Eighth Entry – Copyright

I could not find the AIGA Readings on Ethics and Copyright guide, and the link led to AIGA Resources instead. So I searched on the website and found this video titled, “Copyright Law for Graphic Design by Linda Joy Kattwinkel & Shel Perkins.” I read the excerpt and watch the video. 

While interning at Clarkstech, the issue of copyright hasn’t really come up. Mostly because we are still in the drafting phases of our projects. One thing is for sure, we are to keep track of any images we use for anything more finalized so that we can buy the rights to its use or if it is free to use commercially. We use the logos of the companies we are designing websites for, but that doesn’t infringe any copyright since it’s their logo.

As an employee, we are working on a website design as a group and team. So this kind of creative work would be called a “compilation” copyright. As an intern, I haven’t been working with anyone outside my supervisor. This is still considered a “compilation” project, but my work will be considered as owned by the company Clarkstech. This is what I signed in the contract and it makes sense since this work needs to be handed off to a client to own afterward and my designs might continue to be used until the final iteration of their websites or apps.

I also signed a non-disclosure agreement, so I cannot talk about who my clients are or show my project to anyone, or post about it. It is very privileged information. This sometimes makes it harder to design and discuss to get more feedback from other designers. I cannot discuss many details about our projects, even visually with screenshots, within my journals. I can discuss color to some extent and any complication within the design process, but never discuss who the client is or what industry they are in. I have had to write around this and it has made writing harder, to be honest.