Hiring a human copywriter

Words on a web page, in an email or on a leaflet all start with somebody writing them. ProCopywriters, which describes itself as the alliance of commercial writers, traces most disappointing copy back to the brief.

Writing the brief

ProCopywriters suggests describing the problem rather than setting out a specification. A request for 500 words on a homepage gets 500 words. An account of why the homepage is not working gets something that fixes it.

Its guide lists what a brief should answer.

A brief can be bullet points and half-sentences, the guide adds. It works best as the agenda for a conversation with the writer.

Checking a portfolio

ProCopywriters recommends a short conversation before you commit. One question it suggests is "Have you done anything like this before, and can I see it?"

It prefers finished work to case studies. A copywriter may be bound by confidentiality agreements, though. In that case it suggests looking for case studies that explain the client's problem and how the writer approached it.

It also suggests asking what the writer does not do. A clear limit, in its view, is reassuring.

Asking about AI

One more question on the ProCopywriters list is "Will you use AI in producing this work, and how?" ProCopywriters says its Copywriter Code requires that kind of openness from the members who sign it.

Who owns the words

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) sets out the starting point for commissioned work. In its words, "the first legal owner of copyright is the person or organisation that created the work and not you the commissioner, unless you otherwise agree it in writing."

Where a contract leaves copyright out, a court may be willing to find "an implied licence allowing the commissioner to use the work for the purpose for which it was commissioned", the IPO explains. Ownership does not necessarily move with it, and the commissioner may get only a limited non-exclusive licence.

A transfer of copyright is called an assignment. Section 90 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 says an assignment "is not effective unless it is in writing signed by or on behalf of the assignor".

A licence is the other route. The IPO describes it as an agreement setting out what the user can do with a work, and it can be limited in time or in other ways.

A writer may keep certain moral rights even after selling the copyright, the IPO notes. These include the right to object to derogatory treatment of the work. Moral rights cannot be assigned, but the writer can waive them.

ProCopywriters says most copywriters transfer copyright on final payment, and that this should be stated in writing, because it does not happen automatically.

The agreement

ProCopywriters suggests getting the fee or estimate in writing, and agreeing what is included. That means how many rounds of revisions, and whether research or extra formats are covered.

It also suggests agreeing who gives feedback. One person sending combined comments, its guide says, beats several people sending contradictory ones.

Before agreeing a contract about copyright, the IPO says you may wish to take advice from a lawyer, perhaps one who specialises in copyright and contract law.

Advertising rules

Non-broadcast advertising in the UK follows the CAP Code, enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority. Its central principle is that marketing communications should be legal, decent, honest and truthful.

The Code puts primary responsibility for following it on marketers. Agencies and others who prepare or publish ads also accept an obligation to follow it.

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