If no contract, what are copyright laws??

[Dusty!]

nope not at all.

i could use them in a portfolio or on a web site or something of that nature but couldn't reproduce them or use them in another fashion with out their permission.

i will add, that i didnt sign a contract or anything either but the copyright info on the albums implies that all material is property of either the label or the band.

if its something like a painting that i did for the cover, then i could use the original painting.

[punktured]

are there any loopholes in being employed and reclaiming the rights to the work you've done for an employer?

[punktured]

what about a drawing for a poster?

[Dusty!]

hmmm, tough question. and maybe a bit of a gray area. For things like illustrations you would do one of two things, either sign a work for hire contract (as mentioned before) that would give all rights to the person/company that hired you, or sign a usage contract which would stipulate the terms/length/regions/etc that the work could be used. In that case you might sign something that said you can use this for 2 years, in North America only and in print only. In which case after 2 years you could do whatever you wanted with it.

The probelm i think you've got is that you did the work while working for the company. I think that if you had just done it for a band straight up and only recieved a freelance check then you'd be in the clear to use the imagery in whatever way you wanted so long as it didnt contain the band's name.

[punktured]

just pm-ed you dusty