Jack Tse

Copyright & Copywrongs

First published on the TYPESETT design blog website that was active around ~2010.

I think most designers can stand to know more about copyright and how it pertains to their work. Here’s a quick practical guide written just for designers with information from
AIGA’s Design and Business page, U.S. Copyright Office Website and my first-hand experiences as a freelance designer, advertising agency production mule, in-house and design firm employee.

So what’s copyrightable?

Any project you work on that is original and creative is copyrightable. While you can’t copyright things like an idea or a style because they lack a specific finished form, specific finished expressions of an idea or style can be copyrighted.

What can you do with it?

The designer who owns the copyright has exclusive rights to license, reproduce and make derivatives from it. You can ask anyone who infringes on your copyright to stop and or take legal action against them. For you to be able to collect statuary damages though, you need to have the work registered with the Copyright Office before the infringement happened.

Can I ever lose it?

You can transfer ownership of a copyright through a written agreement signed by the designer. When you die, you can transfer the ownership of the copyright to someone else and it will continue for another 70 years.

Do I need to put copyright notices on everything now?

Designers are designated the copyright owner of their work as soon as it is created. However, putting the notice on your work has advantages… legal advantages. When you put your copyright on your work it informs the public that it is owned by somebody and that they can be liable if they choose to infringe. You can weigh the pluses and minuses and decide for yourself what is and what is not worthwhile to put a copyright notice.

What is a copyright notice supposed to look like?

A copyright notice is composed of three elements:

It begins with the alert: “Copyright”, “Copr.” or “©”
The designer’s name (or what they are known as to the public)
The year of publication

Fully constructed it looks like this: Copyright Joe Smith 2009

Do I need to register my work as well?

Registration is an official acknowledgment by the Copyright Office that you have an exclusive copyright. It will be most useful to you if you need to sue. Otherwise, the application fee is $30 and you’d have to make an individual decision if your work requires that type of protection.

How does Fair Use apply to designers?

There are instances when using other people’s copyrighted work is not necessarily harmful and that’s what Fair use is. When debated in court, they look at many factors like if profit was made, the amount, the nature of the work and does it have a real effect on the value of the original copyright work.
As an in-house employee for a company, do I own copyright of my work there?

Human resources will usually have you sign a work-for-hire document that specifies that the work you produce is property of the company. So unless you have a written agreement that states otherwise, the company retains the copyright exclusivity.

What if I work for a design firm?

A design firm employee is no different than any other employee, so the same rules apply unless you have been allowed to retain copyright ownership. Furthermore, design firm partners are considered employees so they too require an agreement or the same rules will apply to them.

What if I’m a freelancer?

Once again, it’s considered work-for-hire so freelancers do not retain copyright. Companies who frequently work with freelancers usually make this clear when hiring. For freelancers working with smaller businesses, they should include copyright ownership language in their service agreements to prevent miscommunication.

If you have any specific issues with copyright, you should seek professional guidance. This article is meant to be a brief guide to help quickly educate designers on the importance of their copyrights. Visit the Official Copyright Office Website for up to date documented copyright information.