Intellectual Property Specialist Sarah Sillar looks at jointly owned copyrighted work, discussing how co-owners can use a collaboration agreement to set out both parties obligations and proceed entitlement.
Collaboration in business
‘If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far, go together’ – African Proverb
Collaboration has the power to take inspiration and creativity to new heights with the resulting work being greater, more successful and more valuable than anything either person could have produced alone.
Collaboration works best in an environment where creators are secure and trusting of each other and in order to achieve this, it is important that they have a full understanding of how the work they create together will be owned, used and protected for the benefit of all.
This article explains the default position under UK law and the ways in which the interests of collaborators can be secured to ensure that projects proceed without mistrust, conflict or the surrender of valuable ideas.
Who owns the copyright in a joint work?
A joint work is created when two or more individuals work together to create a piece of work, their contributions to the final piece are inseparable and not distinct from each other.
When this happens, the copyright is owned ‘jointly’ by default unless there is a specific agreement between the contributors.
It is worth noting that if the contributions can be separated and extracted from the final edit, then they would be owned separately rather than jointly and there is no joint work unless each collaborator has provided a significant contribution.
What is joint work copyright?
Joint work copyright means that each of the collaborating authors has acquired the usual rights associated with copyright in relation to the work, but some of those rights can only be exercised when all collaborators agree, such as publication, or granting a licence permitting someone else to reproduce, use or commercially exploit the work.
Additionally, if there is an infringement, although one co-owner can sue the infringer without the consent or involvement of the other(s), any damages or compensation recovered will need to be shared.
What is the term of a copyright for a joint work?
Generally speaking, where the work originates in the UK, and the authors are UK nationals, the duration of copyright for a literary, dramatical, musical or artistic work is 70 years from the end of the year in which the last surviving author dies.
Duration of copyright does, however, have certain exceptions and specific rules apply depending on the type of work produced (sound recordings, film and typographical arrangements all have different terms of copyright) therefore creators will be advised to ascertain the exact duration of copyright for the specific work prior to beginning any legal proceedings.
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