Pat Parker Case Summary

Introduction
The Pat Parker (Parker) case is about a lawyer who started his own firm concentrating on writing reports and conducting political opposition research for political candidates. Parker successfully built a thriving business by providing political opposition research. Him primary customer group has been the Demographic Party. Parker provided research for all levels of political campaigns in Florida. Parker developed a billing system based on the type of campaign. This particular case is about how Parker devised a research report for one particular political candidate. Then two years later, the Trial Lawyers, who supported an incumbent Republican candidate, wanted to buy the report on the Republican Attorney General. The believed purpose of this was to offer the report to the candidate, which would allow him to prepare defenses for the upcoming campaign. Parker was unsure on how to proceed
Considering the implications of this research it must be taken into consideration that the Democratic Party could potentially already hold copyright interest in the research. This determination could only be made based on an examination of Parker’s contract for the initial job (Exhibit 8 of the Parker Case Study), an examination for which the determination of copyright ownership apparently varies according to who is conducting the investigation. Parker interprets the contract as awarding him ownership of the research, an interpretation that would include the right to resell. Copyright law provides that “work for hire” be expressly agreed on in writing as being “specifically ordered or commissioned”. While a contract was completed between Parker and the Democratic Party, the terms of that contract are subject to debate as to how copyright should be