Ordering texts from a copywriter and copyright. What to remember?
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2024 10:26 am
Have you ordered texts for your company website, or have you outsourced your blog to a copywriter or agency? Be sure to read what you need to do before you pay for the service.
Using the services of a copywriter (a good one!) in e-commerce business is commonplace. Ordering the writing of texts for websites , e-shops, or even comprehensive management of a company blog is in many cases a necessity. The reason? Usually, owners are unable or do not have time to create content for websites and prefer to outsource the service. By hiring a professional, they are sure that they will receive content that will meet their needs: written in correct Polish, in a language that reaches the customer and optimized for SEO. Unfortunately, in many cases, after ordering the text, they forget about one important thing, which means that, in the eyes of the law, they cannot 100% dispose of the text written by the copywriter.
-"How is that possible?" you ask. "I ordered the text from a copywriter and paid the invoice. The text is mine!"
Not quite.
Most business owners who order specialist articles for a blog, website or product descriptions treat it as a classic "activity between a seller and a buyer, the purpose of which is to exchange a service or product". In this type of classic purchase-sale activity, the buyer orders the goods, and the seller produces and sells them. The proof of purchase is a receipt or invoice. A document that certifies that the buyer is the owner of this pair of sports shoes or this red car. After buying the product, the ordering party can do whatever they want with it. Smash the car against the nearest tree or happily run into a big mud puddle in their new Adidas sneakers. They can also resell the shoes/car to someone else if it turns out that they don't like them after all. In these activities, they don't have to ask anyone for permission, because they bought the goods legally, they have an invoice or receipt. No one else claims rights to them.
It's different with texts written to order . In this case, an invoice or bill for a contract for a specific work is not enough. This is because such works are covered by copyright.
Every text written by a copywriter - regardless of whether it is an advertising text, a guide for a blog or a high-quality article published in a trade magazine - is a work. And a work is, in the light of the law, "any manifestation of creative activity of an individual nature, established in any form, regardless of value, purpose and manner of expression". Since the text is the result of individual creativity, the copywriter has the copyright to this work.
.
Art. 1. 1. The subject of copyright is any manifestation of creative activity of an individual character, established in any form, regardless of its value, purpose and manner of expression (work).
2. In particular, the subject of copyright are works: 1) expressed in words, mathematical symbols, graphic signs ( literary, journalistic, scientific, cartographic and computer programs);
The price of a copywriting service, in addition to the number of characters, words, and texts, must also include proof of transfer of copyright to a given work (e.g. a blog article, a guide). If we do not have proof of having such rights to the ordered text, we cannot use it in any fields of exploitation. In other words, if the only proof of ordering texts is an invoice, then in the eyes of the law you cannot use these texts anywhere without the consent of the copywriter, i.e. the author of the text. Surprised? Yes, I know that the practice in our industry is different. Sometimes people do not pay attention to such "details" as transferring copyright. And that is a mistake.
What rights does a copywriter have to texts written at the client’s request?
In Polish law, there is a division into two types of copyright: personal and property. How do they differ?
Moral copyrights "protect the link between the creator and the work, which is unlimited in time and not subject to waiver or transfer". Moral copyrights in particular protect the right to:
authorship of the work. This means that the copywriter always remains architect name title the author of the text, even if this text is not signed with his name and surname;
marking the work with your name or pseudonym or creating it anonymously;
integrity of content and form and its fair use. According to this law, we cannot interfere with the text unless the author has given his consent.
deciding on the first release of the work to the public . If we want to publish the text on a blog, the author must give his consent;
supervision over the use of the work.
What follows from these laws?
Let's imagine that we ordered a text about a freelance copywriter. The copywriter wrote the text, sent it to us, and after acceptance we paid the invoice. Everything happened without a word about any copyright or information that the text would be published on the company website, etc. We prepare the finished text to be placed on our blog. At the same time, we make a few modifications to this test. We remove paragraphs that we don't like and add new ones. Then we ask our employee, who has his own user account in the WordPress panel, to add the text. The text is of course placed under the name and surname of the employee.
Have we violated the copywriter's personal copyrights? Of course, and even several (inviolability, deciding on the first sharing). We have also misappropriated someone else's authorship, because we signed the text with a different name. Of course, we did the latter completely by accident and unintentionally, but... And now let's imagine that our freelancer felt offended by this turn of events and tells you: "This is my text, I do not agree to this form of sharing this work. Please download it from the site." "Hey, hey!" - you say, but we paid you for this text and we can do whatever we want with it." And to this the copywriter sends you a link to the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyright and related rights , and specifically Article 16 on personal copyrights, and it turns out that... it's a bummer. Copy is right. You can't do much without his consent.
Ha!
Of course, this is an extreme example. Such situations rarely occur in the real world. Most often, it happens in the relationship between a small company and copywriters — freelancers. Large agencies and their clients are perfectly aware of copyrights and take care of their interests in these matters. When it comes to these small companies and beginner copywriters, it is primarily due to the unawareness of both parties. Copywriters do not realize their rights, and clients do not know that they should transfer such rights to themselves. However, this does not change the fact that such actions are illegal under the law. So what can be done to legally publish copywriter texts on a blog?
You must transfer the property rights to these texts to yourself or your company.
What are copyrights?
Copyright property rights include:
the right to use the work (exploitation of the work in tangible and intangible form, e.g. making it available on the Internet);
the right to dispose of the work (the right to dispose of the author's economic rights to the work);
the right to remuneration for the use of the work.
Copyright property rights, unlike personal rights, are transferable. This means that the author of the text, in this case the copywriter, can transfer them to another person - the client. This type of transfer of copyright property rights is made by means of a separate agreement and can take two forms:
- an agreement on the transfer of copyright;
- a license agreement (so-called agreement on the use of the work).
In the case of copywriting texts, the first option, i.e. a copyright transfer agreement , usually comes into play . This is the best and only way to protect your interests.
It is worth remembering this, because in practice you can encounter other "creative" solutions:
entering two items on the invoice, which include the remuneration for the text and the copyright;
issuing two separate invoices: the first for 50% of the order value covering the preparation of the text and the second also for 50% related to the transfer of the copyright to the text;
other agreements between the client and the copywriter, which are in writing, e.g. in the content of e-mail correspondence.
Unfortunately, the solutions above (although they are practiced) will not guarantee you full rights to use the works.
Remember - the transfer of rights must take place by means of a written agreement under penalty of nullity (Art. 41 in connection with Art. 53 PrAut). Neither an exchange of e-mails nor an invoice meet this form . On an invoice, for example, we will not list the fields of use or the duration of the agreement, which may be of key importance in some cases. For this reason, only a properly constructed agreement on the transfer of copyright property rights will give us the right to dispose of the text ordered from a copywriter.
The copyright transfer agreement is signed after accepting the service (text) and preferably before paying the invoice. A professional copywriter should have a copyright transfer agreement template. If they do not have such a template, they are not 100% professional. If you order a lot of texts from different copywriters, it is best if you have your own template of the agreement, prepared by a lawyer. Then you will be sure that your interests will be properly protected.
Using the services of a copywriter (a good one!) in e-commerce business is commonplace. Ordering the writing of texts for websites , e-shops, or even comprehensive management of a company blog is in many cases a necessity. The reason? Usually, owners are unable or do not have time to create content for websites and prefer to outsource the service. By hiring a professional, they are sure that they will receive content that will meet their needs: written in correct Polish, in a language that reaches the customer and optimized for SEO. Unfortunately, in many cases, after ordering the text, they forget about one important thing, which means that, in the eyes of the law, they cannot 100% dispose of the text written by the copywriter.
-"How is that possible?" you ask. "I ordered the text from a copywriter and paid the invoice. The text is mine!"
Not quite.
Most business owners who order specialist articles for a blog, website or product descriptions treat it as a classic "activity between a seller and a buyer, the purpose of which is to exchange a service or product". In this type of classic purchase-sale activity, the buyer orders the goods, and the seller produces and sells them. The proof of purchase is a receipt or invoice. A document that certifies that the buyer is the owner of this pair of sports shoes or this red car. After buying the product, the ordering party can do whatever they want with it. Smash the car against the nearest tree or happily run into a big mud puddle in their new Adidas sneakers. They can also resell the shoes/car to someone else if it turns out that they don't like them after all. In these activities, they don't have to ask anyone for permission, because they bought the goods legally, they have an invoice or receipt. No one else claims rights to them.
It's different with texts written to order . In this case, an invoice or bill for a contract for a specific work is not enough. This is because such works are covered by copyright.
Every text written by a copywriter - regardless of whether it is an advertising text, a guide for a blog or a high-quality article published in a trade magazine - is a work. And a work is, in the light of the law, "any manifestation of creative activity of an individual nature, established in any form, regardless of value, purpose and manner of expression". Since the text is the result of individual creativity, the copywriter has the copyright to this work.
.
Art. 1. 1. The subject of copyright is any manifestation of creative activity of an individual character, established in any form, regardless of its value, purpose and manner of expression (work).
2. In particular, the subject of copyright are works: 1) expressed in words, mathematical symbols, graphic signs ( literary, journalistic, scientific, cartographic and computer programs);
The price of a copywriting service, in addition to the number of characters, words, and texts, must also include proof of transfer of copyright to a given work (e.g. a blog article, a guide). If we do not have proof of having such rights to the ordered text, we cannot use it in any fields of exploitation. In other words, if the only proof of ordering texts is an invoice, then in the eyes of the law you cannot use these texts anywhere without the consent of the copywriter, i.e. the author of the text. Surprised? Yes, I know that the practice in our industry is different. Sometimes people do not pay attention to such "details" as transferring copyright. And that is a mistake.
What rights does a copywriter have to texts written at the client’s request?
In Polish law, there is a division into two types of copyright: personal and property. How do they differ?
Moral copyrights "protect the link between the creator and the work, which is unlimited in time and not subject to waiver or transfer". Moral copyrights in particular protect the right to:
authorship of the work. This means that the copywriter always remains architect name title the author of the text, even if this text is not signed with his name and surname;
marking the work with your name or pseudonym or creating it anonymously;
integrity of content and form and its fair use. According to this law, we cannot interfere with the text unless the author has given his consent.
deciding on the first release of the work to the public . If we want to publish the text on a blog, the author must give his consent;
supervision over the use of the work.
What follows from these laws?
Let's imagine that we ordered a text about a freelance copywriter. The copywriter wrote the text, sent it to us, and after acceptance we paid the invoice. Everything happened without a word about any copyright or information that the text would be published on the company website, etc. We prepare the finished text to be placed on our blog. At the same time, we make a few modifications to this test. We remove paragraphs that we don't like and add new ones. Then we ask our employee, who has his own user account in the WordPress panel, to add the text. The text is of course placed under the name and surname of the employee.
Have we violated the copywriter's personal copyrights? Of course, and even several (inviolability, deciding on the first sharing). We have also misappropriated someone else's authorship, because we signed the text with a different name. Of course, we did the latter completely by accident and unintentionally, but... And now let's imagine that our freelancer felt offended by this turn of events and tells you: "This is my text, I do not agree to this form of sharing this work. Please download it from the site." "Hey, hey!" - you say, but we paid you for this text and we can do whatever we want with it." And to this the copywriter sends you a link to the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyright and related rights , and specifically Article 16 on personal copyrights, and it turns out that... it's a bummer. Copy is right. You can't do much without his consent.
Ha!
Of course, this is an extreme example. Such situations rarely occur in the real world. Most often, it happens in the relationship between a small company and copywriters — freelancers. Large agencies and their clients are perfectly aware of copyrights and take care of their interests in these matters. When it comes to these small companies and beginner copywriters, it is primarily due to the unawareness of both parties. Copywriters do not realize their rights, and clients do not know that they should transfer such rights to themselves. However, this does not change the fact that such actions are illegal under the law. So what can be done to legally publish copywriter texts on a blog?
You must transfer the property rights to these texts to yourself or your company.
What are copyrights?
Copyright property rights include:
the right to use the work (exploitation of the work in tangible and intangible form, e.g. making it available on the Internet);
the right to dispose of the work (the right to dispose of the author's economic rights to the work);
the right to remuneration for the use of the work.
Copyright property rights, unlike personal rights, are transferable. This means that the author of the text, in this case the copywriter, can transfer them to another person - the client. This type of transfer of copyright property rights is made by means of a separate agreement and can take two forms:
- an agreement on the transfer of copyright;
- a license agreement (so-called agreement on the use of the work).
In the case of copywriting texts, the first option, i.e. a copyright transfer agreement , usually comes into play . This is the best and only way to protect your interests.
It is worth remembering this, because in practice you can encounter other "creative" solutions:
entering two items on the invoice, which include the remuneration for the text and the copyright;
issuing two separate invoices: the first for 50% of the order value covering the preparation of the text and the second also for 50% related to the transfer of the copyright to the text;
other agreements between the client and the copywriter, which are in writing, e.g. in the content of e-mail correspondence.
Unfortunately, the solutions above (although they are practiced) will not guarantee you full rights to use the works.
Remember - the transfer of rights must take place by means of a written agreement under penalty of nullity (Art. 41 in connection with Art. 53 PrAut). Neither an exchange of e-mails nor an invoice meet this form . On an invoice, for example, we will not list the fields of use or the duration of the agreement, which may be of key importance in some cases. For this reason, only a properly constructed agreement on the transfer of copyright property rights will give us the right to dispose of the text ordered from a copywriter.
The copyright transfer agreement is signed after accepting the service (text) and preferably before paying the invoice. A professional copywriter should have a copyright transfer agreement template. If they do not have such a template, they are not 100% professional. If you order a lot of texts from different copywriters, it is best if you have your own template of the agreement, prepared by a lawyer. Then you will be sure that your interests will be properly protected.