Copyright Laws-

[Renee Howard]

Jurisdiction

Louisiana

This was an email sent to me written by a non-legal friend of hers in NYC. Is it legal & binding? Have I lost my rights to my designs?? I have received NO money for any jewelry designs sent to her. They are to be placed in her store for sale & then payment rendered.


On Friday, August 26, 2016 8:13 PM, isla silverstein <silversteinpr@gmail.com> wrote:

This is a binding agreement between Remarkably Renee and Nolah Elan Park Ave.
1. Nolah Elan Park Ave has partnered with Remarkably Renee to produce Jewelry Units for Nolah Elan Park Ave Jaoillerie to Nolah Elan standards.
2. All styles born from this Artistic collaboration are exclusive to Nolah Elan Park Ave exclusively, and can only be sold through Nolahelan.com sanctioned shopping cart portals only and are protected under the Nolah Elan Park Ave, Jaoillerie label, and copyright. Reconstruction, or duplicates are prohibited from being recreated for any other entities at any timewithout expressed written consent from Nolah Elan Park Ave.
3. Nolah Elan Park Ave, DBA nolahelan.com, will receive 30% Administrative fee from each sale, while 70%of each sale will go to Remarkably Renee .
4. Nolah Elan reserves the right to debit residual fund for any merchandise returns, or remittance for construction flaws, or issues stemming from Production, alsoany tax indemnity associated with individual revenue shares , or copyright infringement.
5. The Name Nolah Elan Park Ave, and Nolahelan.com are copyrighted entities, all use of related material must be with permission and approved by Nolah Elan Park Ave.
6. This agreement may be terminated at any time by Nolah Elan Park Ave , however, units produced under the partnership will remain accredited, and revenue model will remain in place for any latent dispersal to Remarkably Renee. Any units in production faze will be delivered to Nolah Elan for dispersal to ordering customers.
Return agreement with Electonic signature typed in all CAPITOL LETTERS.
call me with any ques or concerns, all the best Elle.

Can I still copyright my jewelry designs as I cannot find where Nolah Elan or entities have copyrighted. As I understand, this is a copyright:

Copyright Holder's Rights
While it is advisable to register your copyright, this is not necessary. The moment a work is fixed in a tangible medium, it is protected under copyright law. As a copyright holder, you have the exclusive right to copy, distribute, display and perform your work.

But I sort of understand Works for hire: even though no money has passed hands, IF I agreed to this contract above, does she own my jewelry designs??? Did I mess up???

Thank You,

Renee

 

[army judge]

You might wish to discuss this matter with a couple locally licensed attorneys.

The agreement has several issues which might not be to your liking as well as financial well being.

If possible, always run any contract you receive by YOUR lawyer for review and a written legal opinion.

If ever in doubt, be smart, don't sign anything until you completely understand the impact of your signature.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

This seems like a very informal, poorly drafted agreement that is open to a great deal of interpretation. And since there are probably so many facts that might be needed to provide further insight as to the intentions of the parties, it would likely be impossible to say for sure what the final result would be should a dispute arise in front of a court of law to decide these questions. The only way to get a reasonably good answer is to speak to an attorney, preferable a business or contracts attorney.