Can I Copyright My Map Design?

Article by Christina Wilkinson, SabreDesign.com

SHOWN ABOVE: Custom illustration map designed for area hospital
brochure in Las Vegas NV © Sabre Design

We just got a phone call from another designer today asking about their rights on a project that they created. A client is trying to copyright a map project that this designer created from scratch (with the changes that the client requested).

Here's how it works: U.S. Copyright law states that the creator of a work owns the exclusive rights to that work from the moment it is put into some tangible form. As stated, copyright means the “right to copy” or reproduce an original design or creation for your own use and/or profit. The fact that a client pays for the work does not automatically assign the client full ownership of said work. So in plain english it means, if you are not working as an employee but as an independent contractor, anything you create (logos, websites, artwork, t-shirt design, brochure design, map design, etc.) belongs to 'you' the original designer or creator unless specified otherwise.

Now you as the designer have to pick and choose your battles. There are many of our clients who want native files and we gladly provide them. There are also times where we give all rights for use of original work to a client but we keep the derivative rights afforded us as designers by U.S. law.

A good example of how we have given our designer rights away recently was where we worked closely with the local Amgen Tour of California marketing committee. We illustrated a custom piece of cycling artwork and we happily and up front signed rights (except derivative) away to the client. This allows them to profit from our work. You're probably asking why we would do such a thing. Well we did this as goodwill in support of the community we live in. This could be called 'pro bono' work as well. Our company occasionally hand selects events and projects of interest for nonprofits that promote goodwill. Regardless of what you read online, it is okay to do pro bono work from time to time. We recommend that all designers do it periodically but be sure your heart is in the project you've chosen to donate your talents to.

Now back to that map: In order for any map to be able to be copyrighted, it must contain a good amount of variations on it creatively as well as improvements to any prior maps to be able to qualify for copyright protection. The map we're discussing is creatively different and it is almost exactly the same map this designer uses for several clients; also there is a copyright statement at the bottom of the map attributed to the designer. Now there are several photos provided by the client on the map and the designer maintains no legal copyrights to them, just the overall map design.

So the verdict is that the designer owns the copyright to the map design and the client cannot file legally to own copyrights to it.

Meanwhile, here are some great copyright scenarios to read about: Who Owns the Copyright?

NOTE: This article may be reprinted with permissions with byline and artwork included.

Verizon, New Egg and I didn't Order a Pizza?! Emails

by Christina Wilkinson of SabreDesign.com

First of all, the IRS does not make contact with anyone through email. So if you get an email that looks official, the good news is that it's a scam, here's a link to their website to find out how to report it: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=155682,00.html

Now that I've taken care of the scariest of email phishing scams, on to the others.

Lately I've been getting tons of phishing emails. And I admit, it's my own fault. I don't use those contrived opt-in email engines so that you're able to email me and I don't have my email server to automatically set up to delete emails that it thinks are spam. So there I am on a Monday morning, sorting through about 100+ emails; spam and everything. I do this not because I'm OCD, but because my clients are important and I want to make sure there's no reason for me to not receive email from my own clients. It's a pretty simple system for me and I prefer it that way.

Well I got this email from NewEgg.com on April 9, 2012 (click on photo to enlarge).

The malicious link is circled in RED above to show
that if the link is clicked, NewEgg is not the recipient.

At first glance, it looks pretty legitimate except that I have never ordered from this company. My first thought was to get upset at NewEgg, but they're not really the culprit here. If you use your mouse to hover over the links that the email provides, hocus pocus! You see a totally different website for your response if you were to click on it. DO NOT CLICK on these links! For that matter, don't ever click on any suspicious links.

Instead, I went to NewEgg's website and I went to their 'Contact' menu. I took a screen capture of of this email and sent it to them (including the bogus link). Then I went to GoDaddy.com and I did a look up for the main URL/Domain name. It was there that I found out who owns that specific website and who the host is. When I went to the normal part of the website (the main URL only, not the extension), it's a photography website. Seems innocent enough. But does the owner of that website know that this phishing email was sent out and uses their website? Maybe the owner did it himself? I have no idea. So I contacted the owner's host directly and reported the malicious link.

Wouldn't you know that less than a day later, the host emailed me back letting me know that they've removed the phishing link and warned the owner.

Now today I just got the email (shown below) from Verizon. At one time I did have a Verizon account, but it's been since early 2000. So I knew right away that this wasn't legitimate.

The *.com.ec extension shows that if you click on the link
you won't be on Verizon's website.

When I hovered over the link, it showed a *.com.ec extension which means it's from Ecuador. After a little more research, it shows that it's a construction company website.

I haven't gone as far as reporting it to the host yet, but I will be doing that just as I did for the other phishing email.

Another phishing scam is a pizza delivery email. It says that your pizza is ordered, the amount (in some cases shows an official receipt) and proceeds to say that if you didn't order the pizza to click 'CANCEL'. This is a trick to get you to click on the cancel link. Don't do it.

If you've already clicked on an email link, the damages that arise from phishing like this include the possibility of you not being able to access your own email to the loss of personal information which may lead to financial loss. So if you feel you've been phished, contact your bank right away to change account #s, change your email passwords, social media passwords and any other passwords you can think of.

Here are some tips to protect yourself from emails like this:

1. Never click on any link in a questionable or suspicious email.
2. Never click on any attachment in a questionable or suspicious email.
3. Take a screen capture of the email if you plan to report it or delete it.
4. Warn your family and friends about it.
5. Do not forward these emails. It only makes a phishing email look legitimate.

Additional types of phishing emails are disguised to look like they come from banks, Facebook invitations or any other social media invitation, your own business URL and sometimes a family member. If you'd like to know more about different types of phishing scams, read this article. 

NOTE: This article may be published on or offline with all credits attached.

Websites Explained for Clients

BY CHRISTINA WILKINSON

http://www.sabredesign.com

As a client, are you confused by all the different aspects of getting a website done for your company such as Design? Programming? Hosting? Registering Domains? Well hopefully this article helps to make your life a lot easier.

First of all some basic facts all clients should know:

1. Not all graphic designers can design websites. This is because there are programming and coding elements that a designer has to know before just throwing out a design. Otherwise the design won’t work in conjunction with the programming.

2. Not all programmers are great website designers. Normally they’ll favor programming and not marketing aesthetics. So it’s best to leave design to someone who has studied design. But you never know, you might find someone who is great at both.

3. Clients do not know enough about building a website to know if what they’re paying is too much. So when you pay for a custom website build and your friend just paid a 1/4 of the cost for a non-custom website, remember that yours IS custom. Sometimes people pay less because their website might be a template or it’s part of a co-op package such as those for realtors. If a design firm is building the same style website for thousands of the same kind of business, of course they cost less. It’s apples vs. oranges. So make up your mind early-on whether or not you want a custom or template-based website.

4. Not all websites are created equal. If you’re not a big corporation or a celebrity, paying under $5000 for a website is definitely doable. With that budget, you should be able to get a Content Management System (CMS), a shopping cart, photo gallery and lots of other great website functionality.

Sometimes website designers quote based on the size of your company and sometimes they don’t care how small  your company is. Keeping this in mind, shop around and ask about other websites that have been done in the price range you’ve been quoted. You may just find another designer who is just as good for 1/2 the cost. 

5. What is a CMS? A CMS allows you, the client, the ability to make changes to your own website using a back-end administrator without having to know how to programming. Just know that while you won’t need to know how to program, finding your way around the internet and an FTP or photo hosting website is certainly a must. CMS’s can be built with Joomla, Drupal and other types of programming.

6. How do I pay? When you hire someone to build a website for you, you should expect to pay a deposit before starting, but never 100% of the cost. Anywhere from 25% and up is standard. And make sure you make those payments. Some designers and their programmers may hold your website hostage and then you’ll never see your website completed on time. 

7. Don’t expect.... the company or individual creating your website to obtain your domain name and make sure your email works properly. If this isn’t in the contract, it’s not happening. And if it’s a verbal agreement (which I don’t recommend to any client), the majority of companies don’t like paying for your domain name and they certainly won’t make sure the email on your computer works because that’s your responsibility. 

8. Clients need to communicate as much as the designer/programmer does. When you don’t get back to the designer who is doing your website, or you’ve made change upon change, your website WILL take longer to create. 

9. I need just one little change. After you’ve signed off on your main website design, NO, it is not okay to keep moving little things around after a website is in programming stages. Just because it seems simple to you or like something that should be able to be done, those little things may cost you more money. Now if you’re willing to pay the cost, then go right ahead and make the changes. But if you’re not willing to pay or it’s not in your budget, changing just one thing, that looks little to you, may mess up an entire string of programming or code which in turn causes another delay of getting your website completed. 

When a house is being built, you can’t just ask the architect to suddenly change things after the rooms are already being physically constructed on a piece of property. So think of your website as a home that is being built. 

It’s this simple:

a. Review the architecture of your website (flow of your website)

b. Review the design(s) that are presented 

c. Ask questions 

d. Make changes before signing off on a design and the architecture

e. Let the programmer do their portion of the website build. 

d. Your website is done! 

Domains, hosts and registrars:

Who is your host and domain registrar and what do they do?

Here’s the easiest way to remember what both of these entities do.

We’ll use a “Recreational Vehicle” (RV) as an example:

First of all, when you purchase an RV you need to register it. Well domain names are kind of the same as an RV except when you purchase the domain name, you purchase it from the registrar. Some popular registrars are GoDaddy and Register.com.

So now you own an RV or in this case, a domain name and you need a location to park your RV. You’ve decided to park your RV in one of thousands of RV parks and it’s name is GoDaddy.com. Well, your ‘host’ just happens to be an RV park. So when you find a host at a reasonable price to ‘park’ your domain name, that’s where it stays parked or hosted until you decide to move it elsewhere. 

Now back to the registrar; you’ll need to pay a registration fee annually just like you do for a vehicle. Sometimes you can register for multiple years or choose a schedule to reregister with your registrar.

I’ll make you #1 in Search Engines!

Do not believe someone who says they can guarantee you’ll be #1 in the search engines.

Sure it’s possible to do with a lot of work and software that puts you on top, and your website may only appear that way on your own computer. But don’t expect to be #1 on everyone’s computer. And if you’re paying someone to put you on top in search engines, there are companies just like the company you’re using who is promising companies, just like yours, that they’ll be #1 too. Did that even makes sense? So you see, it can’t be both ways because there are too many variables. 

Do the research and search engine optimization becomes (SEO) much easier to do on your own. 

Website Options:

As websites are progressing more and more each year, there will come a time that costs are going to stabilize. But don't expect to get a website like Amazon.com for $500 because it won't happen. 

Some alternatives that people are also using are template-based websites through GoDaddy.com. The pros is that it's affordable and you have the control. The cons are that you have to know how to market your own business through a template that thousands of other businesses just like you are probably using, so there's no way to make you stand out from the others. Also if you forget to pay your bill, your website with all your hard work comes down too. 

These are just some of the important things to think about when you decide you'd like a new website. 

Are you really a Graphic Designer?

So you're a graphic designer, or you think you are, or you know someone who thinks they are. This is an official guide to understanding how being a graphic designer works.






























Guide to Understanding Graphic Design
(Download large size PDF)

ITSA Film Festival!

by Christina Wilkinson

We've been feverishly working on the 2011 2nd Annual ITSA Film Festival in Groveland and Sonora, California. Out of all of the events and festivals we've organized and marketed throughout the past 25 years, this is by far the most fun.

The Festival is accepting short films, animations and music videos through www.Withoutabox.com, and it takes place over a period of 2 days this year. We have secured 3 great venues for the gala, screening films and several workshops to include an historic hall, a community hall and a beautiful outdoor venue.

The ITSA Film Festival opens at the Historic Opera Hall in Sonora, California on September 30, 2011. Sabre Design launched an extensive website about a month ago. We're designing custom passes and lanyards for our Filmmakers, VIPs and Press. The poster and postcard designs are done and just about ready to send off to the printer.

Sponsors and more sponsors! We're working with some amazing sponsors too!

The Hotel Charlotte in Groveland is the exclusive hotel for the Festival portion in Groveland, Industry sponsors include Disenchanted Productions and Facing West Production as well as additional sponsors Yosemite Chamber of Commerce and Connections Academy.

And to top everything off, the festival is securing some industry professionals, celebrities and we were just made an amazing proposal that we hope to officially announce by next week.

We'll keep everyone posted as we move forward with The Festival.

2011 ITSA Film Festival Poster

Design Forum

by Christina Wilkinson
www.SabreDesign.com

I've been a member of the Estetica Design Forum for probably over 4 years now. It's a great community of artists, illustrators, designers, web designers, coders, programmers, students and folks in general who just want to dabble in some of these areas.

So if you're an aspiring designer, programmer or artist and want to learn a little more or if you're already a seasoned professional in one of these fields, please join our group forum as well as these social networks linked to it.

If you do decide to join, let them know that CWilk sent you and don't forget to let me know you've joined.

http://www.estetica-design-forum.com/
http://www.graphic-design-blog.com/2011/06/graphic-design-web-design-forum.html

http://digg.com/news/technology/graphic_design_web_design_forum_2

http://twitter.com/designforum

Eat This!

by Christina Wilkinson
SabreDesign.com

Did you play with your food as a child? And I mean play. Well there's an entire world of artists who want get your appetite going. They don't use paints, they don't use pens or pencils and they don't have to pay tons of money for a canvas. They're food artists. With a knife, a piece of food or several pieces, time and a great imagination, these artists can create just about anything.

Here's a great showcase of food art that will not only make you hungry – or sick to your stomach, but should get your creative juices flowing: