There's been a lot of hubbub this week over a new DIY logo design site that is selling icons from some pretty notable trademark designers as part of its icon library. It seems that almost any logo designer who has had their work published in recent history has had their work pilfered and put up for sale for the low low price of just under $100.

Of course, no one likes having their work stolen or plagiarized, and it really hurts to have someone sell a thing they stole for a bargain basement price (is it really only worth $69? C'mon!), but that's not even half of the problem here.

The real problem is that the site in question, and others like it, sell artwork that is copyrighted in most cases, and trademarked in many others, to unsuspecting small businesses all over the world, and indemnify themselves of any damages in their terms and conditions. This means that if your company gets sued by the company or designer who owns the copyright, or the company that owns the trademark on the art you used, you could be liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages resulting from the actions of the people who built this website.

For the low-low price of $69 you too can violate copyright and trademark laws and potentially get sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sadly, this isn't a new problem. There have been DIY logo design sites online for a while now, many of which use clip art from libraries they do not have the rights to (stock libraries frequently prohibit use in logos or trademarks). It's also common practice in the recently ubiquitous "crowdsourcing" sites, despite the fact that they prohibit the use of art to which the submitter doesn't own rights, for the designers to use stock art, clip art, and other people's trademarks in their submissions.

There are plenty of cases where contest-holders unsuspectingly accepted designs using unlicensed art, like this one: Crowspring Saved Us $200,000 (or did they?). There's also cases where the copyright owners of the original art sought damages from the designers who infringed upon them and won upwards of $600,000. And no, that's not a typo. In this case, the indemnity clause in the terms of use may actually transfer liability to the unsuspecting small business owner.

What's your excuse?

So, why are these things becoming more popular in the face of seemingly unlimited downsides? The common refrain from defenders of these sites (both the DIY and the 'crowdsourcing'/contest sites) is, "It's so hard to find good designers!" To that I say, "bullshit." Designers make it as easy to find us as possible. We post blogs. We enter awards shows. We join professional associations. We frequent online communities. We bust our butts to get into respectable design books that you can buy in any bookstore in america, like LogoLounge, any of David Carter's books, anything by Rockport, Graphis Annuals, HOW, PRINT, CMYK and Communication Arts magazines, and many many more avenues that make it easy to find us.

Maybe it's not as easy as typing "Logo Designer" into Google, but it doesn't take a whole lot of legwork to find a good designer. Go get a latte and look through a book like LogoLounge. Look for logos you like. Note who made them. There's in index in the back. Look them up. Send them an email. Call them.

The Hard Truth

It's not hard to find a good logo designer at all. Just don't expect that you're going to see 400 concepts for $99 or that you're going to get off the phone and have a logo the next day. The truth is that it's not hard to find a good logo designer at all. It is hard to design a good logo, even for a good designer, and it's not even a little bit like shopping. It's messy, and it can be like pulling teeth, but everything of value in this life is. So, I say to you, the logo design buying public, is that it is NOT hard to FIND a good logo designer, but it IS hard to BE a good logo design client.

Quit being lazy. Quit treating design like shopping. Start engaging in the process, and start getting great work from great designers.