Freelance Legal Issue

[samueltullett]

Is it illegal for you to pay for freelance work and then sell it on, this doesn't mean branding in bold 'YEAH I MADE THIS'.. I just mean taking a request and payment and asking a freelancer to do the work and then paying the freelancer. The logo would also be added to the website in the portfolio.

Thanks in advance

 

[JElder]

It would all depend on the contract. By default, work is copyrighted to the person who created it.

You will generally licence it for use - allowing them to use it in certain ways, or sell the copyright to them in full. In either case, there would be a clause saying what rights, if any, the original designer has.

If you do not have T&Cs, as the designer you still hold full rights so you can do what you like!

 

[samueltullett]

So what would these t&c typically include, would it include details about how it is distributed and marketed? if there are no t&c does this mean I can use it how and when I want?

 

[JElder]

If it's a B2B transaction, it can include almost anything - such as the media it is used on, making copies, being able to sell on the rights to other parties, etc etc.

Of course, if you cannot enforce the terms, they are not very helpful. If you did this through some sort of job board or agency they may have default T&Cs in place.

 

[samueltullett]

Thanks for the help, I understand better now

 

[Iancs]

The above legal issues need to be clear, but the short answer is no, in fact is how a huge amount of work is delivered in many industries; its very common practice. We always feel that morally the reseller should add something, but it is not always the case.