Because copyright infringement is so prevalent??”and because
it??™s easy to break the law unknowingly??”corporations must put in long hours of homework
before trying to register their website. It??™s usually best to work with a legal firm in this area,
since they have a much deeper knowledge of the finer copyright law distinctions.
Work made for hire
Many web design and copyrighting contracts contain a blurb titled ???Assignment of
Copyright??? or something similar, where the owner of the copyright is explicitly stated.
Under standard copyright law, the creator of the work (the designer or author) owns
the final art, not the receiving company, unless the copyright is specifically transferred
to the client in the contract.
Many companies try to circumvent this by asking contractors to sign a work-made-forhire
(often shortened to ???work-for-hire???) agreement, which more or less states that
everything the artist creates for the project??”even material that does not get used??”is
owned by the client. Every full-time employee in the United States is technically under
a work-made-for-hire agreement. Beyond that, the law becomes very explicit about
what exactly can be included in a work-for-hire agreement.
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