Ownership of copyright is one of the more prevalent issues in intellectual property law, particularly in the context of an employment or service relationship. Recently, this has become especially pertinent in creative fields, with the growing trend to outsource work and an increasing number of freelancers who offer their creative services.
As an illustration, let’s look at three scenarios that play out all too frequently in the advertising industry, each of which is seemingly more complicated.
- First, you’re a designer who’s asked by the company you work for to create a logo for a new product.
- Second, you work for an advertising agency that receives a brief from a company to design a logo for them.
- Third, you’re a freelance designer who shares an idea with the creative director of a design studio, who goes on to create a logo clearly inspired by your idea a few months after your tenure at the studio has come to an end.
Read the full article here, written for and published by Without Prejudice.
By Stephanie Zietsman, Trademark Department, under supervision of Simonne Moodie, Trademark Attorney
