Copyright - designer or site owner

Who needs to ensure copyright is not breeched - web designer or site owner?

[petehall]

I'm just curious as to who needs to check for copyright problems.

For example, if we were designing a site for a customer and they supplied pictures - would it be our responsibility to make sure they owned the copyright or vice versa?

It would be a little harsh on the web designer if they could get into difficulties for using pictures supplied by the site owner.

In fact if you refused to put them on the site they may even go elsewhere!

[KevinC]

Well most designers will put something in the contract about not being liable for problems resulting from materials the client has given them.

I would definatly have something written to protect yourself, although I don't know how serious a concern it could be.

[Lord Majestic]

Good idea to have generic clause about these in contract and carefully record what was supplied by you and what was supplied by the client. It is certainly their responsibility to ensure they hold all copyrights for the images they supplied.

[EileenC]

The web designers I work with always have a liability clause in their contracts saying they are not responsible for copyright issues of client-supplied material. I learned the hard way, as a copywriter, to put a similar clause into my contracts with clients. People think nothing of stealing others' work and passing it off as their own, or they think they can change it "a little bit" and that makes it okay. Protect yourself with a good contract!