Technical Writer

I have had some interesting conversations with writer friends recently about the concept of writing for hire, and associated copyright issues.  Some friends are quite passionate in their opinions—writing for hire is evil, and you should never do it. If you can’t retain the copyright, don’t do it.

It has never been a problem for me, as most technical writing is writing for hire.

So why do people get so het up about writing for hire?  And what is it, anyway?

What is writing for hire?

Writing for hire is when you get paid to write something—a user manual, a speech, on-line help—and the company, or person who employs you, retains the rights to that work.  That is, they own the copyright and any royalties that might ensue.

The person or company you wrote the material for can do what they like with or to it (depending on the contract you signed with them, of course). You have no say in it.

Payment may be a flat fee, an hourly rate or whatever.

It is different to ‘regular’ writing (and by ‘regular’ here I mean the standard, accepted view of writing that most people have) in that you, the author, do not retain the copyright.

And that’s why so many people hate it—because they don’t own the copyright.

So why do it?

Because it’s a job.  It pays well.  Why not take a job that allows you to do what you love (write) all day, every day?  It’s fun.  How many people can say they get paid to do something they enjoy?

Not only that, the copyright is generally useless to you. Who is going to buy your “How to Use Warwick’s Widgets” except Warwick? 

What’s all the fuss about then?

The problem comes about because some people believe that whatever they write belongs to them—always, no matter what. 

It doesn’t.

Standard copyright law says, yes, you own the copyright to anything you write.  However, you will find that when you take a job as a technical writer you will be asked to sign a form to say that anything you create as part of your work for that company is theirs, to do as they wish with.

When I take work like that I read the form carefully to ensure that is the only thing they get to own, and then sign it. 

Note: By ‘only thing they get to own’ I mean they have no control over other writing I do, like this blog, or my novels, or other technical writing I may do for other companies at the same time, or any time in the future.

Friends who are so passionate about the importance of retaining copyright tend to be:

• Novelists, and/or
• People who do not make their main income from a writing-related job

and most of their aversion to work for hire comes from novelisations, rather than technical writing. 

They cite cases like that of Carolyn Davidson, who created the Nike swoosh, and how she was paid $35 for a logo that went on to become one of the most recognised symbols in the world.  (Yes, I know it is not writing, and one is copyright and the other a trademark, but the principle is still the same.) 

Sad to say, it was a work for hire, and all Davidson was really owed for that logo was the $35 Nike paid her. They were under no obligation to come back later and give her Nike stock as well, which they did.

As writer Mel Gilden, who wrote novelisations of the 90210 television series says:

… What, if anything, am I getting out of it? The trivial answer, of course, is that I get money. 90210 paid my bills for many months.

“Are Novelizations the Scum of Literature?“  Mel Gilden

While I do not advocate that you should ever give away copyright of a novel you have written, I would be perfectly happy to take on a novelisation as a work for hire, and look on that as almost just another form of technical writing. 

If the book company later made millions out of the book then so be it. It was my call, I had the choice to write or not write, and I took it on as a paid piece of writing work.

It’s your choice

Novelisations aside, because obviously that’s just a small sub-set of writing for hire, if you believe so strongly that you should never write for hire, then don’t.

It’s your choice.

Just don’t expect much work as a technical writer.

Last Modified : February 19th, 2007
Filed under : Tech Writer
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