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What is copyright?

When you invoice your client for original work, like a text, graphic, or code, you can transfer economic copyrights automatically. This article explains how copyrights work and what they mean for your deals on Useme.

What is copyright?
What’s protected by copyright?
Types of copyright
Managing your economic copyrights
Note for Polish tax-payers


What is copyright?

If you’re a freelancer using Useme, you probably work with creative projects like texts, videos, graphics, or code. These types of work are original and they’re protected by copyright law.

Copyright gives you the exclusive right to decide how your work is used. You can keep these rights, license them, or transfer them to your client. In this article, we’ll explain what copyright is, what types it includes, and why it matters in your deals on Useme.

What’s protected by copyright?

Copyright applies to work that’s creative and individual. It doesn’t need to be registered, signed, or published to be protected. If you create something original, you automatically own the copyright.

Here are examples of works protected by copyright:

  • graphic or website design, logo, illustration, or poster,
  • source code, scripts, or software,
  • audiovisual materials,
  • articles or books,
  • artistic crafts.

If you’re invoicing for any of these through Useme, you can choose to license the work or transfer the copyright to your client.

Types of copyright

There are two types of copyright: moral and economic rights.

1. Moral rights

Moral rights let you identify yourself as the author and decide when your work is shared for the first time. They also protect the content and form of your work.

You always keep these rights. You can’t transfer them to the person or company who buys your work.

2. Economic rights

Economic rights allow you to benefit from your work – by reselling it, sharing it, or letting others use it through a license. You can transfer these rights when you sell your work.

Managing your economic copyrights

If your work is original and creative, you can decide how others may use it.

You have three options:

  1. Copyright transfer – your client gets full and permanent rights to use the work;

  2. License – your client can use the work for 15 years;

  3. No copyright transfer – your client gets no rights to use the work, you keep all the rights.

Check how licensing and copyright transfer work on Useme.

Both the license and copyright transfer happen automatically through Useme – no printing or paperwork required. You just tick a checkbox when submitting your form. We’ll handle the rest and generate the documents.

Check the difference between licensing and copyright transfer.

Note for Polish tax-payers

In some industries in Poland, a license or copyright transfer lets you apply a 50% tax-deductible cost. This means your income tax is calculated on a lower amount, so you pay less.