a Digital printer in India wants to steal my art- PLEASE HELP

Hi guys, I am digitally printing my original art scarves in India. The printer has made a batch of scarves that did not print well and I rejected them. Now he threatens to sell my art scarves without my permission. What can I do in this situation? I am afraid he will not only sell these scarves, but also will keep printing my art scarves to sell in the future. Please help! Thanks in advance. Roza

 

1- WHY is he threatening to sell them off without your permission, usually this happens when a client refuses to pay for something, or there is a payment dispute.

i am assuming you refused to pay for the rejected ones ( cost price)
in that case , believe me or not, but he is to a certain extent justified in selling the REJECTED by client product to recover his cost price. you have to do it, if you are working at profit margins calculated in cents.

also you may wish to edit the title to the thread digital printer in india, a digital printer is better, no need to bring a full country of 1.25 billion people on your personal financial dispute between two people.

there is ALWAYS two sides to the coin, no printer will make a stupid mistake of doing this type of work. for cents in profit.

 

I specified the country just because I am in Australia and wondering if I have any international rights regarding copyright law, has nothing to do with a country.
The scarves I rejected are in a really bad condition, why would I have to pay for something of unacceptable quality.
Believe it or not, the profit margins are not calculated in cents either, digital printing is Very costly.

in Any case, question is - what do I do if he prints my designs and sells them, regardless of the print quality? How do I prevent my designs being copied and sold without my permission?

 

is it really worth it?

if you think its worth fighting it out in court, then do one thing.

send them a LEGAL notice telling them that you think they will sell your design, and telling them you will sue them in court for it.

add a caveat that they will have to come to AUSTRALIA to face the court cases, because there are relevant treaties between the two.

usually people will let it go.

also, even if it was a bad quality, i am not saying pay him the full price, pay at least the cost price of the material. as per my understanding, if you REJECT a product/ and don't pay the cost price, provider owns that rejected material, he cannot create more, but he has the right to recover his cost.
you may wish to discuss this with your lawyer for this.

 

Its worth it for me. I am willing to pay for the low-quality print, that is not the issue.
I just want to know what steps do I take to prevent my art being stolen/used/sold overseas. And what do I do if it does happen?
what does Legal notice look like? just a piece of paper with justice of the peace stamp on it?

 

I forgot to mention that the printing job is always pre-paid, which means I already paid for the scarves that are unacceptable.

 

http://australia.findforms.com/sing.../Australian_Copyright_Cease_and_Desist_Letter

if its prepaid, then why is he telling you he will sell it, the way you are telling us, makes no sense, he got the money, why would he need to say he will sell it ?

tell us this part of conversation

" i will sell these designs of yours unless ___________________ "

if you are willing to pay for the low quality print so that the service provider does not incur a loss, then i dont' see a reason why would he threaten to sell?

just remember one thing, once you start the legal road, there is no turning back.
and btw, dont' worry about digital art being sold overseas, usually these are just bluffs, as it will cost him more to find customers than the profit, we see it here all the time ( i am from india too)

Regards

 

Thanks for your advice and the form!

 

No, he will sell them because I rejected them. I forgot to say in the beginning that it has been paid for.

 

A legal notice is usually sent by a lawyer.. It is not a court order.

It is merely an opinion of a lawyer and has no real significance in the eyes of the law. If the receiver chooses not to respond to the notice, he can do so.

A lawyer (in India) will charge you roughly USD 70-100 for sending a legal notice.

 

Ok, thanks!

 

A lot of countries don't have very strict copyright laws. You go to markets and almost every booth has fake name brand- sunglasses, DVDs, games, toys, clothing, ...., the products you just had printed. It's just the ways things are, if you want copyright protection you should stay and work in places that have it.