My photoshop design changed without permission

I am an online student through a University in my state. I was originally a senator for the online student government but resigned because I did not agree with all the money they were wasting and ignored anything we brought up to them. Before I left I had offered to design a logo for the to USE for things like clothing or papers that they mailed out. I did this for free (since I thought it would be neat to see my design used).

I created a globe and put the schools logo on it with words over the top and bottom of the globe. They used it a few times, but I now see they deleted the words from the photo file and have added their own wording across the top which just looks awful and crooked. Like someone slapped it together.

It is bothering me that being a university they should know they do not have the right to change someones work. Should I say something to them or just let it go? The globe image itself was not altered, they just removed the wording.

If you created a globe from scratch you probably have a case for a Takedown Notice, but personally I'd just let it go.

Image theft. Help please

Did they sign a contract regarding use of the image? If not, it sounds like you have given them an implied license to use the image and it is very hard to clarify what usage is appropriate and what is not since it is not in writing.

adam8080 wrote in post #16440066
Did they sign a contract regarding use of the image? If not, it sounds like you have given them an implied license to use the image and it is very hard to clarify what usage is appropriate and what is not since it is not in writing.

This.

The fact that you did it for free leads me to suspect you had no contract with them, which means you're not likely to really have a leg to stand on here. I'd just let it go.

I personally woudn't let it go, it's your creation not theirs even though you did it for FREE with no contract.

Many times our local newspaper will contact me for an image, sometimes I'll offer it for FREE depending on the image and the client relationship I might have with that image. Many times I ask for payment as I have bills to pay. This doesn't mean they can do whatever they want with my photographs, they belong to me not to them.

Even without a contract I would imagine they do not have the right to alter something. I told them that they could "use" it.

They probably, and understandably, think that the logo belongs to the organization and is in effect their trademark. They are probably clueless about copyright and ownership of design. It seems like you can go one of two ways here. Since you already have some hard feelings with this group you can easily come off as a petty jerk if you arent careful here about how you approach this. So my advice would be to make every effort to be calm and reasonable and explain your copyright concerns.

gonzogolf wrote in post #16451911
They probably, and understandably, think that the logo belongs to the organization and is in effect their trademark. They are probably clueless about copyright and ownership of design. It seems like you can go one of two ways here. Since you already have some hard feelings with this group you can easily come off as a petty jerk if you arent careful here about how you approach this. So my advice would be to make every effort to be calm and reasonable and explain your copyright concerns.

I agree with them being clueless about copyright. I would have to imagine that it's some student who's also doing things for this group for free that just did it cause no one else would.

For me personally, I wouldn't even waste my time with it.

All they would need to do is create another globe and they'll most likely just google for another globe image.

Ratjack wrote in post #16451866
Even without a contract I would imagine they do not have the right to alter something. I told them that they could "use" it.

Without a written contract your implied limitations on the use you granted them is very ambiguous. It sounds like they are using it within their scope of the implied license. Go read up on implied license and copyright law!