Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Iowa

Re: Web Page Design

It depends on the contract your son had with the business. If the webpage was a "work for hire", he would not own the intellectual property.

Re: Web Page Design

Unfortunately, it is likely that your son was creating artwork "made-for-hire". Meaning that the work was done in the scope of his employment and therefore, the property of his employers. If he signed employment contracts with the companies, he should read through them carefully to verify that this is the case.

Re: Web Page Design

Your son does not own the copyright if he was an employee, rather the employer does. See the prior answers. If you son was not an employee, but rather an independent artist working on a contract basis, it will depend on the contract. Probably the contract, if any, would assign copyright to the businesses from which your son was discharged. If there is a contract, read it to see what, if anything, is said about copyright.

Re: Web Page Design

Under the "work-for-hire" doctrine, an employer is deemed the owner of intellectual property created by an employee. This doctrine makes sense, for imagine the consequences of, say, the person who invented the transitor claiming ownership to it rather than Bell Labs and countless other examples.

The situation might be different if your son was acting as an independent contractor, where he specified in a contract that the source code to the web page, etc., remained his intellectual property. Of course, it might be difficult to find someone to sign such a contract, for the entity for whom your son created the web site would forever be at his beck and call.

-- Kenneth J. Ashman; www.AshmanLawOffices.com; [email protected]

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