Who owns the designs submitted?

The copyright of all designs submitted to DesignCrowd contests are owned by the designer who submitted the design (save for the company name, tagline, accompanying art, etc that is supplied by the customer) until that design has been selected as the winner of a given project.

When you buy a design from DesignCrowd, ownership of that design transfers to you. Note that you do not own all the designs submitted to a Design Contest, only the design that you eventually select, purchase and download. Note that before you select a design, the copyright of the designs is held by the respective designers.  

Web, brochure and other non-logo designs may include components/artwork for which the copyright remains with the original designer.  These designs may include photos, icons or artworks that the designer has purchased the right to use (i.e. they do not own the copyright) or that the designer owns but publishes elsewhere.  The copyright of these components may remain with the designer or the original "third-party" designer.  In such a case, the designer is contracted with DesignCrowd to ensure you have the right to and you will be granted a right to display those designs.  

Logo designs should not include third-party stock or vector components. Any fonts used in logos should be owned by the designer such that there is no impediment to transferring ownership of the design to the client. Designers should clearly identify any elements of their design (fonts, graphics or other elements) where ownership cannot be automatically transferred to the client as part of the purchase.

Please read our User Agreement and Designer/Client Contract for more detail on copyright and site usage.