how would you satisfy this client? he wants an intro

[argonauta]

Ok, a client asks me to make a little presentation cd for tuesday. They basically needed an intro for the cd. So for giving them ideas i was browsing some cool sites with cool intros until we reached:

http://www.wmteam.de

and they loved the intro.

They said: "we want that, just change the words and that's all, but we one an intro just like that one"....so i was like you know, you can't just copy somebody elses work.

Now, I guess I can follow the same idea: little men with helmets, bring a truck, put some words in, make a logo out of the words. The animation would be quite easy, and i got enough drawing skill to draw little guys and trucks with a completelly different style than the ones of that website. Colors will be different, etc.

So, would you say this is valid? can I do that? are there copyrights for ideas? or i can follow the theme, with a different style and approach?

What i'd be doing is a rip off, or a new work with its own identity, influenced by someone elses work?

[Orkar]

Ummm

Just like it with different words is an obvious rip off. Nuff said.

A construction interface that you design would do if it's sufficiently different. Change some key elements, add something new or different. Make the construction guys worker ants or lobotomized monkeys or whatever. In other words be mostly original. DO NOT copy all of their colour scheme.

As they won an award for their work they will sue if they catch you ripping them off.

Good luck and go get creative.

[argonauta]

yeah, by no means i want to rip it off. I didn't even want to make that intro, i had other ideas, but you know clients, this and this and this i want! it've been talking to them to actually convince them to make it a LOT different. They say they want little workers, words and a machine. Now at least that gives me more freedom, they don't need a truck, it can be a machine, and the little guys could come carrying the words themselvs, i dunno, and well, the color schemes i'll use is mostly blue and gray.

I want a keep the style of their site (that i'm building), so i guess it'll be different. This is where people are reviewing the site:
http://www.flashkit.com/board/showth...hreadid=485601

[hurricaneone]

It'd be easy to make something like that, but not recognizable as a copy.

It'd almost be fun.

And I think that you'd have to be pretty close to the original to be treading on anyone's toes. It is not difficult to stay behind the line marked 'inspiration', without venturing over into the area denoted as 'rip'.

[RUSHVision]

Use it as a basis, but make it significantly different and you should be fine. One of your jobs as a designer however, is to educate your clients in the matters of copyright law. It will not only reflect poorly on you as the designer who created the copy, but poorly on them as well. If it's too close, you might even end up dealing with legal issues. I'm sure your client would rather avoid that, as would you.

[hurricaneone]

Originally posted by RUSHVision
Use it as a basis, but make it significantly different and you should be fine. One of your jobs as a designer however, is to educate your clients in the matters of copyright law. It will not only reflect poorly on you as the designer who created the copy, but poorly on them as well. If it's too close, you might even end up dealing with legal issues. I'm sure your client would rather avoid that, as would you.

I don't buy that at all. That makes it sound like the guy has signed and sealed the right to use construction workers and vehicles etc in Flash animations, and if you have the affrontory to do the same, then you'll be hearing from his lawyers.

No way - to copy it too closely would be simply unoriginal, even more closely, then that would be an infringement, but thinking that you'll get sued for simply using the idea of construction workers etc in your animation is just a bit over the top.

Hey, I use two cranes in my 'under construction' page. Should I be expecting a letter telling me to cease and desist?

To sum up, you could put it this way. A lack of originality does not necessarily equate to an infringement on design.

[argonauta]

well, i also agree.

You can make a cartoon of pinoccio, and Disnay wouldn't sue you cause that character wasn't created by them, but it's a traditional italian story. Although you could get sued if you copy Disney's Pinoccio character, that's another story.

The same way here, i could create an animation following the same guidelines: workers coming putting words in a track, at the end logo appears, adding some elements, changing colors etc.

I think i read that a photo, or artwork is not copyrighted if you make enough modiffications so that it now can be consider a new original piece. Andy Warhol specialized in that. One of the famous cases is his "Marilyn" photo. Now that's a very subjective matter, cause using photoshop, u add a couple of filters, add layers and change blending mode, and there, you got an "original photo". The same could occur with animation, right?

However, it's the purpose and principles that come into the game here. Why u "copy"/modify someone else's artwork? just cause you have no talent, no originality, or cause you want to use it to really create something different (like stealing a tree and making a wooden chair out of it).

In my case, the client wanted the SAME idea, now not necessary the same characters, anyways, they've changed their mind now, so i don't have the initial worries of ripping off this piece.

I also agree, that a designer, you can get labeled as unoriginal, or as a thief, even if your intentions were clear and not criminal (with the purpose of stealing/copying someone else's work).

Now that i remember, Salvador Dali, one of the best surrealist painters in the world, he used to use a painting of i don't know who, called "The Angelus". Sometimes he did modified versions of it, completelly original, but maintaining the same colors, characters, positions, composition. Sometimes he include that painting exactly as the original, but as part of a bigger painting. I don't think he violated copyrights.

However, it's always better to prevent, so i try t remain always original. Of course you get influenced by a lot of things, you sometimes tend to unconsciously copy styles or works from someone else (it happens to me, i compose the best guitar piece, and then i realize it isn't mine, but my mind was dictating me the music i heard days ago from someone else, but i do it unconsciously)


Anyways, back to the original question, i don't have to worry about it, cause the client dropped that idea, we are going to do some "abstract" intro, but they haven't approved the contract yet, so i dunno if i'll be doing something

[Black_Prince]

hi ....
.. dont i jess hate the clients who do that .. a few days ago a client came to us and asked for a site just Nike's .. can u imagine that !! ..

.. Copy Right: who ever copies first is right ...... lol ...

.. yes dear it happens all the time .. the animation u showed them is realy very awsome .. low sized and explainatory in a short duration ..

.. i would suggest that u come up with ur stuff keeping this scenario in u'r mind .. change the figures and colors .. doesn't matter .. it happens all the time in the markets .. face it .. our clients are dumb .. we live in a stero typical world ..