2. The Questions:

Below are the questions that I asked my Intellectual Property attorney, Jonathan W. Fountain. These questions are important to me as they pertain to my course of study and also the type of free lance work that I do outside of class. Some of them are hypothetical, but others are actual events that have occurred or are currently occurring to me in the professional world.

1. I was recently hired as a sub-contractor. The company asked me to sign a no-compete agreement. What is a no-compete agreement?

"...this is legalese for a written promise by an employee not to compete with his or her employer, or take employment with a competing business, for a specified length of time after the employer-employee relationship ends." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 520

2. If I create artwork that I’m paid for using illegal, pirated software. What kind of penalties will I be facing?

"A copyright may protect a program's literal expression and perhaps it's structure, sequence, and orginization... In addition, a copyright owner can only stop someone who has copied the software." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 223

3. If I do some free lance work using school equipment, do I need to notify the school of the project?

"A copyright claimant is the party considered to be the basic owner of the copyright in a work being registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. The copyright claimant may be any of the following: the actual author of the work, an employer..." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 223

4. If I do free lance work using school equipment, is the school entitled to any compensation?

"Under the Copyright Act of 1976, the term 'copyright owner' has two distinct meanings.
First, it refers to the person or entitty who is listed as the owner of the U.S. Copyright Office and on any notice attached to the copyrighted work. This is either the original author or developer or a person or entity whom all rights under the copyright have been transferred.
Second, 'copyright owner' also refers to a person or entity who owns one or more of the five exclusive rights that make up the whole copyright, and who therefore has a right to sue infringers of that right." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 226

5. Can I protect multiple intellectual properties under one single copyright?

"Intellectual property refers to products of the human intellect that have commercial value and that receive legal protection." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 4

6. What rights, if any, do I retain when using company software?

"A copyright license is a method by which the owner of a copyright gives permission for another to use or copy an original work of authorship. Because the essence of a copyright is the exclusive right to make copies, in order to comemercially exploit the product, a copyright owner often needs to pass this and associated rights to a publisher or distributor." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 265

7. If I create a design, but am not paid for it, what recourse do I have?

"Breach of contract is the failure of a party to fulfill the provisions or conditions contained in a contract in which he is a party. Eg. Failure to complete the job agreed in time. Failure to pay in time." www.legal-explanations.com

8. If someone steals my intellectual property how do I establish ownership?

"Once a copyright owner suspects infringement, the owner may file a lawsuit against the infringer for damages in federal court, provided that a copyright has been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 224

9. If my employer gives me specific guidelines for a design, but those guidelines infringe on another IP, am I liable for it?

"A lawsuit brought against someone who uses a copyrighted expression without permission is commonly known as an infringement action." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 257

10. If I am fired from a job, can I get in trouble for keeping in touch with clients I worked with during my time at the company?

"Companies are often very eager to protect their customer lists with nondisclosure agreements, particularly when a former employee might use a customer list to contact clients. If a dispute over a customer list ends up in court, a judge generally consideres the following elements to decide whether or not a customer list qualifies as a trade secret..." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 522