Need some feedback
 

Hey guys...I have a situation where I need some feedback to make sure that I'm not completely crazy.
A designer contacted me on ICQ and asked if he could use some of my images to practice a design. I asked if if I would be able to use it and he said, "of course! If it's of any use to you"

Now he's posting links to this design all over the place trying to sell it and when I contacted him today and asked for the site files he said not for free yada yada yada.

Here is the link to his post where he's trying to sell it:
http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showth...=mariah+milano

here is the copy and paste of our conversation when he originally asked to use my content. Content, by the way, that is exclusive to my site and some of it is shared content with Penthouse, Holly Randall, and Aziani.

here's the conversation from my ICQ history:
Alt Web Design5/27/2010 10:48 AM
im just bored got no work and want to mess about creating a new design only i got no images, was hoping you would elt me use yours

Mariah Milano5/27/2010 10:48 AM
do i get to use the design?

Mariah Milano5/27/2010 10:49 AM
make a tgp template out of it or something?

Alt Web Design5/27/2010 10:49 AM
of course! if its of any use to you

Alt Web Design5/27/2010 10:49 AM
i really just want to mess about and hone my skills

Mariah Milano5/27/2010 10:49 AM
if it's good i will use it

Alt Web Design5/27/2010 10:49 AM
kool

So that was in May as you can see...now from that conversation would you think that I would get the design to use since I provided copyrighted exclusive photos for him to use? I certainly would think so. Not sure how else you could take that.

Well here is the conversation today when I told him I never got the files of the design:

Mariah Milano8:41 AM
i never got the zip file for the design

Alt Web Design8:41 AM
for what . . ?

(I then copy and pasted the history where he said I could have it if it was of any use to me)

Alt Web Design8:43 AM
not for free lmao

Alt Web Design8:43 AM
its worth over 2k

Mariah Milano8:43 AM
wow
i see how it is

Alt Web Design8:43 AM
i never said for free and never said a price

Mariah Milano8:44 AM
as i didn't say a price and didn't say free when you asked to use my photos i can play that way as well

Alt Web Design8:44 AM
i didnt know what i was gonna create

Alt Web Design8:45 AM
i just never said anyone could have it for free

Alt Web Design8:46 AM
i should of made it more clear when i started but i didnt know what i was gonna do at the time

Am I crazy? Should I demand he remove my images if he won't give me the site design as he agreed to?
Your feedback would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!

what a dick. c&d his ass.

I'm not surprised, talk to your lawyer...

yeah just sent him an email about it.
thanks

I think this is more a miscommunication then him trying to fuck you... Your conversation could easily be interpretted both ways. He could have just as easily used any girl for this, and the fact that it is pictures of you and not someone else doesn't help him sell it in any way. Any buyer would be replacing the images anyways.

how do you figure? he said of course when I asked if I could use it now he says, well i didn' t know how good it was going to be. where is the "miscommunication" in that? he said yes at first, then when he did it he said no. pretty clear to me.

Honestly, You are asking if you can use it, not if you can use it for free. That can easily be interpreted as if you can buy it if you like it. He also never mentioned that he'd be making a template that he'd be tryign to sell later. I wouldn't say it's worth $2k but that is just my opinion. I say miscommunication because this can be interpretted both ways...

well thanks for your input. I disagree. I ws never told it be used to as a sample design being sold. I was told it was for practice. Now I am getting emails from people who think it's my site, who are asking me if this guy is selling a design he made for me etc.

Thanks for your feedback.

I think you were both pretty unclear and honestly neither of you should have even done the deal. He should remove the images immediately and he should also probably give you some small item of design for free just as a token of good faith for allowing him to use your content. Content is pretty cheap, no idea why he didn't just purchase a simple set for sample purposes.

If you aren't happy how it all played out then just tell him to remove your pics. *ANY* Girl could have been used in the design, he can easily replace them. On your site, you are the selling point. On his design, you aren't.

Put yourself in his shoes. He's playing around in photoshop trying some new stuff in jquery, making designs and such. What's he going to use? stick figures? His options were to ask you as a client/friend/whatever for a favor to provide some placeholder images for him, or he could have bought some single images from some content company for a few bucks. He came up with something he felt was nice and that he could make some money on, and put it up for sale.

Just because you allowed him to use you as a placeholder doesn't nessesarily entitle you to his work for free.

ok, well if you notice in the initial conversation he asked and before i agreed I said "can I use it?" he said of course and then i agreed.

He did say she could use it. If somebody were to ask to use my material so that they can build off it and they told me I could use it, it's a pretty common understanding for that "use" to be free. It's a pretty complex project and because of that, free would probably be stretching it, the whole thing is just weird.

not a straight thing to do
he should have credited you in some way or the other
But he staid in the dark with his intentions.
He just used your good faith, thats my conclusion

I just told him to remove my images and his reply was "you're not going to tell me what to do.... I can be a real arse if I want to be" he says he'll remove it in 3 hours when he's done with something else so we'll see.

That is where the miscommunication came in. He took that as 'Can I buy it', you took it as 'Can I have it for free'. When I read the convo, i took it as 'can I buy it' as well. You would make money off his work by using it, I don't see why it would be unreasonable to pay him for it if you liked it and wanted to use it.

Personally, I think you shoudl request he remove your photos if you don't want them there, and be more careful in the future. From a third party point of view if I ran into that design without knowing the backstory, it sort of looks like you ordered a site and then decided not to pay or something. As for him, he should just buy up a couple of photo sets for use in his future designs.

I absolutely disagree with him having any sort of dark intentions here. I don't even know the guy but as a developer I know how playing around in photoshop can come out to something really cool looking by accident.

If you like it, work something out with him. It's not unreasonable to pay for something that you think will make you money. It is unreasonable to expect someone else to work for you for free. It's nicer then your existing site in my opinion. I doubt he will see $2k for a premade template when it costs less then that to get one custom done...

mariah your such a drama queen, i never once said you couldnt use it as a TGP, and i never once said you could have a free tour.
facts are the tours hot, people hit you up over it and now you want it for free
i also asked your permission for the images, which will be changed in around 3 hours when i finish what im doing as i am very busy

He did. In his thread:
I'd like to thank my long-term friend and client mariah milano for allowing me to use the content.

Conversation just looks a bit vague and although you may have meant can you have it for nothing if he wants to use your images for nothing you didn't precisely say it.

Would have thought you are getting publicity off him touting the design for sale so to demand the images off rather than asking for a small payment for their use may have been a backwards move.

All designers do not operate this way.

there are zero complaints from my clientele here. :2 cents: