As a designer, you must know the concept of copyright

? For a creative person or designer, it is very important to understand copyright. Because works represent the output of our knowledge and professional skills, and the created works represent the concrete presentation of our personal thoughts, opinions and creativity. Understanding copyright can properly protect your creative efforts, prevent yourself from getting into unnecessary disputes, and ensure your own interests. However, many people do not understand the concept of copyright and related definitions. Today we will share with you the concept of copyright. ?

?1. Definition of copyright?

Works: refers to creations within the scope of literature, science, art or other academic fields that grant exclusive rights to everyone, including:

Author's moral rights: refers to the right of publicity, the right of name expression and the right to prohibit improper changes. ?

Copyright property rights: refers to the right of reproduction, public dictation, public broadcast, public screening, public performance, public display, public transmission, modification, editing, distribution and rental. . ?

Basically, the former is used to protect the author’s reputational rights and interests, which cannot be transferred or inherited, while the latter is used to protect the author’s rights and interests in respect of the works he created. , the property and economic rights that can be enjoyed. That is to say, after you create a work, you have the moral rights of the work, which cannot be taken away by others. And you can decide to use your creation in other ways, and you can sell the copyright of your work to others in an authorized manner, and this does not affect your moral rights of the work. ?

To put it simply, the music created by Michael Jackson, his record company or brokerage company can use the sales profits to split the profits with him, but the record company or brokerage company cannot claim This music was created by this company.

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2. How to obtain copyright?

According to the provisions of my country’s Copyright Law, the author enjoys copyright when the work is completed, which is protected by the Copyright Law. There is no need to register or register with any agency or organization. After our country joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) on January 1, 1991, our country has adopted the principle of national treatment for the works of nationals of WTO member states, and the works of foreigners There is no need to register or register, as long as the creation is completed, it is protected by my country's copyright law.

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Therefore, it is worth noting that "design drawings are protected by copyright law when they are drawn." This means that designers do not need to apply for copyright registration when completing design drawings. , enjoys copyright protection (Article 10 of the Copyright Law). Which works are protected by copyright? According to the provisions of my country's Copyright Law, it refers to creations that fall within the scope of literature, science, art or other academic fields, that is, human beings express their inner thoughts and emotions in individual and unique ways through language, writing, symbols, paintings, sounds, images, body movements, etc. The creativity is expressed externally. ?

Therefore, if the creator has not plagiarized the work and created it independently, in principle, the creator will enjoy copyright protection when the work is completed and does not need to go through any application or registration procedures. In addition, the result of creation must be expressed externally in the form of an objective expression, and only those whose content can be perceived by human senses can be protected. Moreover, the objects protected by copyright are limited to the expression itself, and not the content conveyed through the expression. Thoughts, so if your sketch, imagination or idea is known to others when you are chatting with them and they are developed based on it, the other party has not violated copyright law. ? That is to say, based on the principle that copyright law only protects concrete expressions and does not protect abstract ideas or concepts, if you only have new design ideas or ideas, you cannot directly claim to be protected by copyright law. You must express your creativity or ideas through Only when it is transformed into an objective and concrete work can it become a work and be protected by the Copyright Law (Article 10-1 of the Copyright Law).

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?3. Preserve your creative process?

Sometimes we will inevitably encounter controversy. In order to avoid that time because of too many The procedures require processing and it is impossible to prepare enough data and evidence, so the creative process should be preserved in normal times. Nowadays, many people use computers to create creations. Develop good data storage habits. Keep the sketches of your works in categories according to time. This will be used as evidence to help you fight for your due rights when necessary. ?

?4. If an employee draws a product design drawing, can the company become the copyright owner? ?

Some people believe that as long as the works are created by themselves, the copyright (including moral rights and property rights) belongs to them. In fact, this concept is not completely correct. According to Article 11 of the Copyright Law:

For works completed by an employee in the course of his duties, the employee shall be the author. However, if the contract stipulates that the employer is the author, the agreement shall prevail. According to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if an employee is the author of the work, the property rights of the work shall belong to the employer.

However, if the contract stipulates that the property rights of the works belong to the employee, the agreement shall prevail. ?

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In other words, in principle, if there is no agreement on works completed by employees employed by the company in their duties, the employees will be the authors, and the property rights of the works belong to the company. (employer) owned. Exceptionally, if the company has a contract with its employees that stipulates that the company is the author of the copyright, the company shall enjoy the moral rights and property rights of the copyright. ?

5. Can designers put the works they completed in their previous company into their own portfolio? According to the fourth point above, if there is no agreement between the company and the designer (commonly known as the employee) If a separate contract stipulates the ownership of the copyright, the designer will be the author, but the property rights of the copyright belong to the company (employer). Therefore, without the consent of the former company, the designer cannot just put the works of the former company in his or her portfolio. ? Therefore, if you want every work you complete to be included in your portfolio, it is recommended that the designer negotiate the scope of use of the work with the company in advance, or obtain authorization from the company.

6. If a company invests in outsourcing product design drawings, can the company become the copyright owner? ?

Article 12 of the Copyright Law stipulates: ?

For a work that is completed by hiring another person for funding, the hired person shall be the author, except for the circumstances in the preceding article. However, if the contract stipulates that the contributor is the author, the agreement shall prevail. According to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if the hired person is the author of the work, the property rights of the copyright belong to the hired person or the contributor according to the contract. If there is no agreement on the ownership of the property rights of the works, the property rights of the works shall belong to the retainer. If the property rights of the work belong to the retainer according to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the investor may use the work.

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In other words, if the company invests money to hire others to complete the work, if there is an agreement on the author or the ownership of the property rights of the work, the agreement shall prevail; if there is no agreement on the author and the ownership of the property rights of the work, As for the ownership of property rights, the employee is the author and enjoys the copyright property rights of the work (at this time, the employee enjoys the moral rights and property rights of the work), and the company (investor) can use the work within the scope of the investment purpose. The method and scope of "use" should be determined based on the purpose of the company's investment at the time and the scope of use originally planned by both parties. ?

The above are several copyright concept issues that designers often encounter. MyDesy specially proposes to share them with you. I hope it will be helpful to designers and creative workers.

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