Recently, a friend let me know that she had noticed the rusted version of the Enron logo that I did for theNew York Times on a campaign flyer. Sure enough, after I dug through our mail, I found a flyer from Jeff Bissonnette’s campaign for Portland City Council.

It was pretty clear what had happened. The person who designed the flyer needed an Enron logo to illustrate the campaign’s claim that Mr. Bissonnette fought them. If you do a google image search for “enron logo”, mine comes up on page four or five, from a link to the art contest I originally did the work for. I’m guessing that the designer didn’t see an obvious way to contact the artist, so he just went ahead and used it.

Now, if they had contacted me, I probably would have given permission, but I was definitely not cool with them just lifting it like this, so I sent this email through the contact form on the campaign’s website:

Hi, my name is Scott Vandehey, and I created the rusted Enron logo that was used on the fliers your campaign recently sent out. No one contacted me for permission to use this image in this way, and I’m a little shocked that a political campaign in my hometown would resort to such blatant copyright violation. I’m hoping this is all just a result of miscommunication. I’m writing a blog post about this right now, so if someone from your campaign would like to comment, please write me back. Thank you.

Within a few hours of my sending that email, my work phone rang. It was Geoff Sugerman, the designer of the flyer. He apologized for using the artwork without permission, and confirmed my suspicion about Google Image Search.

We talked for awhile, and he offered to pay me what they would normally pay for stock images. I explained that while that would be fine, what I was really interested in was getting a formal apology that I could print on my website to help spread the message that just because something is on the internet does not mean that it’s free. He graciously agreed, and here is the letter he sent me:

Scott, Please accept my sincere apology for the unauthorized use of the Enron logo you created.

As a direct mail consultant for the past 18 years, I have worked with dozens of photographers and designers and have never attempted to use another person’s work without compensation. I hope that the payment I made today for use of the logo is sufficient and there are no hard feelings. It was completely my mistake and I take full responsibility for it.

You are 100% right to say that as creator of the logo you are its owner. My use of it was not an intentional act meant to deny you just payment or deceive you in any way. Over the years, I have legally downloaded hundreds of photos, clip art and other materials that I have paid for or legally acquired for free. I feel a bit foolish that I did not research further for possible copyright infringement and I am glad you contacted me to point out the error.

In this case, when I found the rusty Enron logo via an internet search engine, I believed it was part of a public site which was offering it for free use along with literally hundreds of other Enron logos. I know better now. As you know, within minutes of your email to my client, I called and apologized for my mistake and offered to buy use of the logo for this one time.

I thank you again for your understanding in this matter and the professional, gracious way you accepted my apology and allowed me to make amends for my mistake. By the way, the logo is really nice work. I am pleased that I was able to pay you for it and apologize again for my mistake.

Sincerely, Geoff Sugerman

I would like to make it clear that I don’t think Jeff Bissonnette had anything to do with this. Even if he did approve the flyer, I’m sure he has other things to focus on than whether or not his designer secured the rights to use imagery. This is simply a case of poor judgement on the designer’s part.

The moral of the story is that if you’re considering using an image you found on the internet for commercial or political purposes, you must get the permission of the artist. Failing to do so is copyright infringement, and can leave you vulnerable to an embarrassing public fiasco, not to mention a lawsuit.