My family friend did my illustrations for my first two books and did them for nothing as she is a friend, there has now been a fallout within the family and she's called me declaring her rights and what she can and what I can't do with regards to the books......we had nothing in writing to start with but can anyone help me with what rights she has??? Thank you.
Thank you for that information. Do you suggest that I put some sort of agreement in writing to her...as so far we have nothing. I'm worried if the books were to take off she'd then start demanding a payout?
Copyright gives the owner legal rights such as the right to produce, exhibit, publish or reproduce (copy) a creative work. The work must exist in a tangible, material form. You cannot copyright ideas, facts or material in the public domain. The artist owns the copyright to their own work automatically as soon as it is created. Copyright includes both economic and moral dimensions.
Return to top of page
Moral Rights
The artist is allowed to benefit economically from their creative work but they also have moral rights, which means they can challenge any questionable use of their artwork if it damages their reputation and they are allowed to be recognized as the creator of their own work. In Canada you cannot sell your moral rights but these can be waived if you assign your copyright to someone else.
Duration of copyright
Copyright laws confer limited rights. The duration of copyright protection is one of the limitations of copyright. In Canada, copyright generally exists for 50 years beyond the life of the creator (artist or author). In the EU and the USA the duration of copyright is 70 years beyond the life of the creator. In Canada the duration of copyright for most photographs and films is the life of the artist plus 50 years, although this can vary with different circumstances.
If copyright gives the artist certain rights to publish, perform or reproduce a work of art they create, copyright infringement occurs when someone reproduces (copies) or publishes a creative work without the permission of the artist. One important factor is that although copyright gives the artist rights, these are limited. For example, anyone is allowed to take a photograph of a copyrighted painting in a public art show and publish it to accompany an article reviewing the show. This is called "editorial use" and it is not a copyright violation. On the other hand, taking the same photo and using it to create and sell posters is "commercial use" and doing this without asking the artist is a copyright violation.