I work at a printing company, and recently we’ve done several projects for a local client who has provided multiple logos for other local businesses, and some we’ve had on file already. Recently they requested we send all the logo files for those businesses for purposes on their end (I believe for a slideshow they are having at an event). We have a great relationship with this client but I feel a little odd doing this, more so because it seems like that is outside our responsibility? What is the best way to handle this?
Hmm. That’s tough mainly just because you’re trying to maintain a relationship.
I suppose as a possible deterrent you can bill them for the time to pull them together (I know the actual time would be “minimal” … but more as a deterrent to make them say, “oh never mind, we will gather them together on our own…”) I would also worry that if they need more logos in the future, or anything else in the future it would set up a precedent where they would just assume that your printing company can do other “small” non-printing sorts of things for them.
And then of course there is the issue that “Third parties should never use someone else’s logo without a licensed agreement”. Which I know opens up a hole other can of worms. But, in theory its no more different than if the client asked you for a photo or illustration that was used in another company’s file.
I wonder if there would be a way to “politely” decline mentioning that its a legal issue, and while the chances of it coming back to bite you may be minimal, it could result in the company being involved in legal hot water and potentially lose money because of it.
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View it as a side service for generating extra revenue. Instead of discouraging it, charge them your standard rate for the time that’s spent on their request.
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You can’t send these.
You shouldn’t have allowed use without actual owner permission in the first place. If any of my print vendors used property I had sent them for someone else’s project they would be dropped like a hot rock (ie fired, fast.)
The same goes for stock images you may have sourced for the client. You can’t transfer the license (unless you made pre-arrangements to do so) and you risk facing the consequences for improper or additional use later if you supply stock licensed to your company.
You can return to them what they have sent you, usually for a fee. But not the stuff they didn’t submit.
Thank you all, glad to hear my gut was right! We told them we couldn’t do it. I should clarify, the logos he had sent/requested for the projects that we produced are sponsors of his business/company, and what we’ve made have been award/recognition items declaring those businesses as a sponsor (many of whom have provided him the logos which he then forwarded to us for printing). @printdriver thank you for highlighting that, from my understanding we require proof of ownership or permission to use logos, so my understanding is this client has been given that permission from said businesses. Another reason he should not have been asking us to do this! I just wanted to confirm I was ok to say I didn’t feel right doing it (mostly because it seemed like disorganization on his part and not our responsibility).
If the client has permission to be using logos as a subsidiary, then logos from the parent company are ok.
If the client provided logos for print from companies that were sponsors for an event, returning the files shouldn’t be an issue either.
However, if you supplied missing logo files from local companies or businesses as a one-off event use or because you had them and the client didn’t, that gets a little bit on the iffy side.
We never have any problem at all returning files to clients that they have sent to us, if we still have them archived. Comes with the territory. We’ve saved many a design client hours of rework after a hard drive or server crash. But I wouldn’t give one client the files of another client, including and sometimes especially logos.