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| Policy Name: | Creative Works |
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| Scope: | All Employees & Associates |
| Revision Date: | October 20, 2016 |
| Last Review Date: | June 9, 2023 |
| Excerpt |
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General Policy: GCM Reliant is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and as such, may only expend its resources for the advancement of the religious, charitable, and educational purposes for which GCM Reliant is organized. Therefore, GCM Reliant may not legally allow its resources to be used for the personal benefit of any individual, including GCM Reliant employees. Thus, GCM Reliant has developed this Creative Works (CW) Policy to provide creative works ownership guidelines for:
It is GCMReliant's sincere desire (in recognition of the distributed nature of GCMReliant's ministry and to support the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ), to encourage GCM Reliant employees to develop CW. This policy is intended to offer guidance to GCM Reliant employees contemplating the production of CW to ensure that both they and GCM Reliant understand their rights and responsibilities with respect to such property. Questions regarding the interpretation of this CW policy can be directed to the GCM Reliant Director of Organizational Affairs, who is also a designated representative of the President/CEO to take responsibility for the implementation of this policy. |
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Reliant Owned Creative Works: Produced Within the Scope of Employment
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Employee Activities
In general, GCM Reliant employees are employed to conduct the following types of activities in assigned local churches and/or ministries:
- church leadership and pastoral care
- personal evangelism and discipleship
- leading and/or coaching small groups
- performing logistical and financial administration
- conducting worship services, conferences, seminars, small group meetings and other programs and events
- leading retreats, missions trips, and related activities
- publicly preaching and teaching the Word of God
- administrative and/or executive functions related to ministry support operations
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Types of Creative Works
As part of their normal duties, GCM Reliant employees may produce certain types of Creative Works which may include, but are not limited to:
- sermons, teachings, lectures, or other oral presentations
- songs, music or musical productions, dramatic shows and presentations, seminars, workshops, or other live event presentations
- notes or study materials to be used in conjunction with such presentations
- books, newsletters, magazines, Bible or book studies, and other types of literary works
- audio and/or video recordings and productions, still images or photographic presentations, live event staging, lighting, sound and multimedia production, and other recorded or produced materials
- computer and/or electronic hardware, software or digital media
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For Reliant Works
When the CW is produced by an employee within the scope of his or her employment, GCM Reliant legally owns the copyrights and all other legal rights and interests in the CW. This is legal standard under U.S. copyright law that GCM Reliant must adhere to as an employer. Such GCM Reliant Works would include:
- Works created in the normal course of an individual's employment with GCMReliant
- Works created with the assistance of GCM Reliant staff, facilities, or other ministry resources
- Works created primarily for use in the ministry of GCMReliant
GCM 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 GCM1
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Reliant.
Reliant's rights
Include, but are not limited to the following standard rights to:
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…the CW for (an in) all media now known or later developed.
The GCM Executive DirectorPresident & CEO, or his designated representative, will be the contact for all permission and licensing requests, and legally is required to oversee the dissemination of all GCM Reliant Works, and establish procedures to protect all published and unpublished Works from unauthorized use or distribution.
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Employee-Owned Creative Works: Produced Outside Scope of Employment
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Independent Works
A
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Reliant employee is entitled to own the copyright of an Independent Work (even if such materials have a spiritual or Christian nature). They just need to meet the following requirements:
- Independent Work has been presented in advance and approved in concept by
the GCM Executive Director or his - the President & CEO or designated representative.
- Independent Work is created on the employee's personal time, with no support or resources, financial or otherwise, from
GCM- Reliant.
- Independent Work is not created or developed for a specific
GCM - Reliant job assignment, is not based on a
GCM - Reliant job assignment, or is not otherwise created or developed specifically for the
GCM - Reliant ministry in any way.
- Independent Work is not advertised or promoted using
GCM - Reliant resources during the term of the
GCM - Reliant employee's employment.
- Independent Work does not reference the employee as an employee of
GCM - Reliant (unless previously approved by
the GCM Executive Director or his - the President & CEO or designated representative).
Examples of uses of
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Reliant support or resources include, but are not limited to:
- The
the - use of
GCM - Reliant facilities, funds, work
-- time, equipment, or supplies
- The use of "on-the-job" time, personnel, or
GCM - Reliant staff,
- Any use of
GCM - Reliant funds, property, or underlying materials
The employee will be considered to have not relied upon
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Reliant resources if the Independent Work is created, edited, developed, and published solely on the employee's personal time (after hours, during vacation, or during approved unpaid leave), and using only their resources, without the assistance of any
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Reliant staff, facilities, or other
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Reliant resources.
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Ownership of Derivative Works
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Reliant recognizes that new works created from existing
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Reliant-owned Works (known as "Derivative Works",), may be beneficial to
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Reliant and its mission.
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Reliant also recognizes that there may be cases where its resources may not be best utilized in the creation or production of such Derivative Works. Even in that instance, however,
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Reliant might still desire such a Derivative Work to be available to the public.
An example of a Derivative Work would be the development of a new book (Independent Work) from underlying sermons or sermon materials that were legally owned by
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Reliant because they were produced in the course of normal employment. Essentially, Derivative Works are combinations of
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Reliant Works and Independent Works.
For anyone interested in creating a Derivative Work,
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Reliant will follow these requirements:
- If an employee wants to create a Derivative Work derived from an existing
GCM- Reliant-owned Work (for his or her personal benefit and not as part of his or her
GCM - Reliant job responsibilities), the
GCM - Reliant employee needs to simply request permission and negotiate ownership rights with the
GCM Executive Director, or his - President & CEO or designated representative. This needs to be done before creating a Derivative Work.
- If
GCM - Reliant agrees that such a Derivative Work should be created for
GCM- Reliant, it may decide to assign a
GCM - Reliant employee to create the Derivative Work. In that case, the Derivative Work created will be deemed a "work made for hire" and
GCM - Reliant will need to legally own the copyright in the Work.
- If
GCM - Reliant determines it does not want to create such a Derivative Work, but would still like to see that Derivative Work created and distributed for the public, it may negotiate with the
GCM - Reliant employee to provide a license to that employee to create such Derivative Work.
- Ownership rights, credits, royalty interests, and all incidents of copyright ownership, as well as licensing rights for
GCM- Reliant, will then be determined on a case-by-case basis by the
GCM Executive Director, or his - President & CEO, or designated representative, in consultation with legal counsel.
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Notification and Determining the Creative Work Status
Given the nature of the employment responsibilities of GCM Reliant employees, it is expected that employees may routinely create GCM Reliant Works in the scope of their normal employment. Employees need to contact the GCM Executive DirectorPresident & CEO, 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, GCM Reliant Work, or a Derivative Work.
It is GCMReliant'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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Employee Notification
Written Notification
Employees are required to notify the GCM Executive Director the President & CEO in writing, or his the designated representative, in the following situations:
- If the employee desires to create an Independent Work - CW that he or she believes would belong to the individual and not to GCM Reliant (because it would not be developed within the scope of their GCM Reliant employment)
- If the employee desires to develop a GCM 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 GCM Reliant Work.
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Approval by the President & CEO (or designated representative)
Written Approval
The Executive Director The President & CEO, or designated representative, is required to give written approvals in the following situations:
- Independent Works - approval of the Work in concept and a confirmed understanding the entire CW will be created and developed on the employee's personal time.
- GCM Reliant Works - to be developed and distributed outside the employee's local church or ministry-approval of the Work and the right to review the content to insure ensure that it is not contradictory to the GCM Reliant Statement of Faith.
- Derivative Works - permission to create the CW, approval of the CW, negotiated ownership rights.
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Treatment of Royalties and Income from Creative Works
- Independent Works - All royalties and income obtained from the CW belong solely to the employee.
- GCM Reliant Works - All royalties and income obtained from a GCM Reliant Work legally belong to GCMReliant.
- Derivative Works - Unless negotiated otherwise with the Executive DirectorPresident & CEO, or designated representative, all royalties and income obtained from a Derivative Work that was derived from an existing GCM Reliant work legally belongs belong to GCMReliant.
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Treatment of Royalties and Income Received by
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Reliant
Reliant
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Royalty Income/MTD Account
Any royalty income belonging to and received by GCMReliant, that is directly related to CW developed by a field missionaryan employee, will be directed as income to the to the applicable GCM Reliant MTD account for which that field missionary employee is responsible (less any administrative assessments or other financial considerations and overhead as noted in any negotiated CW agreement).
If the field missionary employee leaves GCM Reliant employment and there is no subsequent transfer** of CW ownership or right to use the CW, GCM Reliant has the option to re-direct the royalty income to another GCM Reliant ministry fund.
(**If the field missionary employee leaves GCM 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 GCMReliant section below).
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Treatment of Production Expenses for Creative Works
- 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.
- GCM Reliant Works - Unless negotiated otherwise with the Executive DirectorPresident & CEO, or designated representative, all expenses related to producing, publishing, distributing CW that is a GCM Reliant Work developed by a field missionaryan employee, will need to be paid from the applicable GCM Reliant MTD account for which that field missionary employee is responsible.
- Derivative Works - Unless negotiated otherwise with the Executive DirectorPresident & CEO, or designated representative, all expenses related to producing, publishing, distributing CW that is a Derivative Work developed by a field missionaryan employee, will need to be paid from the applicable GCM Reliant MTD account for which that field staff missionary employee is responsible. (Here it is assumed that the Derivative Work was derived from an existing GCM Reliant work and belongs legally to GCM).
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- Reliant).
Treatment of Creative Work if Employee Leaves
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Reliant
If the employee leaves GCM Reliant employment, GCM Reliant may use one of several options (but is not limited to) for the treatment of any CW produced by the employee (that legally would be classified as a GCM Reliant Work), including the following:
1. One option is that GCM Reliant will donate the CW to another 501(c)(3) ministry that is in harmony with GCMReliant's tax-exempt purposes, subject to Board approval.
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2. A second option - because GCM Reliant eagerly desires to support the local church where the employee had been ministering, GCMReliant, 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 GCM 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 GCM Reliant for the transfer of that ownership from GCM Reliant to the employee.
**Right to use: The reason GCM 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 GCM Reliant is not permitted to do as a tax-exempt organization). The reason GCM 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 GCM Reliant is not permitted to do as a tax-exempt organization).
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3. A third option would be for GCM Reliant to agree with the employee, to transfer the ownership rights to the employee who is leaving their employment with GCM Reliant (if that employee desires personal ownership of the CW). GCM 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 GCMReliant, the process would require the following steps (these are again required by tax-exempt laws under which GCM Reliant is constrained):GCM
- 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".
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- 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".
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- 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,
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Reliant adds the amount of the Purchase Price to the employee's compensation as additional compensation.
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Reliant will then list the total compensation on the employee's
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Reliant W-2.
b. Cash payment. In this case, the employee pays
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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
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Reliant.
4. If during their ongoing GCM Reliant employment, the employee desires to personally own any CW he or she produced while still working for GCM Reliant (and GCM 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
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- 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, GCM Reliant will obtain a fair market value of the CW in consultation with legal counsel. Unless negotiated otherwise with the Executive DirectorPresident & CEO, or designated representative, all expenses incurred related to valuing the CW, will need to be paid from the applicable GCM Reliant MTD account for which that field missionary employee is responsible.7
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Employee Responsibility for Taxes for Independent Works
GCM 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 GCM Reliant resources, including work time, personnel assistance or GCM Reliant facilities or equipment, are used for the production of materials produced outside the scope of their employment with GCMReliant.
If, inadvertently, an employee utilizes any GCM Reliant funds or resources in the production of Independent Works, the employee needs to reimburse GCM Reliant in full for the total costs incurred, and/or costs associated with the services and equipment used.
If no reimbursement is made to GCMReliant, 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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Compliance with IRS Regulations and ECFA Standards
This policy shall be interpreted to fully comply with IRS regulations and ECFA Standards governing Creative Works, including ECFA Standard 7.9, Conflict of Interest on Royalties, which provides as follows: "An officer, director, or other principal of the organization must not receive royalties for any product that is used for fund-raising or promotional purposes by his/her own organization."
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Legal Items - Copyright Notice, Registration, and Agreements
All copyrightable GCM copyright-able Reliant Works produced and/or prepared by GCM 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 GCM Reliant is the legal owner of the copyright. In instances where GCM Reliant determines that the copyright of the Derivative Work can be owned by a GCM Reliant employee (who is creating the Derivative Work outside the scope of his or her employment duties), the GCM 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 GCMReliant.
From time to time, GCM Reliant may need to have its employees sign forms to assist GCM Reliant in registering its copyrights in the GCM Reliant Works or Derivative Works, and also may be required to assist GCM Reliant in establishing its copyright ownership.
All employees agree that GCM Reliant can obtain full disclosure in writing of any and all GCM Reliant Works created by the employee at any time during the course of employment.
Reliant GCM may request from its employees, any agreements it needs to implement this CW Policy, but the absence of such agreements does not affect GCMReliant's rights under this policy.
1 GCM Reliant Work(s) developed or prepared by independent contractors or volunteers at GCMReliant'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 GCM Reliant by contract or written agreement.
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Standards of Conduct pages
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