Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: online education

If the work you are doing is in the normal course of your employment (i.e. you are doing what you are paid to do), your employer probably already owns the rights to the image. It may be that, even if you don't sign a waiver, the work would be considered "work for hire" under copyright law.

If you want to retain a share of the profits, and the right to use the image for other purposes, now is the time to negotiate for that.

Copyright law is much more complex than many people (even lawyers) realize. If you are serious about protecting your interest and claiming your piece of the pie, you need to consult with a competent intellectual property (or more specifically, copyright) attorney. What you gain, whether money or piece of mind, will be well worth it.

Re: online education

under the factual circumstances, you should most likely retain an attorney to negotiate on your behalf, review the agreement your employer wants you to sign before you sign it, and/or draft a new agreement protecting your legal interests and goals down the road. if you would like further assistance and/or representation in this matter, feel free to email my Law Firm directly today on how you might want to proceed.

Re: online education

No...you should not sign an outright release. you can license them your image..for a certain period of time...you should try to negotiate a deal with them before you sign anything. They will probably tell you to sign a covenant not to compete ...you need to be careful about that as well.

Re: online education

You use terms such as "work for" and "employer," yet your role suggests that you are a key figure. Are you getting your fair share of the upside potential? I would ask for founders' stock, options, an employment contract, etc. in exchange for a degree of personal commitment.

Back to your question, however. A release could be a suitable instrument, but you should read it carefully and approve every provision. A license could be okay, too; in this context, the concepts and provisions are overlapping and either one or something combining aspects of a license and a release would work. The important thing is not what it's labeled, but what provisions it contains.

If you have some layman's savvy at reading and understanding legalese, you may not need a lawyer to interpret and if necessary negotiate what's been presented, but if you feel uncomfortable, seek local legal help.....shouldn't be expensive.