Artist in Michigan, not credited in Artwork published in widely available Book.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan

I am an artist who did a collaborative drawing with another artist that I discovered has been printed in a widely available book.

The artwork is only credited to the other artist, even though this artist told the publisher that I did half of the drawing while discussing the work being printed in the book. How should I handle this?

I am upset because had this artwork been correctly labeled as a collaboration between both the other artist and I, it could have helped me generate more employment opportunities as this book is available in many big book stores.

The book publisher is in Pennsylvania, but I live in Michigan (not sure how that effects laws dealing with this..)

Would I be wasting my time dealing with this legally, or should I peruse this?
How should I proceed? Thanks for any advice you can offer me!

Did you have a written collaboration agreement with the other artist? Was the drawing registered with the U.S. Copyright Office showing you as co-author?

Hi Quincy - I can get a written agreement with him made up, but I do have the chain of emails back and fourth discussing our collaboration as well.

As a side note, I have never registered a drawing with the copyright office -- is this something I should do with every drawing I make?

To answer your second question first:

Registration of a work is not necessary, unless or until you decide to sue for copyright infringement. Then registration is necessary to proceed with a suit. The copyright in a created work is automatic upon creation, with copyright protections automatic, as well. Registration is added protection and, in the case of infringement, allows you to collect statutory damages, this without proof of any actual damages arising from an infringement. So, while it is wise from this standpoint to get all of your creative works registered, it is not generally a necessity.

That said, it is wise for a collaboration to be registered under both coauthors names, to provide public notice that the copyright ownership is shared. Without a written agreement between coauthors that states otherwise, or a registration of the collaboration with the U.S. Copyright Office, however, a court will presume equal rights in a co-created work.

Absent any agreement that states otherwise, and with no registration of the work that indicates otherwise, any coauthor of a work shares equally in the copyright. Either one of the coauthors can use the work in any way without permission from the other, however the coauthor who uses the work should notify the other of the use and must share with his/her coauthor any profits realized from the use of the work. It is important for you to know, by the way, what rights your coauthor may have given to the publisher prior to publication. This can be an issue that creates some problems.

If you and your collaborator are on good terms with each other, a collaboration agreement at this point might be wise, specifying the rights of each author, any obligations one author has to another, any percentages of revenues to be shared in the event of profits realized, etc. Reducing an oral agreement between the two of you to a written document signed by both of you helps you avoid confusion as to rights later.

You can review with an attorney, and I definitely recommend you do review with an attorney, any agreement that is drawn up between the two of you, to ensure all rights are protected and the agreement accurately reflects what you both intend. A review by an attorney of the agreement your collaborator made with the publisher will be important, as well.

As a note, it is unfortunate that you were not credited as coauthor of the work in a publication that has been widely distributed. Perhaps it can be arranged with your coauthor and the publisher that you be credited in any republications.

With luck, all of your issues can be addressed outside a courtroom.

Good luck.

hi again quincy,

thanks very much for the informative reply. I will think about what you said and try and come up with a plan as far as what I am going to do. Thanks again!

You're welcome, cpcpcp.

I hope your situation with your collaborator is resolved easily. Good luck.