John Baymore on thu 5 oct 00
Hal,
My understanding is a bit different......... and it might for sure be
wrong..... but it is certainly different. Maybe we have a legal speciali=
st
in this field on the list who can comment with the "real deal" ??????
most artists do not realize that when they publish something the copyrig=
ht
becomes the publishers unless they reserve the rights .
I think the artist / writer holds ALL rights to the creation unless they
sign a specific legal agreement with a publisher as to the specific uses
the publisher has for the work. There are many types of "rights" that yo=
u
can give or sell. One does not preclued others unless it is so written. =
They don't have to be "reserved"....you already intrinsically hold them. =
If a contract stipulates that you a =
re-assigning those rights....and you don't want to....THEN you have to
amend the contract to reserve those specific rights.
=
when i was teaching i had to get special permission from the dean of teh
college to have my own papers duplicated for students.
If you create written documents as part of your employment ..... on the
company's paid time, so to speak...... then those documents actually ARE
the companies...or universitiy's, not yours. Even though your "brain
power" created them. They paid you for the power of your brain . In
that case, you technically WOULD have to get permission to use them in so=
me
fashion. They are not yours. Having to ask permission to xerox them for=
handouts to students at the same school would seem to me to be a REAL
interesting phenomona . Maybe they wanted to bind them together and
SELL the papers to the students as a "book" and make money........ and yo=
u
xeroxing them was a threat (see below). =
The problem with this concept of ownership of work created "on company
time" is often delineating exactly WHEN such stuff was actually created. =
Or what percentage was created on company time and what on your own? The=
se
types of question can keep a lawyer or two in new cars .
This "who owns what" problem is sometimes actually due to a little, itsy,=
bitsy, tiny clause in many university and business contracts which you
willingly sign (often inadvertantly by not reading the fine print ) th=
at
sort of says that anything you do in a creative sense during your
employment period is assumed to be the property of the company, not you. =
Even if you do it on "your own time", and/or at home. In that sense....y=
ou
have actually signed all your rights to your own work away "volluntarily"=
.. =
In defense of this "interesting" practice, most employers who use it say
you have a full choice in the matter ....... just don't sign the contract=
if you don't agree to this (which incidentally means that you don't get t=
he
job.... but that's not the issue, is it?)
Usually this practice is relating most directly to inventions and
manufaturing process ideas, but sometimes book manuscripts and the like
too. In most cases the business does not enforce their rights to your
stuff, and you forget you ever signed the little clause as you merrily go=
about your life. Usually it is only enforced if they "smell" money to be=
made . Or if they are "ticked off" at you and want to make life
annoying. Or to protect their "name and reputation" if you are doing or
saying something they don't like.
Convenient clause that can cover a lot of bases for them .
ceramics monthly pays for articles so the artists really works for hire a=
nd
does not own the rights to his own materials.
I think that usually what a magazine "owns" is first magazine publishing
rights...and that is it. The deal goes no further and the artist/writer
who holds the original copyright can reuse the material in the article
however they see fit in the future except for selling it to another
magazine to publish it before the original magazine has done so.
I've had some stuff published both on "spec" (wrote it and submitted it t=
o
see if someone wanted it) and on contract.... and that is the way it work=
ed
in those cases.
Hope someone from the publishing law field is on list and can comment. I=
'd
like to know a bit more on this subject.
Best,
........................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752 (s)
800-900-1110 (s)
JBaymore@compuserve.com
John.Baymore@GSD-CO.com
"Earth, Water, and Fire Noborigama Woodfiring Workshop August 18-27,
2000"
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