Discussion:
What is the name of your state? Oregon
Hello,
I have a question concerning my artwork that was used for a book cover.
I was commissioned by the author for the jacket design and layout.
The crux of the matter is that my 'design by' cover credits were not included anywhere on the published book.
After many repeated email attempts of the author trying to contact the publisher about making this correction and adding the proper credits, they have failed to respond in communication in any way and the credits are still missing as the book continues to be sold.
I would like to know effect communication information that I can use in order to get their attention. As a art/jacket designer what rights do I have in this?
Is the publisher infringing on my copyright material by not including the jacket design credits? Is there anything I can do?
Any guidance would be most appreciated.
Thank you kindly in advance.
Gmays
Answer:
What is the name of your state? Oregon
Hello,
I have a question concerning my artwork that was used for a book cover.
I was commissioned by the author for the jacket design and layout.
The crux of the matter is that my 'design by' cover credits were not included anywhere on the published book.
After many repeated email attempts of the author trying to contact the publisher about making this correction and adding the proper credits, they have failed to respond in communication in any way and the credits are still missing as the book continues to be sold.
I would like to know effect communication information that I can use in order to get their attention. As a art/jacket designer what rights do I have in this?
Is the publisher infringing on my copyright material by not including the jacket design credits? Is there anything I can do?
Any guidance would be most appreciated.
Thank you kindly in advance.
Gmays Did you have a contract with the publisher? Was credits part of the contract?
There is no general right to attribution in U.S. copyright law -- in other words, they are not legally required to give you credit. If you have a contract in place, they may be contractually required to do so, but there is no law that requires them to do so. If you don't have a contract that provides for credits, and they are otherwise using your artwork lawfully (they purchased a license, or the copyright, or whatever), then there isn't anything you can do legally to compel them to include the credits.
Of course, even absent a contract, it would be a nice thing to do to add the credits, but they are not legally obligated to do so.