[arg_discuss] Intellectual property and freelance work

[despain at quantumcontent.com]

First of all, I am not a lawyer. And on this issue, you may seriously want
to consult one with experience in IP law.

The fact that you weren't paid and didn't sign anything does throw the
technicalities of ownership into question, definitely.

I guess there are three questions that come to my mind.

1) Are the people you worked with likely to take legal action against you?
       From your description of them, it sounds like they're a little
       unpredictable. If it came down to it, I think you would win
       in any legal battle (depending on the details) since you
       weren't paid for your work, but do you want to go through all
       the mess leading up to the win? Is time saved in creative
       effort worth the stress?

2) Why would you want to reuse materials made specifically for someone
   else's world and story?
       They own the materials they created, no matter how the deal
       went down. So I would think that most of your materials would
       have to be changed substantially to fit into a different world.
       And then... you're not reusing anything. You may be loosely
       basing your new characters etc. on your old one, your new
       puzzles on your old ones... but would they even be recognizable
       by the time you were done rewriting? If so, why not just start
       fresh? It doesn't sound like they were created in a happy
       environment anyway. It may just be best to walk away from them.
       Chalk it up as a practice exercise like in school. You learned
       from the experience, right? (Like always get agreements in
       writing?)

3) Is a new client paying you to create these materials?
       If someone new is paying you, don't EVER reuse material from
       another client (or your own personal work). These people are
       paying you for the time and creativity it requires to generate
       original material. They should get their money's worth. Don't
       shortchange them or yourself. If you're thinking of using the
       old material in your personal magnum opus, I would still
       suggest that you don't need to recycle anything tainted by
       other people's world/plot whatever. If you're building your
       own world etc., make it really yours. Don't just cut out
       other people's influence and replace it with a cheap copy
       that might fit into the old gaps.

Only you can make this decision, but hopefully these questions will
help clarify the issues in your own mind. And once again - I am not
an IP lawyer. I just take them to lunch at every opportunity.

Wendy Despain
quantumcontent.com



> I have a question that relates to this whole issue, and I'd love to

> get some feedback:

>

>

> A few years ago, I was asked to be the lead writer on an ARG from a

> startup company.  The founders had come up with a basic story concept

> and some of the world and characters.  I was asked to flesh it out and

> develop it into a full-fledged ARG.  I was originally told there would

> be someone else handling puzzle development, but that person never

> materialized.  I spent the next few months writing the story,

> including designing all the puzzles and player interactions, adding

> many situations and a completely new lead character.  But after

> several months of frustrating development, during which I learned that

> these producers were not very reliable or forthright, the project was

> shelved.

>

> My question is, can I use the material - the characters and world

> elements that I added - for another project of my own devising?  Where

> is the line at which I have to get the other party's sign off?

>

> Here's the wrinkle to this situation - I was never paid for my work,

> or given any other form of compensation.  So while this wouldn't be so

> grey if I had actually been a paid employee, since I never signed

> anything, and I never received any payment for my work, do they have

> any claim to any o the material I wrote?

>

> Thoughts?

>

> ===========================

> The Loose-Fish Project:  <www.loose-fish.com>

> The Good Captain:  <www.goodcaptain.com>

>

>

>

>

>

> On Apr 11, 2008, at 8:43 AM, Andrea Phillips wrote:

> Wow, Wendy, that metaphor works really, really well. I hope you don't

> mind if I repeat it widely, as needed.

>

> On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 1:21 AM,  <despain at quantumcontent.com> wrote:

>> I'm a freelance writer in several contexts ranging from ARGs to

>> science

>> journalism. In my experience, there are two ways to think about who

>> keeps control of creative rights.

>>

>> 1) *Follow the money.* Did you pay for the creation of this work or

>> did

>> someone else? Did you write these materials in your attic after you

>> got

>> home from work? Or did someone call you up and offer you a paycheck

>> to create something for a specific purpose they had already envisioned

>> on their own dime?

>>

>> Sure, all of us who have written a novel in those sleepless wee

>> hours of

>> the morning hope that someday we can "sell it" - but what you're

>> really

>> doing in that case is selling "First North American Rights" to publish

>> the work. You're not (if you're smart) giving up the ownership of the

>> material itself. You bankrolled this baby after all. Other people are

>> just paying you for the privilege of using it to sell their dead

>> trees.

>>

>> 2) *Who's baby is it?* If the money viewpoint is too cold for you,

>> consider who's baby is it anyway? Is this work your baby? Have you

>> poured all your soul into this creative work? Does it contain the

>> essence of that nugget your muse gave you?

>>

>> Or have you had to make changes based on someone else's timeline?

>> Someone else's product they want to promote? Someone else's Big Idea?

>> Sure, in every creative work you get input from other people. Feedback

>> helps mold an uncut gem into a piece of jewelry. That's not what I'm

>> talking about. When you're getting a paycheck to build a world...

>> this isn't your world. Someone else has a certain degree of control

>> and

>> can make you add those purple people eaters if they really, really

>> want

>> to. You're just an expert helping them create their vision. Their

>> baby.

>>

>> The moral of the story is - if someone calls you up and wants you to

>> come up with an idea for this ARG they want, don't go pull out the

>> world you built in those wee hours of the morning for your novel and

>> turn it into an ARG for them. If you do, you're letting them adopt

>> your baby as their own.

>>

>> Instead, become their surrogate. You can birth this baby they can't.

>> But it's still their baby. If you know that from the start, it's not

>> as

>> hard to hand it over in the end and let them raise it. (Or ruin it.)

>>

>> Ok, I'm done waxing poetic about intellectual property law. Please

>> keep in mind I'm not a lawyer. I just drive a few of them crazy with

>> extended metaphors.

>>

>> Wendy Despain

>> quantumcontent.com

>

> --

> Andrea Phillips

> andrhia at gmail.com

> http://www.deusexmachinatio.com

> Words * Culture * Interaction

> _______________________________________________

> ARG_Discuss mailing list

> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

>

> _______________________________________________

> ARG_Discuss mailing list

> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

>