Protected Property
Protected Property
Pitch Perfect Protected Property
Here’s a dilemma – for many, a query – and for many more besides, particularly those in senior positions, a legal concern.
When it comes to winning tenders, and for big ones this is even more prevalent, creative agencies tend to bring out the big guns.
Their top creatives put their heads together to devise the most striking, memorable and creative ideas they can, to meet the brief and win the business.
But when they’re going big, not home, there’s one thing they forget to consider: How do creative agencies protect their million-dollar ideas, or is there always an inherent risk when pitching that the recipient will nick them?
Copyright Protection
Firstly – and maybe obviously – ensure any work created is original. If not, the chances are it won’t qualify for copyright protection automatically in the UK.
If it is original, as we’d hope, make sure it is the author’s ‘own intellectual creation’, something that was created and not plagiarised, regarding which the author has free creative choice (by the way, newspaper headlines have been upheld as being protected literary works).
Additionally important is to ensure the creator, the author, is identifiable. Know who they are. Finally, and an even more vital point in the case of a pitch, make sure the company pitching owns the rights created by the author.
So if copyright arises automatically – as is common in literary and artistic works – this means that any third party running off with the original idea could be in (big) trouble for copyright theft, or (if the lines are more blurred), for failing to identify and credit the original creator.
Here are a few tips:
- Make sure the pitch clearly states that the contents are owned by the agency.
- Make sure the creator is employed by, or has waived all rights in the works created in favour of, the agency.
- Make sure the work is original.
Imitation is flattery
When it comes to pitching, it’s only natural to want to show the best and brightest ideas in your arsenal. But from a legal standpoint, it isn’t worth losing ownership of your creativity. They say imitation is flattery; but pinching someone’s idea (and with it, their hard work, time and effort) without giving them a penny, is cheap.