Copyright Ownership

directresponse

directresponse

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Jul 7, 2007
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Today I was talking to a friend of mine who's a lawyer and he mentioned an article he read on copyright law.

Basically if you hire an independent contractor to write an article, design a graphic, code a site, etc, you don't own the actual copyright on that work unless your contract with the contractor specifically says that all rights belong to the buyer.

Unfortunately the article he mentioned requires a password to read, but here is one I found that was very similar: Copyright ownership: buyer beware | Daily Journal of Commerce

Has anyone here ran into this issue due to using contractors?
 


This has been mentioned a bunch of times on this forum, pretty much every time an "I didn't get paid by my client" thread pops up. It's pretty straight forward law.

If you're worried about it, always make sure you have a contract in place that states you own what your contractors produce. It doesn't have to be a complex document. In reality though, if you're working with reputable contractors, and pay them for what they do, then it's not going to be a problem.

I've only ever had to play that card once with a client that didn't want to pay me for the work I did for him that he was actively using. I told him he couldn't legally use what I produced until he paid me, because I owned it. He drew up a document that stated who owned what, which we signed, and promptly paid me for the work.
 
Fatbat said:
This has been mentioned a bunch of times on this forum, pretty much every time an "I didn't get paid by my client" thread pops up. It's pretty straight forward law.

If you're worried about it, always make sure you have a contract in place that states you own what your contractors produce. It doesn't have to be a complex document. In reality though, if you're working with reputable contractors, and pay them for what they do, then it's not going to be a problem.

I've only ever had to play that card once with a client that didn't want to pay me for the work I did for him that he was actively using. I told him he couldn't legally use what I produced until he paid me, because I owned it. He drew up a document that stated who owned what, which we signed, and promptly paid me for the work.
Click to expand...

Yep - this comes up every time freelancing / contracts are mentioned.

I'd never hire someone/work for someone for a major project without an agreement over IP
in place. The problem with the above situation is that it can lead to litigation (what if the client said "so sue me"?), and nobody wants to get involved in that. A good clear contract makes it a lot less likely to end up in court.

From a service buyer's point of view, if you are building an asset (such as a business) that you'll want to sell later, not having IP agreements in place at the outset will cause you a lot of pain (and reduced value) during due diligence.
 
When you purchase anything from a designr or a writer - the understanding is generically that the copyrights are transferred as soon as the payment is cleared.

I have had a somewhat bitter experience with a designer who (although amazingly talented) was too much of a simpleton to understand copyrights. He sold one of my purchased graphical packages (with the logo/colors changed) to another company setting up in the same niche as myself. When I wished to re-order and decided to take a look at his portfolio, I chanced upon the design strikingly similar to mine and was utterly shocked, as my site's launch was still a month away. When questioned, the guy gave meaningless, nonsensical replies and I simply couldn't be bothered explaining things to him. I ended up charging back my card.

However, I usually make it a point confirming receipt of copyrights from most of the freelancers from then on... (I have the template ready and usually send it to them in a text file for them to have the email sent.)

A simple email with the work attached (or in other cases - a brief description of the work), his name, my business name, his confirmation of the receipt of payment and his declaration of the transfer of copyrights to me.

In case, there is a legal issue or reselling of the same good twice (unless of course explicitly stated) - you have the upperhand if you have an email conversation stating the above.
 
BlogHue said:
When you purchase anything from a designr or a writer - the understanding is generically that the copyrights are transferred as soon as the payment is cleared.

I have had a somewhat bitter experience with a designer who (although amazingly talented) was too much of a simpleton to understand copyrights. He sold one of my purchased graphical packages (with the logo/colors changed) to another company setting up in the same niche as myself. When I wished to re-order and decided to take a look at his portfolio, I chanced upon the design strikingly similar to mine and was utterly shocked, as my site's launch was still a month away. When questioned, the guy gave meaningless, nonsensical replies and I simply couldn't be bothered explaining things to him. I ended up charging back my card.

However, I usually make it a point confirming receipt of copyrights from most of the freelancers from then on... (I have the template ready and usually send it to them in a text file for them to have the email sent.)

A simple email with the work attached (or in other cases - a brief description of the work), his name, my business name, his confirmation of the receipt of payment and his declaration of the transfer of copyrights to me.

In case, there is a legal issue or reselling of the same good twice (unless of course explicitly stated) - you have the upperhand if you have an email conversation stating the above.
Click to expand...

Yep - absolutely agree. People forget that contracts can be a simple agreement in email of a few sentences. If it's a small job, that would certainly suffice for me.
 
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