Client won’t pay, my final resort
As a fellow designer, I've been scammed multiple times too. So, I totally feel you.<p>Here's my documented version of to-do's to avoid such awkward situations.<p>1) Always let the client know through email that whatever NDA or any other form you've signed is valid only after the project is complete(ie., the final invoice is paid). But, however, promise them that (legally) you will not leak anything about their project anywhere else until unless it goes too extreme, as in your case (add this clause, it's important). I say email specifically because it can be used as vital evidence if something goes wrong.<p>2) If it's just PSD's, watermark them in a way they will need to spend more time and money removing watermarks and editing than paying you.<p>3) Copyright. In your email to your client, the first thing you let them know is that the whole stuff belongs to you (owned by you, copyrighted) unless the final invoice is paid. So make sure the NDA doesn't mention/over-ride this before you sign it.<p>4) Many are against this tactic, but I will explain the reasons soon. Include a flipswitch.<p>Here's how -<p>If you are doing HTML/CSS, this is how you do it (I've already suggested it before):<p>Add redundant containers - I'm using the logo as an example, but really it could be some important element that provides value to the client. As an example, if you want to add styles for your logo, don't just write it as<p><pre><code>    #logo{
    display:block;
    position:absolute;
    top:10px;
    background:url('some-image.jpg') no-repeat;
   }
</code></pre>
But re-write it as:<p><pre><code>   #aw469srfa #fewji903{
    display:block;
    position:absolute;
    top:10px;
    background:url('some-image.jpg') no-repeat;
   }
</code></pre>
BUT, in your actual HTML file, what you do is DON'T include the logo container with ID 'fewji903'. Instead, write a tiny Jquery script to load this container dynamically. Something like:<p><pre><code>    $(document).ready(function() {
    //do a check to see if current time is less than expiry date
    if( project_expired()){
    $('#aw469srfa').html('<div id="fewji903"></div>');
    }
    else{
    // don't load the container
    alert('fuck-off, expired');
    }

    function project_expired(){
    //do something to check the validity
    if (current_time==time_you_set_to_expire)
    return true
    else 
    return false    
    }
    });
</code></pre>
What you're doing here is checking the time (you could maybe use even ajax to send a request to your server to see if the project is valid, but it will increase page loading time obviously) to see if it's less than some certain time frame you've set. Say about a month. This means, if the client doesn't pay you in a month, then the site would break automatically after a month.<p>Now:<p>Minify your CSS and make it unreadable. And finally, obfuscate your JS above:<p>This is how the above code, when obfuscated will look like this somewhat:<p><pre><code>     eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('$(a).b(2(){5(0()){$(\'#9\').8(\'<1 6="7"></1>\')}3{j(\'h-i, c\')}2 0(){5(f==d)4 e 3 4 g}});',20,20,'project_expired|div|function|else|return|if|id|fewji903|html|aw469srfa|document|ready|expired|time_you_set_to_expire|true|current_time|false|fuck|off|alert'.split('|'),0,{}))


</code></pre>
I always use <a href="http://www.jsobfuscate.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.jsobfuscate.com</a> for this purpose.<p>At that point, your client could:<p>1) Reverse engineer the code to see how it works.<p>2) Try to re-design it from scratch<p>3) Cancel the project, or take too much time to complete it.<p>4) Pay you.<p>1-3 are extremely time-consuming and expensive for them. So, most likely, they will opt for 4.<p>Now for the DON'T's.<p>1)DO NOT obfuscate your code in production. This is only done till you get your final payment.<p>2) Remove all the shady tricks above in production (once you've received your payment) because it's<p>a)unprofessional and<p>b)most likely would break something.<p>This is not perfect. But you do understand that any locksmith can break your house door, right? So, this is for those non-tech clients who would rather pay when you push them too far..<p>This has worked really well for me all these years.