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Originally Posted by Flash
It's interesting to here various artists thoughts on this subject. The underlying cause for the question of 'who gets the credit" I think ultimately comes down to who owns the rights to the design and like it or not it's the artist that owns the intellectual right to the rendering, I believe. Credit may put money on the table once but rights can put money on the table for years to come. But then again, I'm just a photographer.
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THERE ARE SEVERAL THINGS TO BE CONSIDERED.
1) If the photographer/renderer is hired to take or draw or take a picture, the person that owns it is the person who paid for it. (Unless specifically spelled out otherwise) Hence the clauses at many companies, that if an employee creates ANY product while employed with that company, the Company owns 100% of the rights to all your creative endeavors, or some photographers want rights over the images of someone's wedding. I for one would not handle an issue like that under those terms, but that's just me. Another exception to this is a person who is a "Public" person. Their rights concerning their images are greatly diminished.
2) If the photographer/ renderer takes a picture/ draws a picture then they own the rights to their work to a point. First, original Art should allow them them to sell or market it as they see fit. They can sell a copy of that image and retain the writes to that image. However, if the photographer/renderer creates an image of a Camaro or anything else that has been previously Trademarked, copy-written, or Patented (Whether designed or a utility Patent has been granted), they do not own the design, they would own the rights to their "Changes", to the original, or the additional or enhanced use of a product, or in some cases where "Parody", has been used.
GM would still own the, design of the Camaro with the Name as well. "Camaro".
Draw or take a picture of Mickey Mouse and try to sell it without permission from Disney. They are extremely aggressive towards ANY unauthorized use of any of their art work. If you do this, Be sure and Get your wallet out and your Attorney on the line.
3) I have some Patents. When I hire a renderer for an item, I own the rights to that picture. The artist/Engineer was paid for their work. Beyond that they own nothing regarding it.
To sum up, this area of Law is very diverse as different people defend their "Intellectual Rights", with varying levels of aggressiveness.
The best thing I was told is to ALWAYS HIRE A COMPETENT ATTORNEY, spell it ALL out ahead of time, so there are no unintended, "assumptions".
If there is any doubt, communicate with the other party and be courteous and respectful. In many cases that will help you avoid a lot of headache, and it would help establish that you were making a layman's attempt at doing the right thing.
If you have something you intend to possibly make money on, "Put it in Writing" beforehand so everyone is on the same page. Have things reviewed by an attorney beforehand specifically skilled in this aspect of law.
I know there are many many exceptions and variances with different types of intellectual property. This is barely scratching the surface by someone who has limited experience on the subject, and further is NOT an attorney.
It is however a real interesting facet of law.
Thoughts?
Ty