Copyrights and Work for Hire

Almost all original, creative work produced in the United State is eligible to be copyrighted. Once your work is copyrighted, no one else is allowed to profit from it by copying or reproducing. Copyright is intrinsic to an original artistic work, and adding a line to that effect has no cost or process required. For example: "Copyright © 2011 Gretchen Wieshuber." Enforcing your copyright is another matter. In order to bring an infringement suit, your copyright must be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. All the details are on their website. Then you must show that your work has been copied or stolen to pursue the matter legally. Please consult a lawyer if this has happened to you.

As a graphic designer, my work is custom created for each client and each project. It is unlikely that my designs can be used for profit by anyone else. I have chosen in most cases to do work for hire. That means that once the project is paid in full, all rights transfer to the client. Some of the larger organizations I work for insist on that as part of the contract.

I like working for hire because it ensures that I charge a fair fee for my work, without expecting to sell additional rights in the future. I can easily comply with requests to send copies of files on disk for the use of my clients in house or even with another designer. Repeat work comes my way because, as the creator of a design, I am in the best position to make updates or companion pieces. Charging a large fee to release files clients thought they had already paid for leaves a bad feeling, and makes them less likely to hire you again.

I retain the right to use samples of my work to promote my own business. Anyone who balks at this small concession might not be someone you want to work with.

Photography, illustration, and other fine art is in another category and should be copyright protected. I am not addressing that here.