Learning Brand building, and found Copyright Infringement your thoughts

RaphLuna

Bushwoolie
Joined
Apr 26, 2017
Messages
113
Hi everyone.

been in The legal department getting things prepped for the Clyony brand I’m building.


I been in Contact with my IP Lawyer And he gave me a heads up...

“A commissioned artist cannot claim rights to any works in which they did not participate, so you don't really need to worry about that. If you had a comprehensive partnership agreement with one or more of them (covering all matters related to the brand as a whole), then that would be a different story, but it doesn't sound like you have anything like that.”

yeah but I want both my Commissioned Artist and I to be happy... Granted he does not write up legal contracts.. however he advised me to seek a lawyer that does. So I’m going with my IP lawyer That I been doing business with.


im new to this contract stuff and so I drew up my first contract. I gave it some careful though. Don’t laugh I tried my best . Every client and Commission artist needs are unique...

—————

1. ) the client ( me ) gives the commission artist (you ) All the time they need to compete each commissioned art collection set. ( I left this one open so you get full freedom to pace your time to finish each commission set. )

2.) Withholding funds until art is completed is forbidden. Client ( me ) is to pay upfront fees in full to commission artist ( You ) or split payment. Half at the end of month and the other half on the 8th of the month. If payment is expected to be late the client (me ) is to notify the commission artist through email correspondence within a swift yet reasonable time ( Personally I left this one as a little float room not too crazy of a float just modestly because life can be unpredictable. )

3.) in Signing the contract. The commission artist ( you ) is in no way automatically obligated to accept all the clients (Me ) commissions forever. The commission artist ( you ) are fee to pick and choose accept or decline each commission project they want to work on. ( Does this sound okay to you )

4.) The client (Me ) sends the commission artist (you ) the commission project. Upon acceptance and agreement of fee the payment is to be made within reason. After Receiving the payment. If the client (me ) requests modifications of any of the art-pieces, the commission artist (you ) has a right to charge an additional fee, especially if the modification requires a major work on the commission artist part. ( i know you don’t charge extra. however I want to keep this open on your part. Just in case you change your mind. hope your okay with this. )

5.) the client (Me ) is responsible to provide the commission artist (You) access to each of her original character created designs for each requested commission sketches. The commission artist ( You ) trust the original characters designs belong to the client ( Me ) and therefore is not liable for any disputes of the clients (me ) character designs should they arise. (Protecting you from any liability. Hope your okay with this)

6.) the Commission Artist ( you ) is aware that the past paid and completed commissions from date month /day /year up to month/day/year and all in between commissions and future commissions paid by client ( me ) are property to The Clyonies brand. and the modified commission pieces are property to the Clyanthrian brand and will be used for promotional and commercial purposes. ( just did a backtrack of my PayPal records and placed past commissions within this contract. It be tedious work to write up contracts for each past commission set. I hope you understand. If you like separate contracts for each commission set please let me know. )

7.) in the event the client ( me ) asks the commission artist ( you ) to create a brand new character from scratch. The client (me ) will be obligated by the commission artists (you ) terms and conditions. pay character usage rights in forum of Royalties. or the Buy out fee in order to obtain full ownership. ( hope you don’t mind me adding this addition in. Sure I got time now to create my own character designs and this situation did not arise however when things pick up and get really busy on my end ( Writing editing prepping colouring books, and more.), there is going to come a time I would possibly request a character made from scratch from you. This is to help clarify confusion and to protect your rights as an artist too. )

8.)The client ( me ) grants split royalties 50/50 to the commission artist (you ) from the sales of digital colouring books and print colouring books from both The Clyonies brand and from the Clyanthrian brand. However the royalty collections is limited to the commissions done by the artist (you. )( I made promise from day one and yes when the colouring books go to print and sell or even a digital colouring book sells you get 50% royalties not only will you collect royalties from The Clyonies colouring books you will also collect royalties from the Clyanthrian colouring books too. Hope your okay with this. Limited the colouring book royalties to the commission you did. Hope your okay with this.)

9.) in the event the commission artist ( you ) is no longer available to do commissions with the client (me ) the commission artist ( you ) will continue to collect their 50% royalty share in digital colouring books and print colouring book sales from the Clyonies brand and the Clyanthrian brand. ( Yes even when you walk away your going to still receive your royalties from the fruits of your labor within the colouring book sales field. Hope your okay with this )

10.) the client ( me ) agrees to allow the commission artist ( you ) to post some of the paid commissions on your social media platforms. However you must provide a link to the original source of the clients (me ) Character Designs and use Hashtags (The Clyonies), (The Clyanthrians) (Copyright). (Does this sound okay to you )

11.) Should you have a portfolio with multiple folders. And due to the Clyonies and the Clyanthrians each their own brand. The client (me ) requires the commission artist (You ) to create two new folders (The Clyonies, The Clyanthrians ) the commission artwork must be placed each completed commission art in the proper folder. If the client (me ) notices you placed their property in the wrong folder. The client will notify you immediately and provide reasonable time for you to make adjustments. Failure to comply within reason will result in the client being within the legal grounds to give you a choice, correct the error and place the art in the correct folder or take the art-piece off your platform. The client will give you 48 hours to do one or the other. ( This one is straight forward. Hope it makes sense to you too. )

12.) the client (me ) agrees to provide the proper credit to the commission artist and to post a link from one of their social media platforms. Should the commission artist platform become dormant and no longer in use, and no other link is found. The artist name will still remain as credit. (Well you never know the internet is a strange place hope your okay with this )

13.) the commission artist (you ) is fully aware that all the clients (me ) paid commissions are property of The Clyonies brand and the Clyanthrian brand, they are in no way connected or affiliated with any other brand out on market. In the event the commission artist (you ) posts any of the commission art pieces online and tag them affiliated to a different brand. Your are given two choices. Make correction to the error, or if a correction can not be made delete and repost with the proper brand name tag. Refusal to comply will result in legal action. ( does this sound fair to you.)

14.) in the misfortunate event the client (me ) passes away all the property owned by the deceased client will go to her family bloodline. However they will receive only half of colouring book sale royalties. The other half of the colouring book sale royalties belong commission artist ( you). (It’s the facts of life and we must add the future )

15. In the misfortunate event the commission artist (you ) passes away your share of colouring book royalties Will go to the commission artist family blood line. ( I know it’s a sad to think of such situations however it’s important to address this now. I want to give you and you family extra protection hope your okay with this. )

——————


I know it’s not written perfect however I though of ever area I could think of. commission artist not happy I’m not either. sent it to her first she read and is happy. Next step I send it to a lawyer to write out a legal document form. This is showing her what we both agreed to,

what are your thoughts on the contract I wrote.

On a side note my TM Lawyer sent me this....

Here's a little piece of information that you might not have heard yet:
Be careful about selective enforcement of your intellectual property. If you pick and choose targets for cease-and-desist letters, rather than sending them out to every discovered instance of infringement, then you leave yourself vulnerable to a challenge. (This is the main reason for the big companies' policy of blanket DMCA takedowns.) If you don't enforce your IP, your protection can potentially be declared invalid by a judge.”

i Was surfing Twitter and found this person doing this...

569E2205-0361-481C-A096-D5139F29C317.jpeg



the first image is too obvious Infringing on MLP FIM designs. Plus Advertising MLP infringes more. Her real artwork is the one at the bottom.
The price she popped up hoping to get I feel is taking advantage of fair you.

now I tried to explain to her with what my TM lawyer sent to me... She got offensive and fumed. but After many of my efforts she agreed to ask permission to help I provided her a link. Of Hasbro’s permission of use..

https://corporate.hasbro.com/en-us/contact-us

hopefully she takes my advice. I don’t want the poor girl to get in hot water over it.

perhaps I’m just overthinking. Besides who is going to challenge Hasbro in court.

with my furry equine brand I’m building if that ever grows in popularity. Hasbro will kick my tail in court. if this happens, I will defend my brand. And if I can challenge them in court like my lawyer pointed out. I will.

Hasbro is not evil the6 have that link for a reason, so fans of their brand can contact them and get permission to continue their business ventures under the brands they love.

to me I love fans and their creative craft of Genius, however C&D is harsh there has got to be a centre to make both Fan and the brand happy and safe. so I thought about this idea....

“ I’m thinking the granting permission idea . as long as they stay within the boundary’s of my strict rules. say a statue maker, since their venture is small, exempt them from paying royalties to help their business grow. And once their business starts to boom and turn in a healthy profit. Then they will have to pay 5% or 10% royalty fee. See I give them a grace period from royalties, I help them get their business venture off the ground, They get to earn a living in their craft and my brand is protected and when they are successful I get a modest royalty. Now everyone is happy.”

but I want to better understand the fandom. And help me come with that perfect centre that makes both fan happy and brand protected and happily.

as A new IP owner and Creator I’m open to your thought ideas suggestions and more.
 
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Snickers not to worry friend I’m in no legal situation. My lawyer was just letting me be aware in advance the importance of enforcing my IP rights and the importance to protect the brand I’m building.

hasbro is not going to care what I’m doing, at the moment. I’m in beginner bunny slope of Brand building and Novel writing and publishing to market. However once the novels hit the market and the children colouring books hit the market. And there is a huge boom of popularity of The Clyonies and Clyanthrian brands then they will slap me with a C&D. hoping to cash in the the success of the fruits of Our labours. my IP lawyer said even though they found no infringement between designs. There is nothing stopping Hasbro kicking me to court and demanding me to make changes. yes I will defend what I created.

to be honest friend I believe the world is big enough for The MLP brand, The Clyonies Brand and the Clyanthrian brand.

even though I’m building a New brand to market. Im still going to tune into Hasbro MLP and if they ever Bring the 80 MLP toys back buy them for my own personal collection. I love their 80s toy line.

However, this person on Twitter i feel is flat out exploiting Hasbros MLP brand. I tried to help. However sadly in the end got mocked.

there is got to be a centre to make both the fandom and brand owner both happy. And if you or any of our lovely fellow pony fans out there have any input please be willing to share.

your all the BEST

Hugs

Laurie
 
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