Q: If my company has not copyrighted any of my designs that they are using how can I protect myself from them & others?
I work for a very small, family-owned, kind of haphazard company. I do all of their marketing design. Due to the nature of the company they have not taken proper actions to ensure their rights or mine are being protected. I have not signed any kind of document (that I recall) entitling them to license to my creative property. I am not sure how to go about protecting myself and my work. I am concerned about both the pieces I have designed for them, and artwork I have created for my personal use using the computer and software that they have provided me with. I am also unsure of rules/restrictions regarding copyrighting a design that makes use of licensed stock photos and images. I use Adobe InDesign on an Adobe account that the company pays for, as well as licensed stock photos and images from i-Stock on an account that the company also pays for. The original nature of my employment here was not graphic design. Since making this part of my title they have not asked me to sign any docs.
A:
Copyright (the right itself) arises as a matter of law at the moment of creation. There is nothing further one must do to acquire a copyright. However, enforcing a copyright through an infringement action requires that one register the copyright before filing a lawsuit.
Your particular situation is not straightforward, and there are multiple issues that must be analyzed and too few facts to provide a complete answer.
First, your company may claim that your creative works are "works made for hire," meaning the company owns the copyright, even though you are the creator, and even though you may not have formally signed any documents clearly transferring such rights. Do you expect to dispute ownership over intellectual property assets with your employer? Would they be upset if you attempted to protect what it considers to be its own IP? It is unclear why you are concerned about your employer's decision not to protect the intellectual property assets, and it is also unclear why you are concerned about protecting your own rights. It seems possible that a conflict may exist between you and your employer.
Second, with respect to your use of stock images, it is unclear how much you may have altered them from their original, stock condition. Copyright permits derivative use, and the line between infringement and permissible derivative use is not bright. Unfortunately, there are insufficient facts in your question to analyze this issue.
Third, the work you created for your personal use (presumably not disclosed to or used by your employer) may be your own property. That you used company assets may be an issue if the employer attempts to assert ownership over your personal work (again the "works made for hire" discussed above), and most likely your using company resources for non-company business will not sit well with them. Again, it seems an adversarial relationship may exist or soon develop between you and the company, and you would be well advised to see the advice of an employment attorney first before exploring your intellectual property concerns.
Good luck!
Griffin Klema
https://klemalaw.com
griffin@klemalaw.com
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