OT: Handing over original files on completion?

Hi all,

I remember reading some guidlines somewhere concerning the rights of the
client on completion of a job. Regardless of the "rules" I always thought it
was fair to hand over high-res logo files and the like. The client having paid
for their design after all. But a recent client, and a (self-confessed)
"photoshop expert" has requested the .psd files that make up the entire
graphical content of his (graphically heavy) site. I'm a little conflicted. He
paid me to create them, but he'll also likely never pay me again to make any
changes or updates. Then again, I guess he'll likely never work with me again
if I restrict his access to them. Your thoughts?

zarathustra_MX wrote:

Hi all,

I remember reading some guidlines somewhere concerning the rights of the
client on completion of a job. Regardless of the "rules" I always thought it
was fair to hand over high-res logo files and the like. The client having paid
for their design after all. But a recent client, and a (self-confessed)
"photoshop expert" has requested the .psd files that make up the entire
graphical content of his (graphically heavy) site. I'm a little conflicted. He
paid me to create them, but he'll also likely never pay me again to make any
changes or updates. Then again, I guess he'll likely never work with me again
if I restrict his access to them. Your thoughts?

1. Did he pay you to create a "site" or hi-res graphic art?
2. Did you charge a rate that is in line with the market for graphic
design?

If you think about it in realistic terms, what do you want to accomplish
here? If it is to get more money by withholding the PSD files, and if so
do you think that will actually result in more money? Is it to be able
to use the work yourself later on other projects, and if so do you have
a contract that prohibits that? Is it to secure work from this client in
the future simply because you are withholding access to the original
work, and do you think that will result in more business from this client?

I think a lot of it depends on the context in which you were hired.
Sometimes people are paying for expertise they don't have, and sometimes
they're paying for time they don't have. If you were just hired to do
something they could do just as well, but didn't have the time, they are
probably very unlikely to be your customer long if you withhold the PSD
files. However, if they do not have the skill to do the work, I would
suspect they are trying to take the work elsewhere. Either way it really
boils down to what you feel is ethical, and what you feel is pragmatic.

--
Jerry Baker

Automatic ALT text on all images
HTML and XHTML doctype switching with a mouse click
"Insert Image+" and "Insert (X)HTML Doctypes" Extensions
http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/ex...horid=21726084

Thanks for the reply. You've only reaffirmed what I was thinking anyway. The
term "withholding" really sounds terrible to me! Like I'm trying to make my
clients life more difficult, when I guess it should be the other way around!
I'll give 'em the files, act nice, and that has to make them more likely to
come back. If not on this priject, then another. Mind made up. cheers

I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice.

What does your contract say about this?

I suspect nothing, or you wouldn't be asking this.

In the absence of any language to the contrary (specifically that the
contract under which you are working is a "work for hire" contract) the
default situation in the U.S. is that you retain ownership *and*
copyright of all of the material you have created. The client has paid
*only* for the license to use your design in the web site. Apart from
that specific use, you retain all other rights and copyright. If the
client wants to use something you created for the web site in some other
context, they must obtain a license from you--for which you can charge
or not--to do so.

If you are working under a "work for hire" contract, the client owns the
license and copyright to everything you produce while under that
contract. You are effectively an employee of his/her company for the
duration of the contract.

--
James M. Shook
http://www.jshook.com