Copyright infringement - How to cope with the rise of internet plagiarism.
When it comes to corporate identity and logo design, copyright
infringement has become an increasingly prevalent issue. As more and
more small businesses find they need a logo to stay competitive, the
demand has created a plethora of logo design firms that offer a variety
of services from stock clipart images to custom design services.
However, because of the competitive nature of graphics design and the
ease in which people have access to information, it has become
difficult to ensure that a design remains the property of the
respectful owner, and does not become duplicated by someone else. The
ease in which an image or logo can be taken from the web and retraced
is surprising, and there are even some that fail to realize that online
content isn’t simply ‘public’ domain. Therefore you should always be
careful to properly document and trademark your logo design, articles
and content. Failure to do so may wind up costing you down the road.
Some graphics design firms have even gone so far as to take images from
other companies’ portfolios, and claim them as their own. Not a smart
move! It’s surprising the number of designers that surf the web and are
able to catch duplicate logos with ease. The repercussions on such a
practice can be devastating for a company.
When you’re having a logo created, be sure to properly research the
design company before signing on. If their prices are too good to
believe, chances are they will be cutting corners elsewhere, often in
the creativity department. Once you decide on a company to go with, try
to ensure that you give them as much information as possible about your
company. Try to identify your industry and competition as best as
possible. This way, you will be helping the artists to come up with an
original logo design that you can be confident in claiming as your own.
In addition to graphics and logo design infringement, text/content
theft has become another problem to recently plague the internet.
Thankfully, there is an interesting tool that allows you to easily see
who’s been copying your web sites. The tool can be found at
Copyscape.com. Type in the web page address that poses a concern, and
Copyscape will immediately give you the top ten results of pages with
duplicate content. The results can be surprising.
