Who Owns Your Work?: Work Made for Hire and Creative Ownership

To determine the ownership of your art, review your contract Most creative contracts have a section that deals with copyright ownership. The section can have different names, but look for something like: "Grant of Rights," "IP Rights," "Intellectual Property," or "Copyright Ownership." Once you find it, read it carefully and look for the following terms:

• “Assignment” You transferred (or sold) the copyright ownership in your art to someone else. Assignments must be in writing.
  

• “Non-exclusive license” You gave someone permission to use your art, but you still own the copyright. You can give other people permission to use your art.
  

• “Exclusive license” You gave someone permission to use your art, but you still own the copyright. You can’t give other people permission to use your art. Exclusive licenses must be in writing.
  

• “Work made for hire” (U.S.) You were hired to make art. The person or company that hired you owns the copyright.
  

• “Work created in the course of employment” (Canada) You were hired to make art. If you’re an employee, your employer owns the copyright; if you’re an independent contractor, you own the copyright.
  

Note: If you don't have a contract (i.e. it was a verbal agreement or "handshake deal"), then you can be assured that: (1) you didn't assign (or sell) your copyright to the other party; and (2) you didn't grant the other party an exclusive license to use your art. That's because assignments and exclusive licenses must be in writing.

Let's take a look at some examples:

Assignment:

• Carole assigns her song to James. The deal is a bit like a sale of property.

• Only James can use the song. He can use it however he wants (with some exceptions).

• Carole can't use the song because James owns it now.

Non-Exclusive License:

• Carole licenses her design to James for a period of time (or forever, if she wants).

• James and Carole can use the design.

• Plus, Carole can license the design to Joni.

• If and when the licenses end, James and Joni will no longer be able to use the design.

Exclusive License:

• Carole exclusively licenses her footage to James for a period of time.

• James is the only person who can use it. Carole can’t use it (unless there are exceptions specified in the contract).

• If and when the license ends, James won’t be able to use the song, and all rights will revert to Carole.

Work Made for Hire (U.S.):

• Carole is hired by James to write a song for a commercial under a work for hire agreement.

• James owns the song and can likely use it however he wants.

• Carole can't use the song because James owns it.

Work Made in the Course of Employment (Canada):

• Carole's boss, James, asks her to write a blog post.

• If Carole is an independent contractor, she owns the copyright in the blog post.

• If Carole is James' employee, James owns the copyright.

*This is not legal advice. If you have questions about creative ownership, talk to a lawyer in your area.