ARTICLE · 02 DECEMBER 2014

Put It In Writing And Sign For Copyright

Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber LLP

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A recent case sheds some light on the requirement that an assignment of copyright be in writing signed by the copyright owner in order to be enforceable.

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A recent case sheds some light on the requirement that an assignment of copyright be in writing signed by the copyright owner in order to be enforceable.

Commissioned Works

In a business or personal context frequently one party will contract with another person to create a work for which the requesting party will pay. Many examples exist such as a contract to prepare advertising material and related photographs or to develop a website or to create or modify a computer program. Since the requesting party will have possession of the resultant work and typically legal ownership there is an expectation that the requesting party will also own the copyright in the work.

The Copyright Act

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