Are you looking to hire a freelancer anytime soon on freelance marketplaces like Gighunt or fiverr? Then this post is for you. Ever heard of anything like intellectual property? Contextually, we can say this means a property of the intellect. The property or product created from the intellectual ability or creativity of a person. 

Come to think of it, How does this even affect you as a client looking to work with a freelancer? In simple terms, the freelancer you are looking to hire is the one to come up with the intellectual property from your business. 

In as much as they are working for you, the product of their work should be yours and yours only. These products include logos, copies, tagline, artwork, symbols, images, prints, designs and so on. 

Since you are the sole owner, it’s important to protect what you paid. In some cases, some freelancers would still go on to sell your property to other clients. 

Is there anything you can do about this? Can you keep up and protect your intellectual property rights? If yes, this article is going to take you through everything you need to know about protecting intellectual property rights. 

What is Intellectual Property Rights?

To lay emphasis on the importance of international property rights, I should inform you that the United nation has a specialized agency dedicated to this part of their work. 

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) defines intellectual property as  “refers to creations of the mind: inventions; literary and artistic work; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.”

This in due terms means that the creations you are paying a freelancer for to develop for your business. However since it’s your property you have the right to totally protect it. 

Examples of intellectual properties depending on a freelancers work are: 

• Graphics designers: Logos, templates, brand guidelines, prints etc. 
• Illustrators: Logo illustration, art work etc. 
• Writers: Articles, copies, blog contents, scripts etc 
• Videographers: Video contents, video animations, films, documentaries, video ads etc
• Software developer: Original code, Landing page design, softwares and so on. 

Why is Intellectual Property Rights Important, especially for Freelance Marketplaces?

If you are yet to understand the importance of intellectual property especially for freelance marketplaces, let’s go through a scenario. 

Patrick is a business owner looking to hire a freelance logo designer for his business. The logo is supposed to be peculiar to his business and be a unique identity of the brand. 

The Intellectual property rights serve Patrick to remain the sole owner of the logo. The identity of the business, which is the logo, can not be shared with any other person no matter the situation. 

In fact, in no regards should the freelancer add your property as part of their own portfolio. Except if it was stated in your proposed contract that the freelancer can own the portfolio rights. 

Somehow, some other business might also be in the same line with Patrick business and they wouldn’t hesitate to steal Patrick’s logo. Funny enough, they would even claim that it was done by another freelancer. If an intellectual property right is active, then you can easily claim your business identity back. 

Should Clients Accept Freelancers Work Without Receiving Intellectual Property Rights?

Protecting your copyright as a freelancer is very important. Yet, you can choose to not take intellectual property right into consideration when dealing with a freelancer. 

In my short experience as a freelancer, I can say most of the freelancers around me are of high integrity. Still, there are those that might in turn sell your property to competitors. 

It’s not so bad to trust or vouch for a freelancer’s identity. Infact, after a first project with a freelancer, trust is already built to a worthy level, then the strictness in the need for intellectual property rights is important. Asking the freelancer for an intellectual property contract at this point might dictate another thing to the freelancer. 

See, I wouldn’t advise you to not ask for an Intellectual property contract in order to stay safe, especially when the property is to represent the . However, it isn’t always necessary especially when trust has already been in place. 

What Do You Need to Protect Your Intellectual Property Rights

The best way to have an intellectual property claim secured in a deal with a freelancer is to include Intellectual property rights with a freelancer. The part of IP must contain some sections that will guarantee your copyright on your products. Some of which include: 

1.     Non-disclosure Closure 

NDC, fully known as Non-disclosure closure is the part of freelancer contract that states that a freelancer must not disclose working with you to any other person. The knowledge of a third-party is not necessary in the contract. This will ensure that all the service offered by the freelancer is accredited to the client alone. 

Now, if you can’t craft this out yourself, you should hire a rotary to do this for you. Without carefully outlining the non-disclosure agreement, it might not be valid. 

2.  Retained Rights

In this section, you need to clearly state that the right to the contents or materials you are providing your freelancer during the time of your contract must be retained by you. It must not be shared with other clients or used for other projects. Also, if you can’t craft this out adequately, I’d advise you take it to a rotary. 

3. Rights to Original Content Created by a Freelancer

Most important of all is the right to own the original content created by the freelancer since it is your paid for property. Though, the right to original content or should we just say copyright is dependent on some situations including the laws guiding copyrights in a country. 

Conclusion 

If you are looking to hire any freelancer online to create something for your business, it is important to take the protection of your intellectual property right. 

Nevertheless, if at all you fall into a situation where your intellectual property right has been violated and there is a contract in place, then it is best you contact your own attorney.