Copyright

Every company creates works protected by copyright in the course of its business, whether it's a computer program, an architectural design, a photo, or a text. ‘By default’, all pecuniary and non-pecuniary rights to works protected by copyright belong to their authors. Therefore, one of the key business tasks for companies that create works protected by copyright for themselves or on the contract is a well-established structure of the transfer of pecuniary rights from the immediate author (a developer, designer, artist, architect) to the company.

With the help of an audit we will identify and structure the existing works, analyze the processes of their creation within the company and by contractors, develop a strategy for the transfer of rights and a general strategy for the management of copyright in the future. In the strategy, we will answer the questions of transfer of rights, taxation, payment of royalties, as well as prepare a package of contracts and other necessary documents, a guide for the establishment of process management.

If the work was created on a contract or jointly by several people, it is important to determine the amount of intellectual property rights that each person will have. The purpose of a Copyright Agreement is to reach an agreement on the key issues:

• the assignment of intellectual property rights between the parties;
• the order of use of the work;
• the order of royalty payments, liability for breach of contractual obligations, etc.

Despite the fact that copyright arises automatically when a work that qualifies for protection is created and does not require registration, the latter provides a number of advantages. For example, having a Certificate of Registration facilitates the process of proving that you really are the author of the work. This is relevant in case of infringement of your rights, for participation in international exhibitions, making deals on the protected works, etc. For confirmation of authorship, it is enough to provide a Certificate, according to which the right to work is registered. Moreover, the peculiarity of copyright is its extraterritoriality. Once you get copyright registration, for example, in the USA, it can also be used to confirm the status of the pecuniary rights owner in other countries.

We will choose the optimal jurisdiction for copyright registration (Ukraine, USA, China, Poland, etc.) and provide full support of the process until the Certificate is issued.

Every copyright-protected work reserves exclusive pecuniary rights - to use, allow and prohibit the use of a work. If you want to transfer (assign) pecuniary rights to another person or allow the use of a work (license), it is important that such a process be handled correctly to minimize risks and losses.

We will determine the best option for the proper transfer of rights, licensing of copyright-protected work and optimization of profits from such a transaction. We will provide full support of the process - from determining the proper scope of rights, drafting contracts, to selecting the necessary tools and methods of taxation.