Do I still have rights to content I was hired to create?
July 18, 2018 5:35 PM Subscribe
I was hired to create content for a guy. We never had a written contract--only verbal agreement. Guy suddenly wants to stop paying before project ends. Can I still retain my rights to the content and finish the project on my own?
Location: California
tl;dr: I feel like I'm being screwed by guy who hired me and I want to know my rights to the content I created.
Background:
As a hobby, I run a public social group where I create and host events for people. I sometimes charge for events, but I never take any of the money for myself (it all goes back to the group).
I recently met a guy, say Bob, who runs a private event company. I had an idea for an open-ended roleplaying type of event (similar to RPGs), and he hired me to create that event. We never signed a contract, but had a handshake agreement that he would pay me hourly to create this event, and I would give up IP rights to him and his company (AKA I would agree to not do this event without his permission).
For awhile, I was paid as agreed while we created this event together. We were going to test the first iteration of this event on my group. However, in the homestretch just weeks before the event, Bob emailed me he wasn't going to pay me anymore for the remainder of the project. Since that seems like a terrible deal for me, I also just want to back out and never associate with him again. I've stopped doing any work for him, and we also never ran the event as originally agreed.
Advice please:
I want to finish building this event on my own without his permission and possibly run other types of events like this in the future with my group. Where do I stand legally in terms of copyright for this event and for future similar types of events, especially if I might want to charge for the event? I'm open to potentially redesigning with a different theme, but it may be hard to redesign with completely new mechanics.
Specific concerns based on my research into (IP) law:
1) Are we still considered coauthors, even though I was paid for some duration of this project? Or am I work for hire and gave up my copyrights even though there was no explicit contract?
2) How much of the content that we've created together can I use? Can I at least safely recreate this event with different themes, even if the game mechanics might be the same/similar?
3) What are recommended next steps? This is a hobby and I'd rather avoid sinking more money into this, and I would like to avoid any legal battles.
Thanks for any advice/clarifications about the law you can provide!
Location: California
tl;dr: I feel like I'm being screwed by guy who hired me and I want to know my rights to the content I created.
Background:
As a hobby, I run a public social group where I create and host events for people. I sometimes charge for events, but I never take any of the money for myself (it all goes back to the group).
I recently met a guy, say Bob, who runs a private event company. I had an idea for an open-ended roleplaying type of event (similar to RPGs), and he hired me to create that event. We never signed a contract, but had a handshake agreement that he would pay me hourly to create this event, and I would give up IP rights to him and his company (AKA I would agree to not do this event without his permission).
For awhile, I was paid as agreed while we created this event together. We were going to test the first iteration of this event on my group. However, in the homestretch just weeks before the event, Bob emailed me he wasn't going to pay me anymore for the remainder of the project. Since that seems like a terrible deal for me, I also just want to back out and never associate with him again. I've stopped doing any work for him, and we also never ran the event as originally agreed.
Advice please:
I want to finish building this event on my own without his permission and possibly run other types of events like this in the future with my group. Where do I stand legally in terms of copyright for this event and for future similar types of events, especially if I might want to charge for the event? I'm open to potentially redesigning with a different theme, but it may be hard to redesign with completely new mechanics.
Specific concerns based on my research into (IP) law:
1) Are we still considered coauthors, even though I was paid for some duration of this project? Or am I work for hire and gave up my copyrights even though there was no explicit contract?
2) How much of the content that we've created together can I use? Can I at least safely recreate this event with different themes, even if the game mechanics might be the same/similar?
3) What are recommended next steps? This is a hobby and I'd rather avoid sinking more money into this, and I would like to avoid any legal battles.
Thanks for any advice/clarifications about the law you can provide!
Not a lawyer, certainly not giving legal advice, just offering an opinion: you formed an oral contract with Bob, to be fulfilled within a year (otherwise you'd have recourse under the Statute of Frauds -- more than a year, and your agreement would have to have been in writing). You were not partners. You performed work-for-hire, so Bob retains rights to the work you created while he was paying you by the hour.
But I think redesigning your game with a different theme is open to you. Many games have similar mechanics, you'd just need to avoid using the same graphics/character dialogues/etc. you specifically created for Bob's company.
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:01 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
But I think redesigning your game with a different theme is open to you. Many games have similar mechanics, you'd just need to avoid using the same graphics/character dialogues/etc. you specifically created for Bob's company.
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:01 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Game mechanics are not copyrightable, a fact that's been affirmed in court multiple times (most recently in video-game related cases, but also board games and other).
That said, being right is not protection against being sued, and being sued costs money even if you're right, so you might need to use your judgment as far as what you know about this guy and your risk tolerance.
posted by brainmouse at 6:15 PM on July 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
That said, being right is not protection against being sued, and being sued costs money even if you're right, so you might need to use your judgment as far as what you know about this guy and your risk tolerance.
posted by brainmouse at 6:15 PM on July 18, 2018 [4 favorites]
Other option would be offer the guy $20 (or whatever paltry sum) to get it in writing that you now solely own the copyright to the work, complete it and publish it, and register it with the copyright office. IANAL, but, despite copyrights being technically automatic, someone without registered copyright has pretty much zero effective legal recourse for infringement.
Also, looking at this copyright office publication, a work for hire needs to be done by an employee or it needs to be stated explicitly in writing that it is going to be a work for hire. So if you were never an actual employee of the company: never had any tax withheld or that sort of thing, it's not a work for hire.
posted by Zalzidrax at 11:01 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also, looking at this copyright office publication, a work for hire needs to be done by an employee or it needs to be stated explicitly in writing that it is going to be a work for hire. So if you were never an actual employee of the company: never had any tax withheld or that sort of thing, it's not a work for hire.
posted by Zalzidrax at 11:01 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Since you were, in fact, paid for at least part of your work, the is-it-or-isn't-it-work-for-hire question is murky enough that if your main goal is to avoid legal battles, I'd consider this one a learned lesson and let it go.
(I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover that Guy does plan to make full use of your work with his own event group, though -- the "I paid you for part of the job then suddenly cancelled once the bulk of the work was complete" thing is a familiar pattern for cheapskate clients. With time and effort and money you might be able to fight that and possibly even win, if you're so inclined, but enforcing oral contracts can be a challenge unless you have a ton of written documentation, emails, phone records, etc to support your claims.)
posted by ook at 9:20 AM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
(I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover that Guy does plan to make full use of your work with his own event group, though -- the "I paid you for part of the job then suddenly cancelled once the bulk of the work was complete" thing is a familiar pattern for cheapskate clients. With time and effort and money you might be able to fight that and possibly even win, if you're so inclined, but enforcing oral contracts can be a challenge unless you have a ton of written documentation, emails, phone records, etc to support your claims.)
posted by ook at 9:20 AM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Unfortunately, your California location throws a wrench into your rights under the Copyright Act. Also, please remember that if you exchanged emails with Bob discussing this work, those emails may be considered binding, written instruments proving the contract.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:32 AM on July 19, 2018
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:32 AM on July 19, 2018
Best answer: First, I am not a lawyer.
That said, the California adjustments to work made for hire do not adjust the status of the copyright (they can't, that's federal law), they just state that a person contracting another person to create a work for hire become the employer of that second person when certain thresholds are met. That actually weighs in favor of pockimidget here, since it is very doubtful that "Bob" filed all the appropriate forms to declare pockimidget and employee, and could conceivably face penalties for not doing so if he were to claim that this was a work for hire.
And, as noted above, Federal law does require a written agreement for a work made for hire. The emails might be sufficient for that, but copyright law specifically requires that the agreement be signed [1].
Still, if he chose to take you to court, there[s no guarantee you'd win, and even if you did win, you could lose a lot of money defending yourself.
[1] Per this circular from the copyright office
posted by Tabitha Someday at 12:40 PM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
That said, the California adjustments to work made for hire do not adjust the status of the copyright (they can't, that's federal law), they just state that a person contracting another person to create a work for hire become the employer of that second person when certain thresholds are met. That actually weighs in favor of pockimidget here, since it is very doubtful that "Bob" filed all the appropriate forms to declare pockimidget and employee, and could conceivably face penalties for not doing so if he were to claim that this was a work for hire.
And, as noted above, Federal law does require a written agreement for a work made for hire. The emails might be sufficient for that, but copyright law specifically requires that the agreement be signed [1].
Still, if he chose to take you to court, there[s no guarantee you'd win, and even if you did win, you could lose a lot of money defending yourself.
[1] Per this circular from the copyright office
posted by Tabitha Someday at 12:40 PM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
In California, the Court of Appeals in 2005's Lamie v. Mattel accepted an email as proof of contract, after the district court had concluded "no reasonable juror could find that a contract existed between the parties." California is weird; OP, please consult your closest legal aid office.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:28 PM on July 19, 2018
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:28 PM on July 19, 2018
Best answer: I'm an artist in CA who deals with copyright in my business. Unless you signed something that says "work for hire" or agreed to other licensing details over email, what you created belongs to you 100%. That's how copyright works regardless of state.
My contracts state licensing/copyright doesn't transfer until I receive payment in full BTW.
posted by bradbane at 2:44 PM on July 19, 2018
My contracts state licensing/copyright doesn't transfer until I receive payment in full BTW.
posted by bradbane at 2:44 PM on July 19, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
Generally speaking, work-for-hire means you don't own the IP - and indeed you explicitly state that was part of your "contract" - so you are not a co-author in the sense of rights.
Again, to play it safe, you typically can't use any of the content you created on the clock, as it were.
How much another person gives a shit about you copying and would take action is a different question no one can answer. But for future reference a good rule of thumb is that if someone is paying you to do something, unless otherwise stated, they own what you produce. Yes, the exceptions to this are longer than your arm, but it's still true in the majority of cases.
Best of luck.
posted by smoke at 5:49 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]