The simple reality is that clients who are given source files as a “bonus” can and, often times, will take your source files to another less expensive vendor to complete the work.  It isn’t as though clients have limited options.  You have done all the groundwork and “created” the process for someone else to finish more cheaply.

The result of your generosity is that it allows a less capable designer to take on a new project without having to do ANY of the conceptual work or product development.  Then, in addition to getting to bill the client for work they didn’t create, they also get to learn how to do the work from your source files.

I just lost my first potential client who disagreed with my contract and refused to see it any other way. My standard design/development contract is a combination of boilerplate from both AIGA and GAG contract templates, but the gist is the same nonetheless. To wit: the artist (me) owns the copyrights to any artwork/source files created, and usage is licensed to the client. Standard stuff in our industry. She accused me of making up my own standards and, despite lengthy explanations of the text, refused to see that, in essence, it was the same as buying a copy of Microsoft Word. You buy the license to use the software, but Microsoft ultimately owns it and you agree to abide by various restrictions with its usage.

What’s interesting is while her lawyer told her that these were not “industry standards,” my own lawyer and the two lawyer clients I’ve landed in the last several months had no issues whatsoever with the contract.

Ultimately, I’m glad that she decided to take her business elsewhere.

We’ve lost our fair share of contracts, big and small, over similar issues. We include specific copyright and licensing terms in all of our standard contracts (boilerplate from the AIGA and GAG).  Our approach is simple ... if a potential client has issues with copyright ownership / licensing and balks at terms that are, in fact, industry standard, we do one of two things.  (1) If we choose to pursue the lead, we revise our estimates to account for “purchase” of the source materials. Or, (2) we politely thank the client for considering our services and walk away feeling confident we did all we could to “win” the business and breathe a huge sigh of relief.

This kind of client is simply not worth the pain they invariably inflict through their lack of respect for you and your expertise.  You made the right decision.

Right, I mean, I know I’m not the first, it’s just odd that for as long as I’ve been using that contract, I’ve *never* had anyone balk about those clauses before.

I did inform the client that I would even be willing to sign those over to her after the site was completed but she was too upset by the clause being in the contract at all to agree to that.

So yeah, I’m perfectly happy that she decided to look elsewhere.