Joint or Co-Ownership in Copyright and Protecting IP Rights: Assignment, Licensing, Transfer, and Standing to Sue

Description

Whether under new technologies that facilitate collaboration in creating works or more traditional collaborative efforts, such as screenplays which are often the work of many writers, it can be challenging to determine who holds what rights and to identify the proper copyright claimant.

The matter can become even more complicated when dealing with works made for hire since the test applied to determine when a work made by a non-employee is a work for hire is very different under the 1909 and 1976 Acts. And on top of all this, the current copyright registration and recordation scheme makes it difficult to track the chain of title for many works.

Often even the most important works are created without clear documentation. Because the law on copyright ownership is complex and often non-intuitive, many assumptions by persons outside the copyright bar are wrong.

Issues with copyright ownership can lead to even larger problems. Joint copyright owners are each authorized to license the work as they deem fit. Copyright ownership also impacts standing to sue and many other areas.

Listen as our authoritative panel of IP attorneys addresses how to avoid these issues. The panel will then explore recent case law addressing how ownership vests and what rights flow from that ownership. The panel will examine the creative ways to use copyright licensing and provide best practice tips for copyright due diligence.