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Contractor-built work

Questions to ask a lawyer about who owns work contractors made

Dealing with who owns work contractors made? Describe it in your own words, and Tellbrief turns your answers into a short brief with the questions worth asking and the records to have ready, so your first call with a lawyer starts further ahead.

For example: An agency and freelancers built the product, and nobody signed anything about ownership. A brief for this founder suggests the lists below.

Questions worth asking

  1. Does the company own what contractors and early contributors made?Under U.S. copyright law, a contractor owns the copyright in what they make unless it falls in one of nine narrow categories with a signed agreement, or they sign it over in writing.1,2
  2. How do we protect what we keep secret when others need to see it?Under federal law, information counts as a trade secret only if its owner takes reasonable measures to keep it secret.3

Records to have ready

  • Agreements with contractors and other contributorsPeople outside the company may have made work you rely on.
  • Anything showing contributors signed over their workIt’s unclear whether the company owns everything it uses.

Your brief builds its own lists from your answers.

Build your own brief

About 30 questions, most of them one tap. No account and no card during early access. Tellbrief isn’t a law firm and doesn’t give legal advice.

Start your brief

Questions founders ask

What questions should I ask a lawyer about who owns work contractors made?

For the founder in this example, the brief suggests: Does the company own what contractors and early contributors made? How do we protect what we keep secret when others need to see it? Your own brief builds its list from your answers.

What should I have ready before the first call?

For this example: Agreements with contractors and other contributors; Anything showing contributors signed over their work. Your own brief lists what fits your answers.

Is this legal advice?

No. Tellbrief organizes your information so the first conversation with your lawyer starts further ahead. It isn’t a law firm, and using it doesn’t make anyone your lawyer. Legal advice comes from a licensed lawyer, once they agree to take on your matter.

What does it cost?

Your brief is free during early access, with no card and no account. If you’d like Jordan to take on the work, he reads your answers first, then talks through the scope and his fee with you before any work starts. Tellbrief takes no share of it.

How long does it take?

About 30 questions once the names are cleared, and most take one tap. Plan on 10 to 15 minutes.

Other situations

  1. 17 U.S.C. § 101, “work made for hire” (opens in a new tab).
  2. 17 U.S.C. § 204(a) (opens in a new tab). Sources 5 and 7–11 are from the Cornell Legal Information Institute. General information, not legal or tax advice.

What’s in your brief

One page that sums up your situation, then every answer you gave. It’s yours to keep and to take to any lawyer.

  1. The basics at a glance: what the business is, its stage, whether it’s formed and where it sells. Plus what’s changing, in one line.
  2. Your question for your lawyer, plus a few more worth asking, picked from your answers.
  3. Records to have ready, based on your answers. Send them only if your lawyer asks.
  4. Every answer you gave, grouped by topic. The reviewing lawyer also gets a private note on where to look first.

Open a sample brief (opens in a new tab) PDF · made-up company

  • 18 U.S.C. § 1839(3) (opens in a new tab).