copyright in california...?

Question

I do a newsletter. It originated by me being the editor for my Union's Newsletter Committee, but because the Union is slow and wanted to censor it, my partner and I continued the Newsletter on our own and quit the Committee. Our Union is taking claim to the previous newsletters that we made while we were the "union newsletter" but we were never compensated for our efforts as stipulated in the union's bylaws. Generally, the copyright stays with the author, but there is question of who has claim to the copyright of the past newsletters because we were in a committee for it. Does the Union have copyright claim of the old newsletters or do the editors because we were never compensated?

Answer 1

work for hire is either an implied or actual contract. if payment is not made by the employer, then rights are not transfered from the author under this contract. the boss can not make a legal claim of ownership until and unless he makes payment. to do so is theft, pure and simple, just like taking goods from a store without payment. i don't know what that california lawyer was saying because california has very specific law conserning this, and grants the author the right to both sue and get a court ordered lien on the employers business, see section CCC 980. Publications are more thouroghly treated in the Federal copyright statutes, which among other things allows for you to collect statutory damage in lieu of proving actual damage.

Answer 2

The Union is going to claim they were "works for hire" --- whether or not you got paid is irrelevant. If you made them using their materials, under their direction, and with the understanding that you were making the newsletters for them -- that would generally be considered a "work for hire".

This area of copyright law is heavily dependent on specific facts, the specific phrasing of any contract or agreement, specifically how the documents were made and distributed, etc. So, there's no way to give a simple answer based on the facts you've listed.

I'm a licensed California attorney with significant experience in copyright law. You can contact me privately if you have any further questions.

Answer 3

The union does, because you did it under the direction of the union.
You can, however, sue them for your wages if they didn't pay you what they said they would.