I’ve also written about a time when we got knocked off by a very big advertising agency, for a very large (relatively speaking) advertising campaign. You can read about it here. So what’s the difference between design contests and firms like this? When it came to the advertising agency, when contacted about the misappropriation of our IP rights, a quick licensing agreement was hammered out and a rather hefty sum paid out. The ad firm didn’t want their rep tarnished (part of the agreement was that we removed their client’s name from the article). The company negotiated use of our work for six months, after which they agreed to stop using the artwork. We were pitched a few design gigs (well paying ones at that) presumably to keep us happy and more importantly, quiet about the entire affair. Now, take a logo contest. There are rips entered every single day. We’ve been fighting a cat & mouse game with several logo contest sites for years. Most of the time, IP violation reports are ignored. If they are heeded, the designs are removed from the contest gallery, but left on the site (where you can still find them if you know the URL, or through a keyword Google image search). It was only after I started writing about instances of our wok being abused, did our work start getting removed pronto.

In terms of our work getting knocked-off, we have no recourse (the anonymity of design contests makes it almost impossible to track down the infringing party). ALL design contest sites have legal waivers (how legit they are remains to be seen) that specifically deny ALL responsibility IF a knocked-off design gets entered, or worse, wins a contest. Design firms don’t have similar waivers in their contracts because they don’t anticipate it happening, while design contest sites KNOW it is a very real possibility. When a design firm (or in the example above, ad agency) foists a knocked-off design on their client by “accident” (the ad agency claimed that the artwork was supplied by a freelancer and that they had no idea), there are very real repercussions – financial, legal and to the integrity of their reputation. It’s very costly for a design firm to knock-off a design. It happens all the time on design contests without any ramifications whatsoever.

I don’t see what amateur sport has to do with anything. Apples and Oranges. One is a sport, and one well, isn’t. And design contest sites don’t present themselves as amateur anything. They present themselves as a professional alternative, and a superior one at that, to working with a professional designer or firm. I can tell you sixteen ways to Sunday why that isn’t true, but this comment’s getting a little long in the tooth as it is (and besides, I’ve written about that subject on many occasions elsewhere).

Am I a “crazy old man proselytizing the end of the world”. Perhaps on the crazy. Getting closer to the old. As far the “end of the world” we’ll have to see how all this so-called ‘crowdsourcing’ rubbish plays out in the next couple of years.

I can almost guarantee you that there are many designers out there, working for firms or freelance, that are using clip-art and stolen logos that they sell to clients for hundreds of dollars.

So, on that side of it, I think the client has just as much of a chance to get ripped off as he does going to a spec site.

In fact, I could almost guarantee you that most designers are copy-cats. You can see this based on the design trends that come and go. Look at the web 2.0 trend. Everyone’s site looks the same these days! Hell, even this site, the very site that is talking shit about copy-catting, looks like EVERY other blog on the face of the planet! Go ahead, scroll up and take a look!

Now… As for designers getting ripped off. In my opinion, the designers posting designs know what they are getting into. They know that there will be tons of other submissions, and that their chances of winning are slim. I see a lot of people “warning” them about those sites, but in reality, it isn’t going to stop anyone who already wanted to do it anyway.

Some people just like the competition. I mean hell, if you are going to talk shit about this, then talk shit about every competitive athlete out there. They spend YEARS training for one competition that they know full well they might not win. Talk about a waste!

And lets also take a look at sites like Worth1000, where people actually have to PAY to enter a contest! And they don’t win shit, except the ability to submit more designs! And that place is humming with designers.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with these kinds of sites, and I think that the people who are demonizing them are almost as bad as the crazy man on the street proselytizing the end of the world.

Just my 2 pennies.