[amayausers] Re: Digitizer Question

Here's the law as written- a, b & c define the person that 'authored'  
the work as the 'owner of copyright', b-works made for hire  
(digitizing) the digitizer does NOT get the copyright-it still  
belongs to the 'author'. d ownership can be conveyed or transferred  
by 'any means of conveyance'- so you can 'sell' the copyright to your  
client if YOU designed the artwork originally by simply writing it in  
an invoice.
As the law reads (and there is a lot more to it) the ORIGINAL person  
creating that artwork owns the copyright-unless the person (client)  
and you, the art person-agree UP FRONT that the client owns the  
artwork and you are doing it 'for hire'. Without that 'up front'  
claim, YOU own the artwork and copyright and the client cannot use it  
without your permission.

And you do not have to 'release' the digitized files or any copy of  
the artwork to the client unless you have 'sold' them the rights-if  
you haven't transferred the copyright to them, YOU own it and all  
versions of it.

But if you put in an invoice that you are being paid to produce HIS  
logo-you are then not the copyright owner. It's how you word it that  
protects you.

You can put in charges for 'design time, art time, digitizing time',  
to create a logo-but unless you put in 'custom logo design for  
client' then you still own it.

As long as you retain the rights to the artwork-you can easily sue  
them if they run to another shop and have the artwork used on  
ANYTHING, business cards, etc.

I have purchased artwork for a series we were printing-and the  
'invoice' for the artwork I commissioned states very plainly- (the  
artist) owns the copyright to this artwork-and (Sunrise Graphics) has  
paid for the rights to reproduce this artwork exclusively for  
teeshirts and hats...(so if I started making key chains or posters,  
they can SUE me, or force me to pay for another 'right to use' their  
artwork. Even though it is MY design, I am not an artist-so I paid  
them to do it. They are professional artists-designing book covers,  
illustrations,etc. for several BIG book printers...so they know the law!




 >>>>>>>>>>>>copies of Federal Copyright Law...

§ 201. Ownership of copyright



Release date: 2005-08-01


(a) Initial Ownership.? Copyright in a work protected under this  
title vests initially in the author or authors of the work. The  
authors of a joint work are coowners of copyright in the work.
(b) Works Made for Hire.? In the case of a work made for hire, the  
employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is considered  
the author for purposes of this title, and, unless the parties have  
expressly agreed otherwise in a written instrument signed by them,  
owns all of the rights comprised in the copyright.
(c) Contributions to Collective Works.? Copyright in each separate  
contribution to a collective work is distinct from copyright in the  
collective work as a whole, and vests initially in the author of the  
contribution. In the absence of an express transfer of the copyright  
or of any rights under it, the owner of copyright in the collective  
work is presumed to have acquired only the privilege of reproducing  
and distributing the contribution as part of that particular  
collective work, any revision of that collective work, and any later  
collective work in the same series.
(d) Transfer of Ownership.?
(1) The ownership of a copyright may be transferred in whole or in  
part by any means of conveyance or by operation of law, and may be  
bequeathed by will or pass as personal property by the applicable  
laws of intestate succession.
(2) Any of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, including  
any subdivision of any of the rights specified by section 106, may be  
transferred as provided by clause (1) and owned separately. The owner  
of any particular exclusive right is entitled, to the extent of that  
right, to all of the protection and remedies accorded to the  
copyright owner by this title.

(e) Involuntary Transfer.? When an individual author?s ownership of a  
copyright, or of any of the exclusive rights under a copyright, has  
not previously been transferred voluntarily by that individual  
author, no action by any governmental body or other official or  
organization purporting to seize, expropriate, transfer, or exercise  
rights of ownership with respect to the copyright, or any of the  
exclusive rights under a copyright, shall be given effect under this  
title, except as provided under title 11.




TITLE 17 > CHAPTER 2 > § 202
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§ 202. Ownership of copyright as distinct from ownership of material  
object



Release date: 2005-08-01


Ownership of a copyright, or of any of the exclusive rights under a  
copyright, is distinct from ownership of any material object in which  
the work is embodied. Transfer of ownership of any material object,  
including the copy or phonorecord in which the work is first fixed,  
does not of itself convey any rights in the copyrighted work embodied  
in the object; nor, in the absence of an agreement, does transfer of  
ownership of a copyright or of any exclusive rights under a copyright  
convey property rights in any material object.

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