As a freelance designer you own the right to all the work that you produce, unless you have officially signed it over.

Making the move into becoming a freelance graphic designer has been one of the best decisions I have made in recent years, however, although there are many perks to being a freelancer, there is no safety net of an employer or a company legal team to fall back on should legal rights be called into question. Knowing your rights as a freelancer is an important aspect of running your own business. A few months ago I wanted to learn more about copyrights in particular, and came across some useful sites along the way. I thought I'd share them should you be doing a similar search now or in the future: www.gov.uk: I found this site had a lot of useful information in an easy to digest format, including information on copyrights and protecting your intellectual property. As a freelance designer, everything you create, whether commissioned or not, is your intellectual property for which you own the copyright. There are also links on there should you wish to officially register any design work and useful contacts should there be any disputes relating to design rights. www.copyrightservice.co.uk: Although not the most attractive of websites, the UK Copyright Service site provides everything you need to know about the world of copyright and knowing your rights as a UK freelance designer. There are also some useful fact sheets, collating the important facts which can be downloaded for free. www.creativebloq.com: This is a useful online article containing various links to useful resources to do with both UK and US copyright laws. Freelance Handbook available through www.creativebloq.com has some very useful pages with tips regarding how to protect your assets as a designer, as well as how to negotiate any royalties. The handbook as a whole is a handy tool to have by your side. So there you have it, a selection of some of the links that I have found to be useful to have up my sleeve to refer to if and when it has become necessary to talk about copyright with my clients.