Discussion:
What is the name of your state? Iowa
I used to work for an ad agency as a web designer. Over a year ago, I left the company to pursue another job. A couple of weeks ago, I produced a web site for myself, trying to get some freelance work. On the site, I have six examples of site designs that I created while working at the agency. All sites that I used as samples are ones that I produced the concepts, designs, much of the photography, and the programming.
The owner of the agency had her attorney send me a letter demanding that I remove the sites. Five of the sites listed are no longer clients of the agency, two sites are no longer live-one of which is the one that I did for the agency, and the agency has officially changed names.
Does the agency had a leg to stand on with this? Who owns the rights to these site? Do the clients since they paid for them, do I since I designed them, or does the agency since I was an employee?
Answer:
What is the name of your state? Iowa
I used to work for an ad agency as a web designer. Over a year ago, I left the company to pursue another job. A couple of weeks ago, I produced a web site for myself, trying to get some freelance work. On the site, I have six examples of site designs that I created while working at the agency. All sites that I used as samples are ones that I produced the concepts, designs, much of the photography, and the programming.
The owner of the agency had her attorney send me a letter demanding that I remove the sites. Five of the sites listed are no longer clients of the agency, two sites are no longer live-one of which is the one that I did for the agency, and the agency has officially changed names.
Does the agency had a leg to stand on with this? Who owns the rights to these site? Do the clients since they paid for them, do I since I designed them, or does the agency since I was an employee? If you were an employee of the agency when you created the works, then the ad agency owns the works (unless they sold the rights to their clients, which is unlikely). You certainly do not have any rights to use or display the works without permission from the copyright holder.
Answer:
The agency hold the rights, even though clients paid for them. In effect, they commisioned the work? If someone commissioned a painter to paint a portrait, that person would hold the rights to that piece, wouldn't they?
Also,if the agency changed their name since the time those were created, technically, that agency no longer exists, therefore shouldn't their copyrights go as well?
I'm not trying to pick a fight, just want to be clear.
Thanks
Answer:
The agency hold the rights, even though clients paid for them. In effect, they commisioned the work? If someone commissioned a painter to paint a portrait, that person would hold the rights to that piece, wouldn't they? Typically, when you comission a work, you purchase the right to use or display the work -- in effect, a license -- but you do not actually purchase the rights to the work -- the copyright. Usually the client would have a license to use the work in his ads and the like, but would not own the rights, so he could not create derivative works and the like -- that's how the ad agencies keep 'em coming back for more.
It's the same with a portrait -- you can commission an artist to paint a portrait, and you would own the portrait and you would have a license to display it. But you would not own the rights to the picture itself, which means you couldn't reproduce the picture, or give someone else the right to reproduce it.
Look up "work for hire" if you are interested.
Also,if the agency changed their name since the time those were created, technically, that agency no longer exists, therefore shouldn't their copyrights go as well? Copyrights are a property, and can be sold, given away, bequeathed, whatever -- they don't just disappear unless they a) expire, or b) the current copyright owner explicitly gives up the work to the public domain. When the ad agency changed its name, all of the agency's assets -- including the copyrights it owned -- were transferred to the new company, just like any leases they might have had, or any tables and chairs they owned, would have transferred to the other company.
Even if the agency had gone bankrupt, the copyrights would not have disappeared -- somebody would have purchased the assets of the company, or they would have been given to the company's creditors, and those entities would then be the new owners of the copyrights.
Answer:
If I state that the sites were designed when I was employed at the agency, would that make things OK?
Answer:
If I state that the sites were designed when I was employed at the agency, would that make things OK? No. You actually need to obtain permission to use them from the copyright holder.