Business Word

Corporate Writers — Being Invisible Has Its Advantages

by Peter Zvalo

Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments for a rookie corporate writer is the fact that, in most cases, he or she becomes invisible — often receiving no published recognition for his or her work. The days of handing in term papers and essays to your professor, with your name proudly displayed on the cover page, are probably gone forever once you begin actually making money for your efforts. But the news is not all bad: there are some advantages to being invisible that may not be apparent at first.

Lurking quietly in the background, the corporate writer is the creative force behind much of the written work that companies and government organizations produce. The content of an annual report, for example, may be written entirely by a corporate writer, even though the company President or departmental Minister takes all the credit. While the president or minister typically has the opportunity to review "their" work, the substantive content is usually the brainchild of those farther down the corporate ladder. Only you — and those who edited the copy for you — know the truth behind the facade.

But does the fact that others take credit for "your" work equate to intellectual property theft (i.e., plagiarism)? In Canada, as long as the author is producing the work during the course of employment, he or she does not hold the copyright. Unless there is an agreement to the contrary, the employer or the client is the copyright holder and retains the exclusive right to copy, publish and distribute the work, as well as to allow someone else to do so.

While there may be times when you wish you could get a byline for written work that you’re particularly proud of, other times you may want to think again. In some cases, while you wrote the words, you may not necessarily agree with the content, design, or organization of the finished product. Having a byline means taking responsibility for what was written (whether or not you actually own the copyright). As a technical writer, would you want to receive calls from angry customers who want to bypass the official "technical support" telephone number and speak directly to you to complain about the software (or even worse, the quality of the documentation)? A writer of government documents, for example, is not responsible for the actual content of the written materials; rather, this is the domain of a long list of bureaucrats who ultimately report to elected officials, who are responsible for everything that goes on within the organization.

The reality is that, in almost all cases, while the original writer sews the seeds, there are many cooks in the kitchen who subsequently revise and re-revise the words. Sometimes a document passes through dozens of hands before the product is considered complete. Indeed, the finished product might bear little resemblance to the first draft, which during the course of the review cycles may have completely left the control of the original writer.

Who then, is really the author — the first person to put pen to paper or the last person to edit the words for clarity and style? The notion of the author as owner is blurred by the corporate lexicon, which typically uses the word "copy" to refer to written text as one of the elements on a printed or electronic page. When a writer’s work becomes "copy," the distinction of the text as the product of the author is eroded. Indeed, since the word "copy" is used to mean both the original and duplicate versions of the work, it is a short step to regarding the writing as something that can be freely duplicated (copied). As a result, corporate authorship becomes so murky that it is best to say that "the organization" was the author and, therefore, has the copyright. No one gets a byline, except, perhaps, the individuals at the top of the chain of command (CEOs, presidents, ministers) who are ultimately responsible for all of the content and messages originating from their organization.

In many ways, a corporate writer is no different from any other employee. The fact that writing is a creative endeavour and that copyrights are closely guarded by independent authors, whose reputations and incomes are closely tied to their bylines, is not a factor for corporate writers. Graphic designers, industrial designers, engineers, architects, and numerous other "creative" professionals also relinquish their rights as owners of their creative work when they are performing their craft in a corporate setting.

While corporate writers neither own the copyright to their work, nor receive recognition through a byline, they can still gain satisfaction in other ways — in the knowledge that important information is more accessible or that the documentation makes life a little easier for end-users. Certainly, the work of the writer provides a valuable contribution to the organization’s bottom line. All this without your audience even knowing who you are.

Peter Zvalo is a Contributing Editor for Writer’s Block.