Ownership Disputes
When a product is created the intellectual property rights in it – which tend to generally involve copyright- will belong to the person who created it.
Copyright applies whenever the product is a “work” protected by copyright.
Who will be the owner of a work, and the formalities required to transfer rights in copyright to someone else are set out in legislation.
The main point to be aware of is that the first owner of copyright is the person who creates it, but subsequent events may trigger a change in the ownership.
Where a work is created by two or more people, it is necessary to look at what each person contributed in order to decide who owns what.
Commissioning others to do work
Beware when commissioning another business or freelancers. The copyright rules do not give you copyright in the work they produce even if you are contributing most of the ideas and money to enable the work to be produced.
So, unless the contract provides otherwise they will retain copyright. It is not always possible or appropriate for you to ask for ownership of the copyright. However, it’s important to secure a comprehensive licence (permission) so you are able to do everything you want or need to do, without being limited by the lack of copyright ownership.
These terms if not agreed in advance, could lead to disputes later.
Risk is by and large managed by contract.
What next?
If you need legal work please call us on +44 (0)20 7700 1414 or if you prefer send us an enquiry using the form below. Depending on your requirements we may suggest a free meeting. This is often the best way to assess whether we would be the right firm for you, and to understand the work involved, your priorities, attitude to risk, and desired timescales.
