Hi, I'm a freelance designer and currently in a awkward position regarding contract breach and copyright.
I have been working under a contract agreement for a large company where I agreed to them owning the copyright. I have subsequently found out the person who recommended me and has been my point of contact for projects is now leaving the company and has asked that some work they briefed me on is not invoiced to the company, lend the graphic to them as investment in kind (with payment and subsequent work opportunity subject to them winning tenders) and would I be willing to share the copyright. The legal advice I've been given is quite general regarding shared copyright, in that we can basically set whatever terms we want as long as we agree and sign appropriate documentation.
From my perspective, despite not being able to copyright an idea, I am willing to share the copyright with this person due to the nature of the graphic and the project in general, but out of principle I think I should retain modification rights, reason being, I'm concerned I don't want my name attached to a modified version because I cannot guarantee the quality of the modified graphic and don't want it to hurt the reputation of my work. However, I also feel pushing a copyright agreement is a waste of my time in this case, since it will be hard for me to track whether it's been modified and it might discourage this person from contracting me in the future. That said, I also want to be professional and not a walk-over when it comes to standing up for my rights and business quality.
I am feeling very torn and at the point of just letting the work be shared and crossing the bridge of owning copyright within a future contract rather than a separate license agreement.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how I should proceed with this?
Thanks in advance!
I have been working under a contract agreement for a large company where I agreed to them owning the copyright. I have subsequently found out the person who recommended me and has been my point of contact for projects is now leaving the company and has asked that some work they briefed me on is not invoiced to the company, lend the graphic to them as investment in kind (with payment and subsequent work opportunity subject to them winning tenders) and would I be willing to share the copyright. The legal advice I've been given is quite general regarding shared copyright, in that we can basically set whatever terms we want as long as we agree and sign appropriate documentation.
From my perspective, despite not being able to copyright an idea, I am willing to share the copyright with this person due to the nature of the graphic and the project in general, but out of principle I think I should retain modification rights, reason being, I'm concerned I don't want my name attached to a modified version because I cannot guarantee the quality of the modified graphic and don't want it to hurt the reputation of my work. However, I also feel pushing a copyright agreement is a waste of my time in this case, since it will be hard for me to track whether it's been modified and it might discourage this person from contracting me in the future. That said, I also want to be professional and not a walk-over when it comes to standing up for my rights and business quality.
I am feeling very torn and at the point of just letting the work be shared and crossing the bridge of owning copyright within a future contract rather than a separate license agreement.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how I should proceed with this?
Thanks in advance!