Engle, being sued for $18,000 for copyright infringement. The worst part… it was his own work in question! From Jon’s own blog:

I was first contacted by a stock art site in July of last year. They hit me with a bill for a whopping $18,000! I had an account with the site. Years ago I purchased an illustration of a chef’s hat for a client’s project. So, I thought this was some accounting mistake. Nope. This was a bill for new images. Very familiar images. They were images from several of my logos; 65 of them in fact. That breaks down to about $275 per image. They actually wanted me to pay them $275 for each one of MY images!

Once the sticker shock wore off the obvious question came to mind. Where the hell did they get these from? It seems as if most or all of them were lifted from my LogoPond showcase. They especially seemed to favor the ones that made it to the gallery.

My theory is that someone copied my artwork, separated them from any typography and then posted them for sale on the stock site. Someone working for the site either saw my LP showcase or was alerted to the similarities. They then prepared the bill and sent it to me. The good thing is that the bill gives me a record of every single image they took from me. That helps me gather dates, sketches, emails, etc to help me prove my case. The bad thing is that despite my explanations and proof, they will not let this go.

When I refused to pay the bill they hired a law firm specializing in copyright infringement. The attorney called and offered a settlement of $18,000. How is that any different than the bill? I refuse to pay THEM for work I created. That is the epitomy of ridiculous. The attorney didn’t like my response. He threatened to sue. I say BRING IT ON! I have no doubt I can win in court.

Now this isn’t an everyday occurrence, but how many freelance graphic designers out there have the proof that every piece of work they created is their own? I mean we’re talking proof that work was created on a certain date which is difficult to provide.

I seriously hope we haven’t come to an era where freelancers have to really cover their ass to prevent major BS like this. The freelancer community has always been about the honor system and helping one another out. I will, however, reserve judgment in this case since I’ve only heard one side of the argument (Jon’s). If this turns out to be a scheme by a single greedy website owner and a shady lawyer friend, though, then my whole belief in freelancing goes out the door with Jon’s career.

Nevermind that I am not a freelance graphic designer (a programmer instead), we’re all in the same boat and you never know if something like this can happen in other fields. I’ll keep posted on the outcome for sure.

UPDATE:

Comments on Jon’s story on Reddit

Here’s something you can use to put a digital watermark on your images

Category: WTF
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Freelancing Links: Week of March 27

Johnny
Posted: April 3rd, 2009

So who got fooled the other day? I read about some pretty good pranks online, but this one wins the trophy. OK, It didn’t happen on Fool’s day but it’s good for a belly ache, anyway. Back on topic, here you have this week’s happenings in freelancing:

Copyblogger: For you writers, learn an interesting technique for getting those top-notch copywriters to mentor you “for free.”

Freelance Folder: “Opportunities aren’t discovered; they are created.” One thing that separates the successful freelancers from the wannabes is precisely this… they make it happen instead of waiting for a break.

Freelance Folder: Sales is probably one of the most useful skills you can have as a freelancer. Though the selling aspect is important, it’s learned quickly that clients have to be treated right so you continue to get their biz. Here’s a nice little crash course so you see what I mean.

Freelance Switch: Hand’s up if you use an accountant to crunch your numbers. That’s what I thought (me included). I’m probably not the first to be struggling through taxes at this time, but it may help to read a little advice for beginners.

Freelance Switch: Eight practices of freelancers… who have kept on freelancing.

Mashable: A bit off topic, but has your house showed up in Google Street View yet? One town says an emphatic NO to the Google invasion.

New York Times: Here’s a good question to ask yourself if you work at a job and are considering the jump to freelancing.

The Onion: With basketball season winding down, better get to one for that career opportunity you’ve always wanted.

Rev2.org: Freelance programmers take note, the playing field may be leveled soon. India appears to be pricing themselves out of the market.

Zen Habits: Forgot about your New Year’s resolutions yet? Nobody’s perfect, so maybe it’s time to have a look back at those.

Category: Freelancing Links, The Week in Freelance
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The Little Things That Matter The Most – Part III

Johnny
Posted: April 2nd, 2009

Part III – Document Everything

It’s tax time already. Do you have those little receipts compiled for your deductions or do you have to hunt them down (or “make” them up)?

Well we won’t go there, but if this is you, you may want to listen up. Here’s a little tip when dealing with clients,  something that tends to be taken for granted among freelancers. That is, to document all the work you do for any client when your client sends you tasks to do. Usually these tasks are small enough to where it takes too much time drafting a long project agreement and having the client agree to it. No task is too small, though, to have a record for billing purposes.

What happens is that a client may appear to give you the green light to keep the meter running. This may be true in some cases, but it usually is a sign that the client wants things done now and then pays attention to cost later. Freelancers often assume they are free to work away and tack on the hours, eyeing those dollar signs on the next invoice.

When it comes time to pay the bill, however, you might be surprised to get an objection if you cannot provide the detail of everything you did and the time/cost involved. Believe me, they will fight you every step of the way if you can’t. That’s why it is important to assume this will always happen and prepare yourself accordingly.

Therefore, get in the habit of documenting these minor tasks by doing the following:

1. Prior to doing anything, write an email noting each task and the total cost involved. Have the client approve it by responding with a “go ahead” and your email copied in the email body. Save these emails in a folder so you can easily find them later.

2. Create an Excel or Word document and note the date, each task and the total cost. Add to this list if there are more minor tasks done and send this document with an invoice upon billing the client.

3. If billing is done on a monthly basis, you may want to send the client a copy of the above document on a weekly basis just so they are aware of the work you have done up to that point.

These small documenting tasks even take relatively little time to do. It can save you the time, however, of retracing your steps in the event the client decides that he wants to know exactly what he is being charged for.

This is much the same way you can save time on taxes by having all your receipts in one place.

See also:

Part I: The Search For Stability
Part II: The Phone Call

Category: How-To
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WTF?… Freelance Folder to Merger With Freelance Switch

Johnny
Posted: April 1st, 2009

I recently heard from the grape vine that there is a proposal underway to merge to two popular freelancing websites, Freelance Folder and Freelance Switch. While I hate to be the source of gossip, this is some real news and no one mentions it anywhere! First, I got a little suspicious after a tweet from Freelance Folder’s Jon Phillips:

@jonphillips BIG NEWS to all our freelancing friends! Shhh can’t tell you yet though. Stay tuned!

I was able to contact Jon and here’s what he had to say:

“Well, you have to promise not to tell anyone [sorry], but we are in discussions with the boys at Envato into merging two of the best resources in freelancing into one bad-ass mega site for all your freelancing needs. Our primary goal for the merger is to bring together our loyal readers and then add a new line of services we’ve planning for a while such as background client checks and a new escrow service that charges an unheard of 1/2% fee. I mean, we’re going to rake it in.”

I then inquired if there will be a name change and new website:

“We’re still undecided but we’ve narrowed it down to Freelance Filing Cabinet, Freelance Monster Mart or the more simple  Freelance Fitch. We have some people still working on the site. They weren’t too hard to find. After all, we have our own job boards you know.”

Well, there you have it. Expect the new and improved Freelance Folder/Freelance Switch sometime soon.

Thanks for the tip Jon!

Category: April Fool's
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