Re: Graphic design and copyright issues

> There is a doctrine of ``work for hire'' in which you pay someone to write
> something, and you own all the rights. It's quite standard, and is the
> normal situation when one person works for another.
>
> Regards,
> John Levine, johnl[_at_]iecc.com, jlevine[_at_]delphi.com, 1037498[_at_]mcimail.com

The work for hire doctrine is much more limited than that. It requires tht someone be an "employee" as opposed to an "independent contractor" or the wfh stuff does not apply. Free lancers are typically going to be "independent contractors," so absent an explicit transfer of copyright rights (in writing, by the way), the free lancer would hold the copyright to any work done at the instance of the hiring party. There are exceptions to this rule, of course (else the law would be simple; we wouldn't want that, would we?), but this is the starting point.

        --Trotter Hardy

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