Discussion:
What is the name of your state? CA
My mother received a letter from a sign company requesting that she pays them $2000 in ten days for the original idea, design costs and al other monetary losses and violation that apply under the California Business Profession code. The owner of the sign company claims that the sign that was intalled was exactly what they had designed for us. But what happened is that they did design something similar but we decided not to contract them because the price was too high ($6500), another company did the sign with basicly the same ideas and charged us ($3000). What should we do to resolve this matter?
Answer:
What is the name of your state? CA
My mother received a letter from a sign company requesting that she pays them $2000 in ten days for the original idea, design costs and al other monetary losses and violation that apply under the California Business Profession code. The owner of the sign company claims that the sign that was intalled was exactly what they had designed for us. But what happened is that they did design something similar but we decided not to contract them because the price was too high ($6500), another company did the sign with basicly the same ideas and charged us ($3000). What should we do to resolve this matter? If you provided the first sign company with everything they needed to make the sign, and they provided no creative input whatsoever, then do nothing. If they sue you, be prepared to prove that they provided no creative input, and therefore have no copyright interest in the final design of the sign.
If, however, the first company did provide creative input, and then you took the first company's design to a second company to have them manufacture it, then the first company probably does have some copyright rights to the design, and you'll probably have to engage them in negotiations to settle this matter.
If your case falls somewhere in the middle, well, then you'll probably want to talk to a local attorney, who can review all of the relevant facts and advise you accordingly.