Marketing & PR Firms - Rules Regarding Copyrighting Marketing Materials
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Marketing materials, from press releases to packaging, logos to jingles, are creative works presented in tangible or perceptible form, and therefore fall within the protection of U.S. copyright law. Works may be registered with the Copyright Office, but doing so makes no difference to basic protection.
Ownership and Transfer of Copyright
Copyright in marketing materials belongs to the creator of the work until and unless rights are sold, bequeathed or otherwise transferred to someone else. Rights in marketing materials are often transferred, however, through routine conditions of the materials' creation.
Works Made for Hire
An employee of a creative enterprise, such as a marketing concern or design house, usually sells the employer all rights to all works created during employment by signing a contract, and usually receiving a dollar in cash, on the day the employee starts work. A freelance or contract creator signs a similar "work for hire" agreement in exchange for a fee specific to the work.
Transfer of Limited Rights
Contract creators may also sell use, time-limited or performance rights, and marketers buy limited rights to incorporate the work of fully independent creators into materials that will be copyrighted as "derivative works." For example, the music used in a TV commercial may be licensed from the recording artist.
Tags:
Marketing, Marketing amp; PR Firms
Ownership and Transfer of Copyright
Copyright in marketing materials belongs to the creator of the work until and unless rights are sold, bequeathed or otherwise transferred to someone else. Rights in marketing materials are often transferred, however, through routine conditions of the materials' creation.
Works Made for Hire
An employee of a creative enterprise, such as a marketing concern or design house, usually sells the employer all rights to all works created during employment by signing a contract, and usually receiving a dollar in cash, on the day the employee starts work. A freelance or contract creator signs a similar "work for hire" agreement in exchange for a fee specific to the work.
Transfer of Limited Rights
Contract creators may also sell use, time-limited or performance rights, and marketers buy limited rights to incorporate the work of fully independent creators into materials that will be copyrighted as "derivative works." For example, the music used in a TV commercial may be licensed from the recording artist.
