Copyright and employees: Who owns what?

In brief - Employment contracts and intellectual property rights

A recent Federal Court decision highlights the need for employers to ensure that as well as clearly setting out the duties of employment, employment contracts also include a comprehensive assignment of all intellectual property rights, if the employer is to be assured that all rights in the intellectual property in materials created by employees are owned by the employer.

Edsonic v Cassidy

In the recent decision of Edsonic v Cassidy, the court reaffirmed the principle that, even if an employee/employer relationship exists, the terms on which an employee is employed are critical in determining whether copyright in material produced by the employee is owned by the employer. Section 35 of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) makes it clear that copyright in work produced "in pursuance of the terms of the employee's employment" is owned by the employer.