Topic: Brainstorming & Copyrights

Has any of you had any experience of a scenario like this:

A client asked me to brainstorm and give them suggestions for a new project. They need a name and a logo.
We can't bill them for more than an hour or two for the brainstorming... but what if they go with my suggestions? Branding and logotypes is an expensive business. What's to stop them from simply taking my ideas and develop them themselves?

In short: have you ever been in this situation, or something similar, and how did you handle it?

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No Silicon Heaven? Preposterous! Where would all the calculators go? - Kryten

You can refuse the deal and tell them that you are unable to provide quality service in these circumstances. However you could develop what they need for price x and in time period y but this way you would accept a lot of responsibility that you may not be ready to accept.

But if you provide that kind of brainstorming service then I don't see why you would think that you own these ideas. You could ask for more time than a few hours but whoever pays you to do it also owns the product. In the future you could specify the kinds of ideas that you'll be charging more to brainstorm or develop.

IMHO

I don't have any real experience with that kind of situations.

quote:

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A client asked me to ...

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Well, you have a business to run and they want to be able to use the byproduct of your work for them without any risk of IP infrigement. Then the solution is simple : charge them.

Update:

As luck would have it our sales dept. were able to talk the client into a deal that ensures we don't go penniless if they don't like our ideas.

We produce 3 rough sketches and charge the client a standardized illustration fee for the effort.
Then they get to look them over and if they want to go forward with one of the suggestions we can charge them again for the final adjustments.

Thanks for your replies! It's always good to hear what other people think... and it sound to me like you thought their initial attitude was as hard to swallow as I thought.

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No Silicon Heaven? Preposterous! Where would all the calculators go? - Kryten