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Reliant Works developed or prepared by employees within the scope of their normal employment will be considered a "work made for hire" under United States copyright law (17U.S.C. §101 et seq.) and legally will need to be considered the property of Reliant₁

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• • Independent Work has been presented in advance and approved in concept by the Reliant Executive Director or his designated representative.
  • Independent Work is created on the employee's personal time, with no support or resources, financial or otherwise, from Reliant.
  • Independent Work is not created or developed for a specific Reliant job assignment, is not based on a Reliant job assignment, or is not otherwise created or developed specifically for the Reliant ministry in any way.
  • Independent Work is not advertised or promoted using Reliant resources during the term of the Reliant employee's employment.
  • Independent Work does not reference the employee as an employee of Reliant (unless previously approved by the Reliant Executive Director or his designated representative).

Examples of uses of Reliant support or resources include, but are not limited to:

• • The the use of Reliant facilities, funds, work-time, equipment, or supplies
  • The use of "on-the-job" time, personnel, or Reliant staff,
  • Any use of Reliant funds, property, or underlying materials

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Given the nature of the employment responsibilities of Reliant employees, it is expected that employees may routinely create Reliant Works in the scope of their normal employment. Employees need to contact the Reliant Executive Director, or his designated representative, for guidance in determining the ownership rights with respect to the CW that they are contemplating creating.

This advance contact will help to determine if the Work will be classified as an Independent Work, Reliant Work, or a Derivative Work.

It is Reliant's desire to ensure that there is clarity with respect to the ownership rights of such CW and that requirements of any reasonable compensation have been met, if applicable.

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• • If the employee desires to create an Independent Work - CW that he or she believes would belong to the individual and not to Reliant (because it would not be developed within the scope of their Reliant employment)
  • If the employee desires to develop a Reliant Work (within the scope of his or her employment) that the employee believes has or may have value for distribution outside of the employee's local church or ministry setting (such as a book or worship recording)
  • If the employee desires to create a Derivative Work from an existing Reliant Work.

Approval by the Executive Director (or his designated representative)

Written Approval
The Executive Director, or his designated representative, is required to give written approvals in the following situations:

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• Independent Works - All royalties and income obtained from the CW belong solely to the employee.
• Reliant Works - All royalties and income obtained from a Reliant Work legally belong to Reliant.
• Derivative Works - Unless negotiated otherwise with the Executive Director, or his designated representative, all royalties and income obtained from a Derivative Work that was derived from an existing Reliant work legally belongs to Reliant.

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If the field missionary leaves Reliant employment and there is no subsequent transfer** of CW ownership or right to use the CW, Reliant has the option to re-direct the royalty income to another Reliant ministry fund.

(**If the field missionary leaves Reliant employment and there will be a subsequent transfer of CW ownership or right to use the CW, please refer to the Treatment of Creative Works if Employee Leaves Reliant section below).

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• Independent Works - All expenses related to producing CW obtained from an Independent Work are the sole responsibility of the employee and must be paid by the employee.
• Reliant Works - Unless negotiated otherwise with the Executive Director, or his designated representative, all expenses related to producing, publishing, distributing CW that is a Reliant Work developed by a field missionary, will need to be paid from the applicable Reliant MTD account for which that field missionary is responsible.
• Derivative Works - Unless negotiated otherwise with the Executive Director, or his designated representative, all expenses related to producing, publishing, distributing CW that is a Derivative Work developed by a field missionary, will need to be paid from the applicable Reliant MTD account for which that field staff missionary is responsible. (Here it is assumed that the Derivative Work was derived from an existing Reliant work and belongs legally to Reliant).

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1. One option is that Reliant will donate the CW to another 501(c)(3) ministry that is in harmony with Reliant's tax-exempt purposes, subject to Board approval.

2. A second option - because Reliant eagerly desires to support the local church where the employee had been ministering, Reliant, in most cases will permit the church the right to use** (but not ownership) the CW to the employee's local church where they are ministering. The local church may then use the CW and also receive any royalty income generated from the CW. If the former Reliant employee later desires to secure personal ownership of the CW from his local church, the employee would need to negotiate an agreement directly with Reliant for the transfer of that ownership from Reliant to the employee.

**Right to use: The reason Reliant retains the ownership rights to the CW is in order to preclude local churches from simply giving the CW to the former employee as a direct pass through (which Reliant is not permitted to do as a tax-exempt organization). The reason Reliant retains the ownership rights to the CW is in order to preclude local churches from simply giving the CW to the former employee as a direct pass through (which Reliant is not permitted to do as a tax-exempt organization).

3. A third option would be for Reliant to agree with the employee, to transfer the ownership rights to the employee who is leaving their employment with Reliant (if that employee desires personal ownership of the CW). Reliant is required by tax-exempt laws to first consider whether it is in keeping with its tax-exempt purposes to make such a transfer. After that decision is made by Reliant, the process would require the following steps (these are again required by tax-exempt laws under which Reliant is constrained):

• Reliant will obtain a fair market value of the CW for the rights to be transferred to the employee. This is known as the "CW FMV" or "Purchase Price". Reliant is required by law to assign its CW rights in exchange for receiving "fair market value".
• After obtaining a fair market value of the rights for the CW, this now becomes the "Purchase Price". Reliant will work with the employee/purchaser to arrange one of the following payment options for the assignment of the CW rights to the employee:

a. No cash payment. In this case, Reliant adds the amount of the Purchase Price to the employee's compensation as additional compensation. Reliant will then list the total compensation on the employee's Reliant W-2.

b. Cash payment. In this case, the employee pays Reliant the Purchase Price in a one-time cash payment.

Under either payment scenario above, the employee is responsible for all personal income and any other taxes due as a result of the purchase of the CW from Reliant.

4. If during their ongoing Reliant employment, the employee desires to personally own any CW he or she produced while still working for Reliant (and Reliant agrees), they could do so under the same options listed in section 3(a) and 3(b) above.

• If the employee has already left Reliant employment, the only payment option available to him or her is the cash payment - 3(b).

Expenses Incurred: For Sections 3 and 4 above, Reliant will obtain a fair market value of the CW in consultation with legal counsel. Unless negotiated otherwise with the Executive Director, all expenses incurred related to valuing the CW, will need to be paid from the applicable Reliant MTD account for which that field missionary is responsible.₇

Employee Responsibility for Taxes for Independent Works

Reliant employees are personally responsible for all tax obligations relating to income generated from their Independent Works. Employees are also responsible to ensure that no Reliant resources, including work time, personnel assistance or Reliant facilities or equipment, are used for the production of materials produced outside the scope of their employment with Reliant.

If, inadvertently, an employee utilizes any Reliant funds or resources in the production of Independent Works, the employee needs to reimburse Reliant in full for the total costs incurred, and/or costs associated with the services and equipment used.

If no reimbursement is made to Reliant, such costs may be considered taxable to the employee. In such instances, there may possibly be significant tax consequences to the employee for which he or she shall be responsible.

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Legal Items - Copyright Notice, Registration, and Agreements

All copyrightable copyright-able Reliant Works produced and/or prepared by Reliant employees, independent contractors, and volunteers within the scope of their employment or their contractual or other duties are required to contain proper copyright notices indicating that Reliant is the legal owner of the copyright. In instances where Reliant determines that the copyright of the Derivative Work can be owned by a Reliant employee (who is creating the Derivative Work outside the scope of his or her employment duties), the Reliant employee is required to specifically indicate the copyright notice of the Derivative Work and all copyright registrations, that the Derivative Works relies on underlying material that is owned by Reliant.

From time to time, Reliant may need to have its employees sign forms to assist Reliant in registering its copyrights in the Reliant Works or Derivative Works, and also may be required to assist Reliant in establishing its copyright ownership.

All employees agree that Reliant can obtain full disclosure in writing of any and all Reliant Works created by the employee at any time during the course of employment.

Reliant may request from its employees, any agreements it needs to implement this CW Policy, but the absence of such agreements does not affect Reliant's rights under this policy.

_{1 Reliant Work(s) developed or prepared by independent contractors or volunteers at Reliant's request will be considered "works made for hire" under specific guidelines set forth under United States copyright law (17 U.S.C §101 et seq.) and cases, and/or assigned to Reliant by contract or written agreement.}

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