Re: Trademark issue
Comin'OutSwingin said:
Real, I think you are missing the point. It doesn't matter if you can prove that you created a particular design first if you haven't registered the copyright or obtained a registered trademark. That is your only protection.
Yes and no.
Yes, it's your only protection to get full remuneration.
No, it's not your only legal protection to stop people stealing your work.
It's also better to register your work in case the other designer is claiming independent creation, but it is sometimes possible to prove they copied your image.
Comin'OutSwingin said:
Copyrighting can be done, but even if you obtain a copyright, it only protects your exact image. Someone can change it enough to be "their" image.
Again, yes and no.
I think on this and some other threads you've been giving the impression that a few tweaks here and there and someone will be safe - I'd say that's very much not the case. They
may get away with it with sufficiently expensive lawyers (justice being an ever fickle dame), but Copyright law would indicate that shouldn't be the case.
Copyright won't protect an idea or a concept, but it will protect more than just an exact image.
Comin'OutSwingin said:
Also, anyone can create a psd file from a flat image(jpg, gif, bmp). [snip] Having a psd file isn't really proving anything.
Just because you have psd files of your images doesn't prove that you created them either. [snip] And you could have come along and copied my image, separated all the colors into layers and saved it as a psd.
real didn't say that merely having a .psd was proof.
They said that having a multi-layered .psd that contains information not seen in the final image, that indicates how the image was built up layer upon layer to achieve a final result, and has the full reference material used to create the image, would provide evidence that you created the image yourself and didn't just copy a flat file.
While it's not "all you really need as evidence" (you could create all that from scratch once you found out a court case depended on it), it is a useful piece of evidence.
That's not just a matter of some simple colour separations anyone could make after the fact, that's knowing where every little element came from, and having overlapping segments showing where data is present but not seen in the final form.
Particularly when it comes to one of the popular fashion trends of layered design (i.e. a series of chaotic elements laid one on top of the other) this could be useful.
Yes concept sketches and the like can be made after the fact, but if your legal opponent doesn't bother to create fake evidence, and you have your real work-in-progress drafts, it should at least
help in a court of law.