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Dear Spike Lee

juanluisgarcia.com

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41–50 of 165 posts

Re: Dear Spike Lee

#41

Post by seanc »

bananacurve wrote: post #17

Where are the internet hippies saying everything should be free?

Not that I'm firmly in the camp of 'everything should be free', but in this case the agency promised the designer "There's no money now, but since you hold the copyright on the work, if we decide to distribute it, we'll have to pay you later. So work for peanuts, okay?"

If there were not copyright at all, then the agency wouldn't have had the promise of future revenue to lure the designer into the deal in the first place.

If everyone knew up front that once the work was done it would be free to the world, there would have been no misunderstanding, and the designer would have had an easier time insisting on getting paid properly up front.

Re: Dear Spike Lee

#43

Post by MrZongle2 »

If Mr. Garcia wants to work long hours in a stressful environment but at least get paid something for it.... perhaps he should apply for a job at Penny Arcade.

Sounds like a move up.

Re: Dear Spike Lee

#44

Post by drcube »

bananacurve wrote: post #17

Where are the internet hippies saying everything should be free?

This has nothing to do with that.

If you publish something in public for all the world to see, don't expect random strangers to just hand you money for the privilege of seeing it.

But if someone tells you they will pay you for your work, and then when you spend two months working on it, they refuse to pay and furthermore pass the work off as their own, that's fucked up no matter what the copyright laws are in your country.

Re: Dear Spike Lee

#46

Post by res0nat0r »

icebraining wrote: post #38
res0nat0r wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also an agreement between you and artists that if you want to watch a movie or listen to a music cd you also pay for it.

When did I agree to that?

You didn't if you downloaded it without paying, which is why it is illegal.

Also you are undermining your own argument here if you support the OP's original "agreement" but not copyright to music / movies, when he explicitly states in the post:

"We never signed any contracts or work-for-hire agreements and I certainly never agreed to donating or selling any copyright of my work without a licensing fee."

So he should expect to be paid for his work or it be protected, but musicians shouldn't?

Re: Dear Spike Lee

#47

Post by gallerytungsten »

Sadly, this story is all too typical of how advertising agencies work. Having worked with a number of agencies in the past, I found that nearly all of them were more than willing to steal work, not pay, break contracts, and engage in other unsavory hardball tactics.

This situation certainly looks like a blatant ripoff to me. I hope Juan Luis Garcia gets a great attorney and hefty amount of money.

Re: Dear Spike Lee

#49

Post by knice »

herge wrote: post #3

This is why you should always have your contracts reviewed by a lawyer. See Mike Monteiro's Fuck You, Pay Me: http://vimeo.com/22053820

I was thinking the same thing. Always, always, always have a contract in place. I really feel for this guy, but the way this went down, he provided them with his best work on the hope they would then reasonably compensate him.

A contract, negotiated up-front, might have prevented the agency from taking advantage of him.

Re: Dear Spike Lee

#50

Post by mildtrepidation »

There's big money and fame in high-profile work, and that can be very attractive... but stories like this, and the frequency with which they occur, are important to pay attention to. You can do everything right, you can make everyone happy, you can meet every demand, and you still stand a very real chance of getting absolutely shafted.

I've experienced enough of this with much less prolific projects that I happily keep pretty much everything small time now. Chasing billboards and marquees is almost always a game for lucky people and the already-rich.

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