Agreements About Copyright Between Freelancers & Buyers

Ownership issues are usually straightforward-either you own something or you don’t. However, ownership issues become tricky when a person is dealing with, a no-material item but an idea like a literary, musical, dramatic, artistic, or architectural work. It may be true that ideas are dime a dozen, but not in copyright infringement cases. Imagine owning a home and coming home from work, and finding someone else living there; having commandeered your house as their own. A deed, mortgage, loans are the few of the things that would prevent such an event from occurring, ensuring your protection under the law.

When an employer uses a professional freelancers work without their permission they are essentially trespassing on their property. Without a deed, loan or a mortgage to prove ownership, how does a person retain ownership of their work? Although, copyright protection starts from conception-as soon as a work is written, drawn or programmed under copyright protection laws ‘he/she who creates it owns it”- there are exceptions to the rule.

For example, the owner of a bakery hires a baker whose job is to everyday make a batch of chocolate chip cookies. The baker does his/her job, then turning the chocolate chip cookies over to the owner of the bakery to be sold. But a funny thing happens, the baker decides that they want to retain ownership rights over the chocolate chip cookies and the owner of the bakery shouts, ‘foul.’ The idea that the baker has no leg to stand on is an absurd one, but in some cases, without some clear guidelines, the employer might find themselves up the creek with a paddle nowhere in sight.

Now consider this, an employer hires a professional freelancer for a project. The professional freelancer agrees, completes his/hers work, and turns it in to their employer. This time the freelancer decides that they want to retain ownership rights, but unlike in the previous case the possibility is not so absurd. The freelancer not only has a leg to stand on, but they might have a case for copyright infringement.

Building upon the example above, your a baker and hired to bake cookies. You know you have no claim to ownership rights for the cookies you bake, but what if you come up with a recipe while working at your place of employment. Would the recipe you created while at work be yours or that of the owner of the bakery? Suppose the baker came up with the recipe during off hours? Who would own the copyright ownership rights to the recipe? In the former case, it would be the employer and in the latter, the employee.

When an employer enters into a business arrangement, copyright ownership issue can happen. If it does, a person needs to be sure that the legs they are standing on are sound. Let again suppose that during off hours the baker came up with a cookie recipe, therefore they retain ownership rights. What that means is that no one can recreate his/her cookie recipe without their approval. In the case of reproduction(reproducing a semi-similar cookie recipe), modification(changing an ingredient or two, so the recipe is not completely the same but close enough and derivative works (generic cookies), all these examples would constitute as copyright infringement.

However let suppose the baker is willing to give up all rights to their recipe. There are two ways this can be done. The first if, as mentioned above, the baker was an employee of a bakery and coming up with recipes was part of their job. The second, the baker consents to sign a contract, giving up all copyright ownership rights to the recipe.

Unlike a small child, possessive of their toys, going around gripping them fiercely, saying, “mine, mine” the copyright symbol warns off on potential poachers. If the copyright symbol is absent either contact the creator for permission to use the work or the U.S Copyright Office.

In conclusion, respect the property of others is one of the things we constantly tell our children and fail to do ourselves. Avoid copyright infringement and use works in the public domain and everyone will breath a sigh of relief.