I hate to be the bearer of bad news...but...
You must weigh the cost of sueing them (which could cost quite a bit =
when you consider that on average it takes about two years to get a =
civil case into the court room) against the possible gain. If the entire =
CD were composed of your work I would say go for it. But with one image, =
the likely lost revenues and damages would be figured something like =
this:
	Your image is one of 10,000 on the CD, the revenues from the CD sales =
are (for arguements sake $100,000). When you consider that your lost =
revenue is 1/10000th of that (around $1000) and your legal fees will =
likely be 10 times that by the time you're done. This leaves you netting =
-$9000.
	However, if your image was stolen by a huge company, like say, =
Microsoft, you have the potential to collect more due to the damages =
needing to "teach them a lesson" and $1000 for stolen property hardly =
cuts the mustard. So if this company has deep pockets, or has stolen =
more than one clip-art image I would suggest writing them a letter =
stating you want credited for your work - and adding a line to your =
resume about how work you've done has been featured on this "top =
selling" CD.

Shayne Brown
Bear Claw Software Development
203-744-9111

Shayne(at)BearClawSoftware.com

-----Original Message-----
From:	Karen & Rob Pickel [SMTP:pegleg(at)rapidnet.com]
Sent:	Tuesday, June 13, 2000 12:16 AM
To:	'hwg-basics(at)hwg.org'
Subject:	theft of copyrighted graphic!

Just a question for all of you.  I just found out that
one of my clipart pieces has been used on one of those
"zillions of clipart" CDs that is being sold commercially at a=20
variety of places including "Staples" - without my permission=20
or knowledge.

I have "usage" info on my site where the graphics are that states:

"The graphics displayed on these pages are my original artwork (unless =
otherwise noted). They are free for use by anyone on their home page =
with no obligation - except they may NOT be modified in any way or used =
in any background, graphics, clipart, and/or animation collections. Nor =
is their use authorized for any off-computer use. Please contact me for =
commercial rates.=20
Copyright(c) 1998-1999 White Buffalo Graphics and Web Design. All rights =
reserved. "
(website: http://www.whitebuffalographics.com/bernese/clipart/clip.html =
)

I figured this puts it pretty clearly so my question is:  Do I have any =
legal recourse
that any of you know of?  I know some of you have most likely run into =
this=20
problem before so I thought it best to ask the "experts" !  ;-)

Ok, so it's not a real big, fancy piece of clipart or anything, but =
still - I made it and=20
they didn't ask to use it - let alone sell it!  I'm not sure if more =
than one piece of=20
clipart from my site has been taken as I am still getting the info on =
the EXACT
name/version of the CD then I guess I have to buy it to have the "proof" =
in my=20
hand.  (hate to give more money to them!)

Thanks so much for any help/advice,
Karen Pickel
pegleg(at)rapidnet.com=20

=20

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