On Jul 20, 2009, at 10:05 PM, Nathaniel Flick wrote:
This person was laid off which implies he/she was an employee. As
such, he/she has no rights to the artwork created. In fact, they need
to get permission to display that work in a portfolio because it's
proprietary information.
Where did people get the idea that there's a contract involved in
this situation? (scratches head)
From the US Copyright office (note this is limited to US copyright
law - laws in your country of residence/employ may be different). It's
not so much that a contract was assumed but a question of whether one
exists or not, because ownership of the work may hinge on the
existence of any such contract. Specifically, as applies to a creative
work not on the exclusionary list, copyright defaults _automatically_
to the creator/author unless said creator has expressly agreed to
assign those rights to the employer/commissioner. The way this is
typically done is as a "work for hire" or through an employment
contract.
Believe it or not, even if you are an employee for a company that
hired you to produce a creative work and they pay you to produce such
work using company supplied resources, unless you have agreed to
assign it to the employer you own the copyright to the work. Of course
there can be some entanglement here when the work incorporates trade
dress, trade marks, or trade secrets, but this is no different than if
you as a completely unaffiliated individual create a work that
infringes the trade dress of Pepsi. Don't just take my word for it,
though, talk to an attorney that specializes in copyright law.
Of course, even if you do own the copyright that doesn't mean the
company can't sue you into submission. Lawsuits are an expensive
proposition and it becomes a pragmatic decision as to whether the
property in question is really worth the expense and hassle. You're at
even more of a disadvantage when you don't actually have possession of
the work. Companies often have much deeper pockets than individuals
and seem to not care much about fabricating evidence (I have
personally been involved in a dispute where a former employer lied
about there having been a contract).
Cheers,
-corn
Corn Walker
Hatfield, MA
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