Does your company have a handle on copyright?
Images, texts, videos, illustrations, graphical material and software. Companies create and use copyrighted material every day, but who actually own the rights to it?
Copyright often comes up first when material is to be re-used, when a collaboration has concluded, or when someone else starts using a company’s material.
But there are good reasons to have a handle on it from the start.
What is protected by copyright?
Copyright protects, for example, texts, photographs, films, music, illustrations, designs, and software. Protection arises when the work is created, provided that the work fulfills the criteria set out in copyright law.
For companies, this means that there may be copyrighted material in further areas of the organization than one may think.
We have paid – so we own the material?
Not necessarily.
Hiring a photographer, designer, copywriter, developer or other consultant does not automatically mean that all rights to the material are transferred to the company.
The company’s use of the material is i.a. governed by what has been agreed between the company and the creator. For example, an agreement may define where and how the material may be used, if it may be changed or altered, or if the rights may be transferred away.
Clear agreements from the start can thus preempt problems further ahead.
What applies to material created by employees?
Even material created within the company can cause copyright questions to arise. The rights an employer has to works created by an employee could depend on, for example, the duties of employment, the type of material, and what has been agreed between the parties.
For organisations where employees continuously create valuable content, there may be reasons to review how the IP and IP rights are regulated.
Copyright is an asset
Copyright isn’t only about avoiding using works of others in the wrong way. It is also about protecting what the company has created itself.
Do you know who owns the pictures, videos, texts or other material that you use in your organisation?
Hansson Thyresson helps companies identify, protect and handle their intellectual property. Please contact us if you want to know more about how copyright affects your business.
