-2

I did freelance character design work and comic pages for someone for almost a course of 1 year. He would keep ordering when a piece is done and sometimes would order multiple pages that would take me longer to finish.

We have not signed any contract, nor Non-Disclosure Agreement that I can post the work I did as my portfolio but just as a sign of good faith I honored his request to not post anything until he decides to do it on his own.

This January I still have a pending of 4 pages that I need to finish that he paid, 2 of them already a work in progress. Out of nowhere he sent me a message he would cancel and ask for a refund. Because of disagreement and I no longer wishing to have any more business deals with him I just refunded the work I haven't finished. And because we never signed an NDA I just posted the work I did for him as my art portfolio (never claimed they were my characters, just more of a design portfolio) I thought that was the end of it. He did send me a final email threatening me that he'll be watching me.

Then hours later he suddenly made dispute refund claims with paypal for all the pass work I did which were delivered via google drive which until now he still has access which now cause negative balance on my paypal. These are for all the works I have already finished and delivered via google drive. I've also sent most of them via email which I still have.

What can I do? I already sent the information I have with Paypal but I'm still scared of it being not in my favor...

You're help would be very much appreciated.

KGebs
  • 1

2 Answers2

1

We have not signed any contract, nor Non-Disclosure Agreement that I can post the work I did as my portfolio but just as a sign of good faith I honored his request to not post anything until he decides to do it on his own.

A contract doesn't need to be signed in triplicate in the presence of thirty-seven notaries to be binding. All that is required is an agreement by both parties which presumably was made in this case. Obviously the exact wording would affect this and that's a matter for either Paypal but it seems that:

  • You agreed to produce the materials in exchange for money
  • You agreed as part of this to give exclusive rights to use the materials to the buyer, at least until he chose to publish it
  • The buyer changed their mind and was refunded the work that had not been done.
  • At this point, it still appears you had an agreement that he would have the rights to publish the work. You reneged on this.

The reason people use services with buyer/seller protection is to avoid having to go to court in situations like this. Your best bet is to submit all relevant details to PayPal and hope they decide in your favour. Unfortunately, PayPal is notorious for siding with buyers who are in the wrong.

If they don't, legal action is an option. You wouldn't be suing them for the "false" refund request, it would be for non-payment for the work in question. This might be cost prohibitive depending on how much was supposed to be paid and potentially impossible if you're in different countries.

He did send me a final email threatening me that he'll be watching me.

This does not change anything in terms of payment obligations. If you believe you are in danger, contact law enforcement, not randos on the internet.

0

The Owner/Creator would need to provide, preferably written, consent for the use of their works (Trademarks, Copyright and Reproduction and Logos Protection and Laws). If generated by way of computer aided graphic design, this is where your certificate of authenticity would be able to validate the Author/Creator and its Source. Otherwise, typically a stamp or signature of the artist. If the artist is not paid for their works and the content does generate revenue by way of the art, then the creator/owner can sue the other party through the publisher of the content for copyright infringement. Each graphic contains an ID that is generated by the source code by the way.

j. d. novak
  • 1