[w i l l]

Nearly a year a go i did some design work for an individual/promoter of a club night called 'Funksta Boudoir' in Bristol. The design was sent but i recieved no payment. He has put off the payment over and over and is now ignoring emails, letters etc.

The design has been used on various sites (i.e. here in the background of these sites) - it was also used on 5,000 flyers (plus there was Illustrator graphics for the rear of the flyer)... i posted it on the forum before for help with noise.



Funksta Boudoir Resiepay back - DontStayIn

MySpace.com - Funksta Boudoir - 100 - Male - UK - www.myspace.com/funkstaboudoir

I could go the court case route with this but i have a few problems:

1. I only charged £200 for the design work and the cost of court fees plus setting up a warrant for collection of money virtually exceeds this. I know you can add on interest charges and he may have to pay court fees, but i'm pretty sure this will come to a point where they dont turn up in court and baliffs wont be able to get into the club leaving me with all the costs.

2. I know i should be charging for copyright litigation but how much do i charge?

3. I cant afford a lawyer especially for a £200 claim.

4. I was doing the work for the promoter who is now probably not employed by the club and moved away. If i talk to the other club managers they tell me that it's nothing to do with them and i need to speak to that promoter.

What should i do?

[Hervé]

well.. If I was you (but I'm not)..I'd say bye bye to the money.. and you're saying the promoter left the club..? well good luck..

Frankly, there is as much chance as winning the lottery...

for "so so" people, I usualy ask 100 % before I give any finish work.. too easy for these people...

Wish him bad karma..

Nice logo BTW..

(now if you really scream for a revenge.. hire some hardcore hacker over the web to infect his site with porno stuff... heehe)

[w i l l]

well.. If I was you (but I'm not)..I'd say bye bye to the money.. and you're saying the promoter left the club..? well good luck..

Frankly, there is as much chance as winning the lottery...

for "so so" people, I usualy ask 100 % before I give any finish work.. too easy for these people...

Wish him bad karma..

Nice logo BTW..

(now if you really scream for a revenge.. hire some hardcore hacker over the web to infect his site with porno stuff... heehe)

Hmmm i think i might go out for a few drinks tonight to the local Funksta Boudoir and see what they've got thats worth £200. Could be the easy option. PS I learnt my lesson - beginners bad luck.

[Hervé]

well.. If I was you (but I'm not)..I'd say bye bye to the money.. and you're saying the promoter left the club..? well good luck..

Frankly, there is as much chance as winning the lottery...

for "so so" people, I usualy ask 100 % before I give any finish work.. too easy for these people...

Wish him bad karma..

Nice logo BTW..

(now if you really scream for a revenge.. hire some hardcore hacker over the web to infect his site with porno stuff... heehe)

Hmmm i think i might go out for a few drinks tonight to the local Funksta Boudoir and see what they've got thats worth £200. Could be the easy option. PS I learnt my lesson - beginners bad luck.

he he.. another option.. be careful !!

[dilbert]

Always get at least 50% up front before you even start any work for a client. This happens a lot, so you have to get some money up front to protect yourself a little. Take it as a lesson learned, and don't do any work for him again in the future.

[JDHill]

Will,

You probably have a small-claims court of some kind there, similar to what most States here in the US have. If claims do not exceed a certain amount, you can file there without the help of a lawyer - they're meant for things just like this. As to your claim, it should not matter who you did the work for - it has been (indeed currently is being) used by this 'Funksta Boudoir'. As long as it has not been paid for, no transfer of ownership has taken place, and they therefore have no right to use it, regardless of the channel through which it was obtained (i.e. the promoter). Getting your money from that promoter would likely be very difficult since he may move around too much to find him, but that doesn't matter - he's not the one who's using it - the club is. It doesn't even matter if they paid him for your work - as it stands, what they are in receipt of, and are actively using, is stolen property. I'd say you have a case.

Good luck.

JD

[w i l l]

Always get at least 50% up front before you even start any work for a client. This happens a lot, so you have to get some money up front to protect yourself a little. Take it as a lesson learned, and don't do any work for him again in the future.

Do you always take 50% up front from EVERYONE? A lot of companies dont work like that in the UK. Now i take money up front from individuals such as this, but maybe not big companies/consultancies that are established and have an address etc.

[dynaraton]

I take 1/3 to 1/2 at start of projects here in the US.
I don't take deposits from customers that I trust and worked with for years.

[dilbert]

Do you always take 50% up front from EVERYONE? A lot of companies dont work like that in the UK. Now i take money up front from individuals such as this, but maybe not big companies/consultancies that are established and have an address etc.

It's up to you, but yes, I always take at least 30-50% up front before I do a single bit of work. The clients I deal with expect it, and have no problem with it. Remember, you have a skill that is valuable, and therefore they should take on part of the risk by giving you a good-faith payment. Even large respectable clients can be a real pain when it comes time for payment, so having an "address" to chase them up at means very little.

[Mattia Sullini]

You had been lucky! I am still waiting since 3 years ago the payment for 6 hotel rooms=3000€!

[martgreg]

but make sure you remember the lesson that you paid 200 quid for ...

next time it will be more... business is always hard.. just be clear,honest and up front right from the start and get them to sign something.." Once I get the contract signed and the deposit check I can get started righ away ..can help sometimes..

and never give them a full res or image with watermark before payment

if you want i can IM you some wording or passages that I have used before in contracts.. might help out

dont sweat it too much and look at the bigger picture.. try and be happier and healthier and enjoy life

good luck

ps i wouldn't advise going down and nicking something.. you might get nicked lol... let those loosers get whats coming to them in a natural course of events.. it will always catch up don't worry be happy

[yanada]

I will personally forget this one, take it as a lesson

For the next project I recomend:

A. Send Invoice to ...

B. Ask and Wait for PURCHASE ORDER from ...

C. Is tweaking if required within this PO agreement? (you could end up working for free).

D. I could go on and on but here is some help from the pros.

http://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/chapter12.htm good place to start from

www.patent.gov.uk

www.ipo.gov.uk

www.dacs.org.uk

www.contractshop.co.uk

There is no such think as an orignal thought 'FRANCIS BACON'

[Neil Evans]

Hey Will

That sucks, I know how you feel, we have just been done for £10 000! We did all the court bit etc and still got no where, we are now an extra £1000 out of pocket. The client shifted all the assets out of the company we were persuing so the baliffs had nothing to get. B@#?$rd.

It is easy to say 'get the client to pay 50% up front' but in reality this is harder than it looks. There is so much competition in the UK they just go elsewhere.

We used these guys, maybe worth having a word with them..

http://www.courthousecredit.co.uk/

[w i l l]

Hey Will

That sucks, I know how you feel, we have just been done for £10 000! We did all the court bit etc and still got no where, we are now an extra £1000 out of pocket. The client shifted all the assets out of the company we were persuing so the baliffs had nothing to get. B@#?$rd.

It is easy to say 'get the client to pay 50% up front' but in reality this is harder than it looks. There is so much competition in the UK they just go elsewhere.

Exactly.

[w i l l]

I will personally forget this one, take it as a lesson

For the next project I recomend:

A. Send Invoice to ...

B. Ask and Wait for PURCHASE ORDER from ...

C. Is tweaking if required within this PO agreement? (you could end up working for free).

D. I could go on and on but here is some help from the pros.

http://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/chapter12.htm good place to start from

www.patent.gov.uk

www.ipo.gov.uk

www.dacs.org.uk

www.contractshop.co.uk

There is no such think as an orignal thought 'FRANCIS BACON'

Thanks for that - i'll check out those sites.