Why we put the legal desk on the front of the site

For most of this studio’s life, legal questions went where they go everywhere else: a link at the bottom of the page, an address nobody was sure was monitored, and a policy document written to be unreadable. Then we started counting what people were actually asking, and the answer reorganised the site.

What people were really asking

These are not footer questions. They are the questions that decide whether the purchase was worth making, and they were being answered by whoever happened to pick up the phone.

• "If I pay for this, can I trademark it?" — by a distance the most common, and the one with the highest stakes.
• "What happens to the concepts I did not pick?"
• "Can I change the logo later without asking you?"
• "You designed a mark for a competitor of mine. What stops you reusing it?"
• "If I sell the business, does the logo go with it?"

What changed

The legal function is now published as a person, with a name, the bar he is admitted to, and the desks that report to him. Every ownership question, trademark filing and privacy request goes to that desk in writing. Not because email is friendlier — it plainly is not — but because a legal answer given on the phone is worthless a month later when it matters, and a written one is not.

The line we are careful about

Our counsel is our counsel. He can tell you exactly what our agreements do, what transfers and when, and he can handle a USPTO filing on your behalf as a service. He cannot act as your attorney, advise you against us, or represent you in a dispute with a third party. Saying that out loud is part of the point: a legal desk that implies it acts for both sides is worse than no legal desk at all.

What we would suggest asking any studio

1. 1Is copyright assigned to me in writing, or am I licensed to use it? These are very different purchases.
2. 2When does it transfer — on delivery, or on final payment?
3. 3What happens to the concepts I did not choose?
4. 4Can I modify the design later without permission?
5. 5Will you confirm all of that before I pay, in writing?