Here's a puzzler for the garden designers.
On our blog we sometimes post case studies of a completed design project, where we go in-depth through a project from the initial brief and site visit, right through to the completed garden. We include photos of the entire build process, and sometimes include the initial sketches, layout plans and planting plans.
We don't do this for all completed projects, but the reason we do some is to give our potential customers an insight into the full process, so they will know what to expect from us if they hire us. Given that each project is different, with a unique plot and specific customer brief, I never thought anyone would want to take the designs shown and use them for themselves.
But it seems like this is exactly what has happened. We received a comment on one of the case study pages from a guy in Australia saying something along the lines of "great design, we're building it here, thanks!"
Now a part of me thinks "you cheeky bastard", and a part of me is actually quite flattered. But the business part of is now thinking I should write to them and tell them the designs are all copyrighted to us, as indicated on the website, and that they should not be using them without paying a fee. However, as they are in Australia I'm guessing I'd be wasting my time.
One thing I'll be veering away from in future is putting any plans on the website, which is a shame. I know many other designers post similar case studies on their sites - would something like this put you off if it happened to you?
What do you think?
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As my designs (and yours?) are all site specific and related to the architecture of the property, I find it difficult to believe that exactly the same garden plots/buildings exist 12,000 miles apart and therefore this person must have done an awful amount of 'tweaking' to match your design to their plot.
At the end of the day we are hardly reinventing 'the wheel' and therefore I don't think we should get hung up on copyright issues. When we look at our finished designs/projects we would probably all agree that similar things have been done before and we have sub-consciously plagiarised someone else's design along the way.
As long as I've been paid for the design work by somebody then i'm not bothered about who else uses the design and let the drawings/images do the marketing for me. There's no point having these drawings/files clogging/sitting unseen on my hard-drive, I might as well let them earn money in a different way.
I would look at the advantages arisen by your situation instead. You can now say that you have designed a garden in Australia! Get the person who 'stole' your design to email you pictures of the completed garden and you describe what happened on a blog. Being in Australia, their garden is bound to be rammed with exotic, 'LUSH' planting that would look great on your website etc.!
Could you not ask for photos from the finished design and use this to your potential on the website.
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I have designed and made things, as I have not charged for the design then as far as I am concerned ownership of that design is mine. I have an enquiry ongoing at the moment where the garden designer wants to use a design of mine for an arch for various other arches within the garden. If I get the job then it is not a problem, if someone else does the steelwork ideally I would like a fee for my original design work.
Ok, so this is an extreme case, but it is virtually impossible not to be influenced by other people's work, whether it's a hard landscaping feature or a particular combination of plants which work well together.
As can be witnessed on this site, sometimes if you have a technical problem to surmount the answer can be found through a peer's work - would this also be classed as plagiarism?
In the past I've given basic plans to clients only to see them implemented by another (invariably cheaper) landscaper or even the client themselves. It hurts seeing your time and effort "stolen" (and usually adulterated) but it's a rare occurence and unless it affects my business, something I am willing to tolerate
I found David's comment interesting when he stated that we shouldn't get too hung up on issues of copyright. I work in graphic design and have seen a wide range of attitudes to copyright through my career. I once worked as an in-house graphic designer in a part of the fashion industry where copyright theft amongst the product design team was practically the norm. All the companies in that part of the industry were ripping off each others designs, and the overseas manufacturers of the garments were just as bad, if not worse.
Now I work in advertising where copyright is a big issue - photographic and model image rights are policed vigorously and being seen to violate copyright is very poor indeed.
So I can't agree that we shouldn't get hung up on copyright issues. As creatives, the right to protect our intellectual property, ie our design work, is enshrined in law. If, as a designer, you are indifferent when someone takes your design and uses it without permission, then I don't think you are placing enough value on your own skills.
On a consultation I'll never explain what could happen in a prospects garden unless they are paying for a design and clarity..... harsh this may sound........I've driven past two projects todate that were created by me many years ago.....back then, sometimes I'd issue a drawing for free in order to win the project.....didn't win the project and the clever prospect has a fist full of drawings for free............it's a good job I learn by my mistakes quickly
I now listen with few words, unless I'm paid to think......