Legal Question in Business Law in Georgia
I worked for an entertainment company as an independent contractor. After I resigned for not being adequately paid for my regular services, a presentation I produced was published on the company's website. The presentation was in addition to my regular services. Does the company have permission to use my work after I resigned if I was not paid for the presentation? Please advise.
2 Answers from Attorneys
It depends on the terms of your independent contractor agreement. Some arrangements are �works for hire,� which means they would own any proprietary product you create. Have a local business attorney review it and provide guidance regarding ownership.
If you would like to discuss any issues further, please feel free to contact my office. My contact information is below. Thank you.
The foregoing is general information only, not specific legal advice. No attorney/client relation has been created or should be implied.
Whether the company owns the rights to your presentation will depend on whether the work was created as a Work-For-Hire. Given that you worked as an independent contractor for the company, it is likely that any work created during that employment was assigned to the company, as determined by the employment agreement.
However, the fact that you were not paid the contractual amount for your services may amount to a breach of the employment agreement by the company. If so, any assignment of rights (copyrights) of your creative work may also be void due to the breach.
Please feel free to contact an Intellectual Property Attorney at our office to resolve your copyright issue.
THE COMMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL USE ONLY. NO ATTORNEY/CLIENT RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED.
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