Got a Tartan designed, i'm not too happy.......

[ThistleDown]

Bjproc, be cautious about the "ownership" issue. In this thread you are hearing from folk who speak from several design/legal jurisdictions, but none thus far from Scotland. In some of those jurisdictions the mere purchase of a design transfers ownership to the purchaser, in others the artist retains the copyright unless that copyright is specifically transferred in the sale/purchase agreement. In Scotland you may be required to pay even more than the weaving price to have ownership of the design the weaver has created for you.

If you agreed to pay the designer for design work you may be stuck with the bill to date. If, however, your agreement was to develop a design that was acceptable to you --and for the designer/weaver to weave the result, for which you would pay -- you can probably walk away in advance of the weaving order being placed simply because you didn't like the design.

You may not, however, use the work they have done and take that to another designer or weaver.

Let us know how you make out.

[bjproc]

just back, spoke more in-depth about it and there getting redrawn.

as for the copyright, the design is acredited to the company, but anybody will be able to get the tartan woven

[RockyR]

GREAT! Glad to hear things have worked out for you. Keep us updated!

[bjproc]

update


i've got another 6 designs sent to me, and the first one is what i'll be going with, i'll ask if the can send me a pic with the yellow changed to red.


so all's well again

[Nick Fiddes]

Bjproc, be cautious about the "ownership" issue. In this thread you are hearing from folk who speak from several design/legal jurisdictions, but none thus far from Scotland.

In Scotland (and also England, I believe) copyright legally resides with the designer, unless agreed in writing otherwise. In practice most tartan designers have been content to allow 'amateur' users free rein in having their fabrics produced, whilst corporates are generally careful to get these details sewed up in their favour. But there have been a few cases recently of people who thought they owned a tartan design, after commissioning it, being told by the company who designed it for them that they had no such rights. So I'd reiterate the advice above - make sure you know and accept the terms before commissioning any design.

This is an issue I've been wrestling with myself recently, with regard to the soon-to-be-launched DIY tartan design facility mentioned above. It's quite tricky to find the right balance between balancing our own legitimate interests with those of the designer, and those of the end-user - which may or may not be the same. (Plus I am personally strongly not in favour of anyone recording a surname tartan and then saying only their approved friends can wear it... for me, tartan should be inclusive of communities, not exclusive.) With the help of some very helpful ideas from Rex, my current thinking is to impose a Creative Commons copyright license on anyone publicly sharing tartans in our system, unless by specific agreement, with a fair royalty going back to them via our Scotweb Points system if anyone else asks us to weave 'their' tartan. I don't want to hijack this thread, but if anyone has further thoughts on this I'd be happy for them to PM me.