The Law as It Applies to Technical Communication:

Determining Rights to Authorship and Copyrights

By: Karrie Kreamer and Meesha Thomas

As a technical communicator, it is the individuals responsibility to observe, ac no!ledge and understand !hat legalities apply to them in the "ield# $hile it is implied that !e must possess a certain set o" s ills to be success"ul, !e o"ten overloo that no!ledge o" authorship and copyrights is vital to our success# There are legal %uestions that come as an a"terthought !hen creating a document, %uestions that should be ans!ered prior to entering any type o" agreement# $hat happens a"ter !e create a success"ul document& $ho maintains rights to my !or & $ho is the author and !ho is the o!ner, and is there a di""erence& Academia strongly emphasi'es !riting, "ormatting, designing and style to students !ho practice technical communication# But ho! the document that these s ills create is treated, is more than over sighted in the technical communication community# ( !ant to address !hy it is important "or technical communicators to understand legal de"initions and !hen they pertain to them, as !ell as !hy academia should place a larger importance on teaching these legalities in the "ield# The Berne Convention is an international agreement that recogni'es and governs copyright#) Copyright generally states:
Copyright o!ners have the right to control the reproduction o" their !or , including the right to receive payment "or that reproduction# An author may grant or sell those rights to others, including publishers or recording companies# *

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Encyclopedia Britannica TheFreeDictionary.com

$e could suppose "rom this de"inition, that the creator o" a document controls the dissemination o" their product, as the Berne Convention allots# +o!ever, the mista e is ho! the individual de"ines ,author#- $hile most assume that the author o" a !or is the creator, the term author can be de"ined in a hand"ul o" !ays . especially !here contracts and !or "or hire is concerned# Authorship is not al!ays directly applied to the creator o" the document# TyAnna +errington !rote her article, ,$ho /!ns My $or ,- to e0pose ho! the la!, in terms o" copyright, de"ies a clear and solid de"inition o" authorship# 1he states that !hen it comes to !or "or hire, technical communicators do not necessarily have authorship o" their creations# 1o !hile the Berne Convention seems pretty direct, our misinterpretation is rooted in the "ine print# The "ine print o" contractual agreements !ith companies has the ability to possess authorship, or the rights to disseminate !or s and collect "inancial pro"itability o"" o" the !or # $hen a !or is produced !ithin the scope o" employment, the company retains rights to documents# ,1cope o" employment- is dictated by !hether or not

use o" company property or material !as involved creation too place during normal business hours and too place on company property

creation pertained to the assignment the employee !as given by the employer

/ther!ise, a document created outside o" the scope o" employment, can potentially be the right o" the producer or creator#

2n"ortunately, employers are not the only entities !ho can strip a!ay copyrights "rom a technical communicator or creator o" any other type o" intellectual property# (ntellectual property re"ers to a creation "rom the mind or as the (ntellectual 3roperty /""ice 4(3/5 says, ,results "rom the e0pression o" an idea#-6 (ntellectual 3roperty clause, !hich covers copyrights, !as initially created by government, to give very little rights to people in order to promote innovation and invention# +o!ever, the government has the ability to limit those rights, in the event that a document can advance a "ield 4e0# math and science5, or bring about societal progress#7 1o even !hen !e produce or ,author- outside o" the scope o" employment, !e have the ability to lose the rights o" our creations because o" the limited rights o" the (ntellectual 3roperty clause# (n contrast, technical communicators should no! their legal rights so they no! !hen they are protected "rom ,"au0- contractual agreements . especially in the realm o" employment# 3articularly in the academic !orld, employers !ill place content !ithin contracts that holds no legal !eight# +errington states that . universities, speci"ically . employers try to retain !or s that are not legally theirs to retain#8 The la! overrides the employers attempt to contractually bind employees over certain authorship rights#

Intellectual Property Office. http://

.ipo.!o".u#/

%errin!ton& Ty'nna. 2(11. )*opyri!ht& Free +peech& and Democracy: Eldred ". ',hcroft and It, Implication, for Technical *ommunicator,.- Technical Communication Quarterly 2(& no. 1: $./.2. %errin!ton& T.1. 1222. )3ho O n, 4y 3or#5: The +tate of 3or# for %ire for 'cademic, in Technical *ommunication.- Journal of Business and Technical Communication 13 627: 1$2

$ithout this no!ledge, technical communicators can be susceptible to handing over !or s that they are not legally obligated to surrender# 9ot only do !e need to understand !hen our !or s are protected, but !e need to be a!are o" !hen others !or s are protected# (n the "ield o" technical communication, !e o"ten use re"erences and sources to give our !or s credibility# +errington addresses in her article on copyright and "reedom o" speech,: that copyright can limit the no!ledge that a technical communicator can access# (t is pertinent "or us to understand ho! the copyright la!s apply to !or s, so that !e understand i" a source can be used and in !hat manner . are there limitations to the usage o" certain !or s# ;or instance, the Berne Convention e0tends the copyright li"e and the dissemination o" a !or to "i"ty years a"ter the authors death# +o!ever, that li"e can be e0tended upon certain re%uests# Copyright li"e can even be labeled the 1onny Bono clause, !hich gives inde"inite copyright li"e to a !or # <And in some events, copyrights are trans"erred to another being during or a"ter an authors death# (t is the technical communicators =ob to be "ully a!are o" the legalities or copyrights o" anothers !or and ho! to legally obtain permission to use that !or as a source#

2nderstanding the la! as it applies to technical communicators, speci"ically !ith copyright la!s, is vital to the success o" any !or # Technical communicators need to

%errin!ton& )*opyri!ht& Freedom of +peech and Democracy.9*opyri!ht :a of the ;nited +tate, of 'merica.9 ;.+. *opyri!ht Office. http:// .copyri!ht.!o"/title1./22chap3.html 6acce,,ed Decem<er $& 2(137.

no! !hat their scope o" employment is and !hen they are classi"ied as an author o" a !or # They also need to be conscious o" !hat their speci"ic rights are !hen signing any type o" legal papers or contracts, in order to "ully protect themselves and their !or s# ( thin it is important that university programs in technical communication provide an education in copyright la!s that concern the students in the "ield# Academia should help e%uip students !ith this no!ledge so that they have legal in"ormation in their arsenals as they ta e on the corporate !orld#

References
>Copyright ?a! o" the 2nited 1tates o" America#> 2#1# Copyright /""ice# http:@@!!!#copyright#gov@title)<@A*chap6#html 4accessed December 7, *B)65# Cncyclopedia Britannica# >Berne Convention 4copyright la!5#> Cncyclopedia Britannica /nline# http:@@!!!#britannica#com@CBchec ed@topic@:*7D*@ BerneEConvention +errington, T#K# )AAA# ,$ho /!ns My $or &: The 1tate o" $or "or +ire "or Academics in Technical Communication#- Journal of Business and Technical Communication )6 4*5: )*8E)86# +errington, TyAnna# *B))# ,Copyright, ;ree 1peech, and Democracy: Cldred v# Ashcro"t and (ts (mplications "or Technical Communicators#- Technical Communication Quarterly *B, no# ): 7<E<*# (ntellectual 3roperty /""ice# http:@@!!!#ipo#gov#u @ The;reeDictionary#com# http:@@legalEdictionary#the"reedictionary#com@copyright