copyright???
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- matt25
I'm a little confused on this whole copyright issue.
If i work for a place, and I have signed nothing that says I transfer the rights of each piece to my work....Who owns the copyright to this work? me or them
Also, what about freelance. If I do some work for a company and there is no written agreement with me signing anything over, I retain the copyright, correct???
soooooo... if they take an element of a piece i did and use it for something else they have to pay up, correct?
thanks
- brundlefly0
slippery slope.
if you want to continue to work with them give them the work you do, and retain portfolio rights...
if you want to be jerkie, or they are ripping off your stuff then you can be a pain in their side....still though, contracts sort all this stuff out from the onset, its pretty hard to make a case with just he said she said
- matt250
The thing is, there is nothing in writing. sooo... is it mine then?
- jevad0
nope.
anything you do while working for a company, legally, is theirs.
- brundlefly0
yeah Jevad is right, you probably have to ask for portfolio rights even from them...
I am too into the freelance mentality.
- matt250
okay cool - what about freelance?
- brundlefly0
freelancer, make yourselves contracts!
you have zero grounds to protect your work or stand on without them
- matt250
so if you have no contract the copyright defaults to the company you did the work for?
- ********0
everything needs to be in writting or it's a no go. Only sign intellectual property sign-offs if they are paying you well.
- Carty0
if you are getting "paycheques" from said company, all work you do for that company belongs to them, especially if it is under there name, and you are just a designer.
for freelancers, if you are hired for a magazine to do work, once the mag runs it once, it is yours, they need to pay again even if they reuse it... its yours to resell unless you signed off a contract.
if that company used something that you did with them while woking there, its kinda like, you'er screwed, cause it kinda belongs to them... you are their property as long as you are using their workspace and taking paycheqs... i hope this helps.
- shutdown0
if you are hired by a company to create something, freelance or not, you are in effect employed by them. The contract doesn't have to exist if you have created something for them as you have accepted their employement.
that was what i was told anyway
- Insanctuary0
Ok quick question concerning contracts... do you need someone legal to review it before you use it, or can you just write your own and ask them to sign?
- shutdown0
it would be wiser to get a legal beagal to cast a beady eye over it to make sure everything is legit otherwise you could still get stuffed at the end of it.
worth doing to be safe
- rabattski&rabattski0
depends what country you work/live in.
- matt250
I think Carty mor or less answered my question (nice new splash photo on your site by the way)
One remaining thing I'm wondering. If you do a freelance piece but no contract is used, who does the copyright default to? The company or the designer?
- chach0
whoever has the larger legal purse, of course!