2. The Questions:

1. If I lose inspiration and go online to help me and I end up using more of a design than I intended, but changed it enough to make it my own can get in trouble for plagiarism?

“You will have to totally make it your own concept and design to be in the clear, even though it is on the web does not mean that it is in the public domain. That design could be copyrighted so you always have to be careful of what you use in your art work.”

2. What if it was my work being taken on the internet, what recourse do I have to claim that it is my own work?

“Protecting your intellectual property has always been a difficult thing to do, and the internet has only complicated things. I hate to say it but if you find something of yours that has been used by someone else, the best thing you can do is get mad and be flattered, because taking any legal actions against this person will probably cost you more than you will gain from the piece itself. But if you have a copyright on it, you can lose that copyright if you don’t act on someone stealing it from you.”

3. If I sign a non-disclosure agreement, can I use the skills I acquired at this job to do free lance work?

“Technically no, but you can always find a way around it. If you can use a trade secret that only that company knows about, then it is going to be a little difficult to hide. But if you use the skills you have already and entwine them with a little bit of theirs but still making it your own. Then you are not in violation on the disclosure agreement.”

4. If I sign a non-compete clause, how do I go about revising that so the company and I can be comfortable with the signed contract?

“That decision has to be made by you. What you could do is, before you sign it, carefully read it, possibly bring it to me and we will look over it together so you know exactly what you are signing. Most people don’t know what they are actually signing, and then they get laid off and can’t work for a year. You can always figure out a way to change it in some way to benefit you.”

5. If I come up with a design on my own, nothing for work, can I copyright it to call it my own, or do I have to tell my company about it because I work for them? Who owns it?

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6. If I break a copyright law, can I go to jail?

“It depends on how far it has gone, in the first act you have not committed a crime, and you have committed a tort. If the person who has the copyright takes you to court and you still are violating him copyright then you have committed a crime and can pay a hefty fine and maybe jail time.”

7. How much money do you charge to read a contract and give me advise or interpreted it for me?

“I charge by the hour at two hundred and thirty dollars.”


8. If I have a series of designs, is it better to copyright each one individually or should I copyright the whole series?

“You can copyright the series under one title and still have complete control of your work. Someone can ask you to license out only one or two pieces from that series and they will not have access to the other works in that series. At that point you should contact a lawyer to seek help, so you don’t get screwed out of money waiting for you.”

9. If my company gave me specific guidelines to make an advertisement and those guidelines infringe on someone else’s property can I get into trouble?

“The party that claims to a mark may file a lawsuit against another user of the same or similar mar to prevent further use of the mark and collect money damage for the wrongful use.” (P, C, &T pg. 419)