The Unintentional Collaboration: The Dangers of a Handshake Engagement
In case you missed it, I recently hosted a LinkedIn Live session (I host them every last Wednesday of the month😊) where I discussed the 360 degrees of trouble you can get in if you hire contractors without a written agreement. The unintentional collaborator is your nightmare come true.
Briefly, under US copyright law, collaborators are joint owners of the work they create together. Joint ownership in a work occurs when each party: (1) makes a copyrightable contribution to the final work; and (2) all contributors intend that their contributions be merged into an inseparable, unitary whole.
Even when you intend to create a collaboration, the default division of rights and revenue will (unpleasantly) surprise you. In other words, make sure you have a carefully crafted collaboration agreement in place before you start co-creating. Check out this post for a discussion about the legal issues with collaborations you actually want.
Now, back to the unintentional collaboration—
An unintentional collaboration can occur when working with contractors, be it for translations, ghostwriting, or other creative endeavors, without having a written agreements in place that vests the rights in their contributions to the final work to you.
Here is a quick example:
I write a book about the importance of Intellectual Property in creating a business that can scale.
I hire a ghostwriter to interview clients and write stories about their experiences, which are added to the book.
Unless I have signed a written agreement with the ghostwriter that expressly states otherwise, the book becomes a joint work, and the ghostwriter owns it jointly and equally with me, regardless of whether I contributed substantially more to the work than the ghostwriter. ☠️
Do not let fear of contracts keep you from getting this right. A simple contractor agreement with language regarding ownership of the deliverables is all you need to avoid this self-inflicted wound.
Remember, securing your intellectual property rights is a fundamental step in building a business that thrives. As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further assistance.
IP is Fuel 🚀
Erin