An old issue was raised on a forum recently and it caused me to go digging for more information. The question of who owns copyright for a web design. As a legal secretary AND a web designer, this is an issue near and dear to my cold little heart.

Work for Hire

Most employers, folks who retain our services to create web designs for them, prefer to view our products as works made for hire. And generally they are, if several criteria can be met. First, and most important, there MUST BE a work for hire agreement or an assignment of our copyrights to our creative works to that employer. Both bona fide employees and independent contractors (such as web design firms and free lance web designers) can usually be considered to be employees for the purposes of “works made for hire.”

If you bill your time, you’ll appreciate this video. It’s not just for lawyers anymore! The video was created by the fine folks running Negotiation Law Blog. The song, based on Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time, written and performed by the Bar & Grill Singers.