Intellectual Property Strategies

In an information-intensive economy, copyrights are a powerful tool by which a company’s most important assets can be protected. The ownership of copyrights in works created by independent contractors, such as computer consultants, is often lost. Companies need to obtain written assignment of copyrights in all works that are created by consultants or other independent contractors.

A copyright is a set of rights, each of which provides certain exclusionary rights to the copyright owner. Paraphrased, the exclusive rights owned by a copyright owner are: the right to make copies of a work; the right to distribute copies of a work; the right to prepare derivatives of a work; the right to perform a work; and the right to display a work.