Client asks me to re-brand supplied media

Question

As a backend web developer in UK, I do some frontend work on a side.

A client of mine sent me a brochure of another company and more or less asked me to place his logos over that company's logos, or to replace the logos wholly, on said brochure.

That triggered all the proper alarms in my head.

In my understanding:

• I have no copyright information on the brochure, or about it
• I have my client's wish to "replace their logos with his"
• I fear I'd help him to steal a presumably copyrighted media
• I am potentially liable

Questions: Do I need my client to state he has the permission to modify that piece of media, and to ask me openly to do so? Or, do I need him to produce the evidence that he has such permissions?

To keep myself liability-free, what piece of information must I receive in writing, in such or similar case?

EDIT:

I don't know who made them originally so I don't even know who to ask. The brochures allegedly rotate around and get rebranded like that, and I don't know where they originated from.

All I know about them comes from my client directly.

The only party is my client, and IP lawyers assured me I can get him to indemnify me and when at risk of getting sued I can produce the signed indemnification and shift the blame to the client, without getting sued myself, which especially can be enforced when allegedly copyrighted work had no noticed on it whatsoever.

Answer 1

Since it is the brochure of another company: You can always ask that company "My client, so-and-so, asked me to create a brochure by taking yours and replacing your company logo with his own. Do you have any problems with that?"

What answer do you expect? What do you think your client will say about it?

You know it's copyright infringement. You know who has the copyright, or at least knows who has the copyright. If you go to a printshop and ask them to make copies of the brochure, they will throw you out. Don't do it.

Tell your client "I'm sorry, but this brochure is copyrighted material, so I will not do what you ask me to do and commit copyright infringement, and you shouldn't even ask me to do this". If you think your client is clueless about copyright, you might put this in a more friendly way to educate him.

PS. Your client indemnifying you doesn't work if the client goes bankrupt. It also doesn't work if you commit copyright infringement for commercial purposes, which you would be doing, which then makes it not only illegal but also criminal. You know or should have known that this material is copyrighted by someone other than your client. And of course the client isn't going to indemnify you.

Since the company distributing the original brochure (and you know who that is) has no obligation to care about any indemnification, of course they can sue you. The indemnifying company can promise to pay your lawyers and pay any fines or damages you are ordered to pay, they cannot stop you from being sued.

And since no court will believe you that you seriously thought this brochure was created by someone who died before 1948, and you are doing this for money, there might be criminal charges. You know who the copyright holder is, and you can verify it with one single phone call. If you say you don't have any copyright information, that's called "willfully blind".

Answer 2

Copyright in the UK lasts for 70 years after the author died - so unless this particular brochure was written by someone who died prior to 1948 someone owns the copyright in it.

If you copy it, you can be sued - just like "just following orders" is not a defense to bank robbery or war crimes, it isn't a defense to copyright violation either. If you were an employee you would be unlikely to be sued but since you describe the person who instructed you as a "client" it sounds like you are a contractor and are fully responsible for your actions.

You can ask your client if he has permission to make these changes but if he lies you will still be sued - you can then try to sue your client. You can ask for an indemnity, this will help when you have to sue your client but if your client is out of business - bad luck for you.

To protect yourself,you need to take all reasonable steps to:

• identify the copyright holder
• contact the copyright holder
• get their permission.