Discussion:
floridaWhat is the name of your state?Florida state
Dear members,
I have a 3d art studio(company) specialized in 3d modeling ,animation and special effects.
A company wants to hire me ,to produce 30 minutes of animation for kids.
They have the script,I have to come up with the character designs,storyboards,modeling,rigging,animation,special effects,rendering,audio and video editing and final editing to a dvd form.
With other words I will be doing the whole production work of this pillot and not only a part of it(eg. only modeling or only animation..that would fall under the 9 categories of "work for hire")
I would like to ask you,who have the copyrights of the 3d characters that I will create?Does the company has the full control over these characters,since they will pay me to produce them,and they will distributing the dvd to the market for sales,or my company as the complete production creator,will have the copyrights over this characters?
Thank you very much
Sdimis
Answer:
Chances are, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, you would own the rights to the characters you create. The company that hired you would own a copyright on the entire movie, of course, and could show the movie, etc., but you would likely retain the rights to the individual characters.
However, if you are hired as an employee rather than a consultant or contractor (i.e., you'll be getting a W2 instead of a 1099), then it doesn't matter HOW MUCH work you do -- the company will own everything.
This situation is complicated enough that you should figure out the copyright issues FIRST, not later. If you are an employee, then it's done, nothing to worry about -- you don't own anything unless they give something to you. If you are a contractor or consultant, then you would be well advised to get together with the company and hash out ownership rights, etc. -- you should probably think about getting an attorney involved as well. Don't be suprised if the movie company wants to retain all of the rights -- that's pretty common -- but if they do, you should be compensated for that.
It's important to figure this stuff out now, rather than later, especially if there ends up being a market for "peripherals" -- action figures, etc. -- because by then, if big money is involved, then you gotta start spending cash on lawyers, and there's all sorts of things that could get tied up by litigations, etc.
Even if you guys are best friends and on the best of terms now, figure out how to handle the copyrights (and, later, the trademarks) NOW, and do it in writing...
Answer:
Dear divgradcurl,
thank you so much for your advices.
I will be hired as a contractor and not as an employee.I read somewhere that I can transfer the copyrights to them as long as I will have a royalty rate(percentage of 8%-12% in entertaiment)of any related product(as you wrote action figures for example).Do you have any additional infos on that?
thank you again
sdimis
Answer:
will be hired as a contractor and not as an employee. Then you will definitely want to work something out ahead of time.
I read somewhere that I can transfer the copyrights to them as long as I will have a royalty rate(percentage of 8%-12% in entertaiment)of any related product(as you wrote action figures for example).Do you have any additional infos on that? Copyrights are property, so any tranfer of copyrights is a strictly contractual agreement. In other words, you can transfer the copyrights based on any agreement you might make -- you can even give them away if you want -- there is no "required" royalty rate. It's all in what you can negotiate. Although you can give them away, the other company would be smart to compensate you directly in some way for the rights, either ina direct payment or via royalties, in order to avoid any claim of "lack of consideration" that might try to void the transfer.
In addition to compensation for the rights, you might also want to reserve the right (or take back a license) in order to use the characters for the limited purpose of using them in your portfolio, or whatever, for pitching for work in the future. These types of things are why it might be worthwhile to discuss potential agreements with an attorney.
Answer:
thank you so much,
I realy appreciate your infos regarding my case.i will follow your advice and talk to an attorney.
thank you again
I will reply during the next week with my attorneys advices ,so I can help a little more also,people with the same issues.
Answer:
floridaWhat is the name of your state?Florida state
Dear members,
I have a 3d art studio(company) specialized in 3d modeling ,animation and special effects.
A company wants to hire me ,to produce 30 minutes of animation for kids.
They have the script,I have to come up with the character designs,storyboards,modeling,rigging,animation,special effects,rendering,audio and video editing and final editing to a dvd form.
With other words I will be doing the whole production work of this pillot and not only a part of it(eg. only modeling or only animation..that would fall under the 9 categories of "work for hire")
I would like to ask you,who have the copyrights of the 3d characters that I will create?Does the company has the full control over these characters,since they will pay me to produce them,and they will distributing the dvd to the market for sales,or my company as the complete production creator,will have the copyrights over this characters?
Thank you very much
Sdimis The contract with the company should solve that issue. If they want exclusive rights, get a better deal or refuse it. If you can churn out these creations at will, risk it.