Do you give your customer the job files?

[xcelprint]

Here is the situation...
Customer gives us jpegs, hand drawn sketches, business cards, word files, etc....
We prepare a print-ready pdf in via Indesign.
We print the job and they are happy and pay.

2 months later they come asking for the print-ready pdf.

I say it is the property of the printer just as back in the day when negs and plates were property of the printer.

What do you say?

Thanks

 

[richsweeney]

If you did the work for free, then I would say it is yours. Normally if a client requests the working files, dies, ect it is not a good thing. It often means your fired.
You can only lose in the long run by even having this conversation.
Properly handled you can get that client back someday.
Create a dropbox file them, and then email them a invite for that folder.
After that turn them over to your marketing side and ping them about every 3 to 6 months.

 

[BigSi]

The devil is in the detail. Did you invoice for just the finished product or the creation of art as well? But I always take it on a case by case basis. You can't get to a-nil about it. I always look at my overall relationship with them. Richsweney is right. Handle the right way you might still get some work from them.

 

[Danny Whitehead]

You're right that unless you specifically granted them rights to the artwork, it remains your property, and you have no legal obligation to hand it over, even if they explicitly paid for that part of the job. But the other replies are right that it could be in your commercial interests to hand it over, and it's always a case-by-case judgement.

As an artworker, I'm generally reluctant to hand stuff over (and the other one, where clients request a 'digital' (like a Word doc) version of their letterhead, so they don't need to have them printed here), but I'd rather let the reps, who know the relationship better, make that call.

 

[Tim-Ellis]

The devil is in the detail. Did you invoice for just the finished product or the creation of art as well? But I always take it on a case by case basis. You can't get to a-nil about it. I always look at my overall relationship with them. Richsweney is right. Handle the right way you might still get some work from them.

I agree. If they pay for print they get the print if they pay for artwork they own the artwork.

But have the conversation with then to find out what they really want and how you can help them. The relationship might be over or maybe something can be salvaged. If all you were given was jpegs and sketches, they can start again without you.

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[FiddlePaper]

If you did the work for free, then I would say it is yours. Normally if a client requests the working files, dies, ect it is not a good thing. It often means your fired.
You can only lose in the long run by even having this conversation.
Properly handled you can get that client back someday.
Create a dropbox file them, and then email them a invite for that folder.
After that turn them over to your marketing side and ping them about every 3 to 6 months.

I agree with you.