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party designer enlisted to help create the
art and by whom? If the customer pro-
vided the artwork themselves or with the
help of a third-party designer, I would
consider that art to be theirs. If they
asked the salesperson to develop the art,
with or without third-party help, I would
lean toward the developer as having the
rights to the art. That may, indeed, be the
distributor.
If the salesperson were to use that
same art for any other customer, or
while working for a different distributor,
I would sincerely question the business
ethics of that salesperson. If they were
working for me, I would have to consid-
er whether or not they just cast my
company in the same questionable ethi-
cal position and whether or not they are
worth the risk to employ. Granted, we
all share a lot of graphic art ideas in this
business. Some are generic while others
are very specific. If my sales staff does
not know the difference, they will be off
my staff before they cost me any legal
fees or hard feelings between companies
in my industry.
Q
A Distributor Asks:
A supplier shipped a sample directly to us instead of to our customer. It was a
good thing because they inserted literature from our competitor offering a discount.
A month later, the same thing happened with a different supplier. When we com-
plained, the supplier said it would not happen again. Yet a few months later, the
same competitor’s literature was inserted into the packaging again. Other than this
snafu, the manufacturers in question are respected industry suppliers. We anticipate
repeat orders, so we don’t want to discontinue business with them. Other than paying
more to have all shipments come to us first, what should we do to prevent this?
What’s your answer?
Email answers along with your name, title and com-
pany name to
Question@ppai.orgby May 31 for possible inclusion in an
upcoming issue of
PPB
magazine.
DO YOU HAVE THE ANSWER?
MAY 2015 •
PPB
• 19
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