[TYPO3-jobs] Reference Theft

[Jörg Schaller]

On Wed, 30 Apr 2014 17:28:05 +0700, Dieter Bunkerd
<dieter.bunkerd at typo3-asia.com> wrote:

>Outsourcing (and that's what we talking about here) doesn't work this 
>way. My client IS the developer, I work for him, he pays me, but then it 
>is HIS copyright.
>
>Outsourcing is exactly the same situation as if I would be an employee 
>of a company. I work for them, but they hold all copyrights.
>

Actually, that is not true for Germany and a common misconception in
German "Urheberrecht". According the Germany law, there is no way for
a creator to loose his status or transfer it to someone else. He may
only license his work and is completely free to decide to whom and to
what extent. There are some cases, though, where the creator will have
to grant a license by default, for example when creating things during
the course of an employment contract (not freelance). This is also
true when an employee uses his spare time to expand on content which
belongs to his employer, for example add-ons for games.

In the USA, on the other hand, there is a construct called "work for
hire" where someone else is paid to create something but the one who
commissioned the work is then considered the creator.

If anyone needs pointers in these matters, I specialize in IT and IP
law.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen/Best regards

Jörg Schaller
Rechtsanwalt
Kanzlei Stiletto Wilhelm und Schaller 
Kunibertsklostergasse 1 • 50668 Köln 
Tel +49 (221) 913 959 25
Fax +49 (221) 913 959 29
mailto:typo3 at raschaller.com
http://www.raschaller.com