[thelist] Charging for copyrights

bruce bedouglas at earthlink.net
Wed Aug 6 09:16:54 CDT 2003


andy....

i'm not sure what country you work in, and i haven't really followed this
thread, so this may already have been covered...

within the US, copyrights are apparently the property of the person/entity
that creates them, but there exceptions/rules:

case 1:
	bob is a freelance. bob provides freelance work for comp 1. comp1 gets the
use of 	the software to do with as they please within limits as they've paid
bob for the 	work. however, bob owns the copyright to the work.

case 2:
	bob is a freelance. bob provides freelance work for comp1. bob signs a
contract 	with comp1, stating that comp1 will own the copyright to the work.
comp1 gets the 	use of the software to do with as they please as they've
paid bob for the work and 	they own the copyright. bob has no future claim
to the work.


case 3:
	bob is an employee of comp1. bob provides software/tech work for comp1.
comp1 	normally owns everything that bob produces and can do pretty much
what they choose 	with his work product. the company more or less owns the
work output, including 	copyright. bob gets a salary....

	this case assumes that comp1 had bob sign a release agreement as a
condition of 	his being hired. this is pretty much standard in the US...

case 3a:
	bob is an employee of comp1. bob provides software/tech work for comp1.
comp1 	normally owns everything that bob produces and can do pretty much
what they choose 	with his work product. the company more or less owns the
work output, including 	copyright. bob gets a salary....

	this case assumes that comp1 had bob sign a release agreement as a
condition of 	his being hired. this is pretty much standard in the US...

	bob does work on a project on his own time, the project is somewhat related
to his 	normal work. BOB NEEDS A LAWYER!!!!!!!

	this is were things get tricky, and in fact different courts within the US
have 	ruled differently, depending on the situation. if bob is doing work on
his own, 	that's even remotely related to his job, comp1 may claim/and win
ownership of his 	work, arguing that his work is derivative of his job, and
knowledge that he 	obtained as a result of his job.

	and at this point..bob needs a lawyer to determine how to proceed....


in researching this, i've come across a site "www.findlaw.com" that
discusses some of the various nuances, with references to some of the court
cases in this area. i've also come across a book by a Mr. Fishman (nolo
press) that discusses web development and copyright issues. the book appears
to be reasonably priced, i was able to get it at my local library!! it also
contains a number of templates for contracts/agreements if you need them. i
have no realtionship with either the company or the author...

so... you are returned to your normal day!!!

hope this helps...

bruce
bedouglas at earthlink.net


-----Original Message-----
From: thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org
[mailto:thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org]On Behalf Of Andy Budd
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2003 2:00 AM
To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
Subject: Re: [thelist] Charging for copyrights


Cake wrote:

> Andy Budd wrote:
>
>> Under UK (and international law I believe) if you create
>> something you own the copyright.
>
> This being the case, am I right in presuming that's it true whether
> you're a freelancer, or directly working for a company as an employee
> (unless your contract of employment states otherwise) ?


Sorry, it's actually the organization that creates it that gets
copyright, not the individual. So if you're an employee of a company
then the company own the copyright. However if you're a freelancer
working for another company, you're a separate organization, not an
employee so you own copyright.

This means that if you're an employee and build a personal site in your
work time, your employers own the copyright. However if a company
brings you in on a project as a freelancer, unless specified in your
contract, everything you create for that company, you own.

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