Many business people lack even the most fundamental understanding of U. S. Copyright Law and are at risk of inadvertently committing copyright violations. This lack of understanding could result in costly lawsuits.
The "I Paid for It, I Own It" Myth
One of the most misunderstood aspects of U.S. Copyright Law is that when a business owner pays someone (the Creator) to create a work, such as to take a photo, write an article or code a program, the business owner then owns the rights to that work.
Ownership of copyright automatically goes to the business ONLY when the Creator is an actual employee of the company. That is, the Creator is not in independent contractor as defined by the IRS.
If the Creator is not a bona fide employee of the company, then the Creator automatically owns all the rights associated with that work. The only exceptions are when the Creator has transferred rights to the work in writing prior to creating the work. There are several forms of transfer, which I won't go into in detail, but the essence of the law is that that rights can only be transferred in writing and that some transfers, such as a Work Made for Hire agreement, must be made before the work is created, not after.
Suppose you pay a freelance photographer to take a photo for use on your web site: depending upon the terms of your written agreement, you may not not have permission to use that photo elsewhere, such as in your print newsletter or a marketing brochure. You may also not have permission to make "derivative works" based on that photo: in other words, you may not have permission to alter it in Photoshop or to use it in a collage with other photos, to display it without the photographer's copyright designation, etc.
You also may not have the right to give permission to someone else to use the right. So, if someone contacts you for permission to use that photo, you must refer that person to the Creator rather than giving permission yourself.
Attorney Ivan Hoffman has written an excellent series of articles on copyright law that can help business owners and creatives understand the complexities of U. S. Copyright Law.
More resources:
Copyright Basics
http://www.copyright.gov/
http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_copyright_law
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nice article....it si very important as the world becomes more high tech and internet driven.
Have a happy fourth.
Doug