Many
companies ask their employees to sign a piece of paper stating this, but it??™s implicit
in American business.
If an outside contractor created the work (either design or writing), it only belongs
to the client company if rights were explicitly transferred, or if it was created under
a work-made-for-hire agreement (see the following ???Work made for hire??? sidebar
for information about this). Otherwise, the contractor technically owns the copyright
and licenses it to the corporation for whom the work was done.
For stock photography and clip art, a copyright can be obtained if the artwork is
used creatively in a way that constitutes an original work. For instance, a single
photograph, even if purchased under a royalty-free license, cannot be copyrighted;
however, if that photograph is combined with others into an original collage, that
compilation??”now an original work??”can be registered.
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1. www.copyright.gov
While it might sound convoluted to track down copyright ownership for everything inside
the website, keep in mind that this exact practice happens all the time in other creative
industries like filmmaking.
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