Authorship and Ownership The person who creates a work is called the "author" -- even when the work involved is visual art rather than literature or text based. The artist "authored" the photograph/painting/sculpture that he or she created. In the case of an individual artist (author), creating a work of art independently, the copyrights are owned by the artist.  If the artwork is made as part of employment, or otherwise as work made for hire, or by an agreement or contract to create the work, then the copyright is usually owned by the hiring/contracting party. Determining ownership issues and conflicts when the agreement or employment parameters are vague can be unclear. The U.S. Copyright Office defines work for hire as, "... a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or a work specially ordered or commissioned in certain specified circumstances. When a work qualifies as a work made for hire, the employer, or commissioning party, is considered to be the author." When the work is clearly made for hire, the employer is the author and owner of the work.
Because copyrights are property, in the United States they can be given away, sold, or licensed in whole or in part. Copyrights consist of a group--or bundle--of exclusive rights. Because of this, the rights are each seperate and can be sold or licensed individually or together as a whole package. In order to avoid future disputes, a written agreement is often created whenever copyrights are licensed (i.e. rented out) by the owner. Such an agreement would generally state what portion of the rights are being licensed and other conditions. For example, a license may cover the distribution right, but not the reproduction right for a given work. Or, it may give permission to copy (reproduce) a work in a particular size only, for example, as a 3" x 5" print, but in no other form. A licensing agreement may also state for what period of time the act is limited to, for what purpose, any payment (royalties) to be made, and so on. Written agreements are also standard when a copyright is sold to another party. Once the copyright is sold, the particular right(s) are transferred to the new owner and the original artist/author no longer has the right to reproduce it, or take advantage of any of the other exclusive rights covered by the copyright law.1
There are also some issues regarding the transfer of copyrights and the registration of the copyright. If, for example, "A" artist sells the copyrights to another person, "B." A did not register the copyright before he sold it and B wants to register it. In order for B to register (claim) the copyright with the Copyright Office, B must own all of the copyrights for the particular artwork. In this type of situation, it is important for the new owner to be sure that he or she has purchased all of the bundled rights, not just some of them. If, B only purchased the right to copy the work, but not the right to distribute it, then B would not be able to claim and register the copyright. For this and other reasons, it is important that agreements to transfer copyrights are written and clear as to what right(s) is being transferred. In regards to licensing, the person who owns the copyrights is called the Licensor. The person who is renting the rights from the owner is the Licensee. In a circumstance where the original owner (the artist) has licensed or sold only a portion of the copyrights, if the licensee uses the artwork beyond the rights agreed to, the licensee has infringed the artwork and is liable to the owner. A similiar scenario could occur when the original owner of a copyright sells only a portion of the rights and the new (partial) owner exceeds the scope of the rights sold. See, Exclusive rights in copyrighted works, an excerpt from the copyright law that specifies the individual rights that make up the bundle of exclusive rights. See also, Infringement and Fair-Use. 1 There are some exceptions (court decisions) that differ from this statement. Recently a court decided in favor of the (heirs of) comic book artists who created the Superman character and then sold it for virtually nothing. However, it should be noted that this is exceptional; different laws were in place at the time, and it shouldn't be considered the "norm." It's also unclear as to whether the ruling will survive future challeges by the owner. See the NY Times article about the Superman rights case (March 2008).
Copyright © 2008 - 2009 Jennifer Unruh. Licensing Information. Unless otherwise stated, the original writings contained in this website are solely the expression of opinion by the author(s) and are not intended to provide or be a substitute for professional legal advice. Statues and other governmental publications are provided for informational and educational purposes only. For legal matters, the advice of an attorney should be timely sought.  Be aware that the preservation of legal rights may be time sensitive. The author(s) does not promote or endorse any particular legal service provider. This website is not attorney advertising. Excluding government publications and other public domain materials, and unless otherwise stated, all literary content and text on this website is Copyright © 2007 - 2009 Jennifer Unruh. All rights reserved. Licensing Information. Website design including, but not limited to graphic design, images, and arrangement, are Copyright © 2007-2008 Jennifer Unruh unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. www.artuntitled.com