Who Owns What – Understanding Copyright in Collaborative Projects

Scott: In a film, a television show, and music— creative projects are almost always collaborative. So, who owns what? And how do you avoid a fight over rights down the line? I’m Scott Hervey, a partner with the law firm of Weintraub Tobin, and I’m joined today by our partner, Richard Buckley. We are going to talk about copyright ownership in collaborative works and how to avoid using Richard’s services as a litigator on today’s installment of The Briefing.

Richard, welcome back to our third installment of, we called it last In the last episode, we called it Refreshers. I think I said I like to call them refreshing. These are our refresher episodes where we’re going to cover basic issues, refresh our audience on some basic issues. Today we’re covering copyright basics, collaborative works, and how to avoid the unfortunate and often painful task of hiring litigator like yourself to deal with disputes. All right, let’s start at the beginning. Copyright basics. A copyright protects original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium. So think, scripts, songs, films, choreography, artwork, photographs, lots more. Ownership automatically vests in the creator unless there is a written agreement stating otherwise.

Richard: Scott, this is certainly your world, but in entertainment, collaboration is constant. But how the law treats collaborators depends on how the project is structured. In a joint work, two or more people intend to merge their contributions into a single piece. Think of songwriting duos or co-writers film.

Scott: It’s important to note that in a joint work like that, each co-author owns an undivided interest in the whole work. That means each individual can independently exploit that work, license that work, distribute that work without the other’s permission, even though they would have to share profits. You could see that can get a little bit confusing in the marketplace. Where you have a joint work, it’s It’s best to have a writing between the two and define who’s responsible for what. Contrast that with works made for hire. If a creator is your employee or if there is a signed agreement that states that the work is a work made for hire, then the employer or the commissioning party owns all of those rights.

Richard: Problems arise when the roles are not clearly defined. Perhaps the composer thinks that he he or she owns the score that they wrote, the production company disagrees, or a freelance editor claims they were not a work for hire because no written agreement exists. These disputes can stop a project from being sold, licensed, or even released. Without a clear chain of title, distributors often walk away.

Scott: That’s very, very true. All right, let’s talk about some real-world scenarios. Let’s take an independent film. You might have, and you will have, a director, a writer, a composer, a cinematographer, a graphic designer, or a VFX company that creates visual effects or the title cards. You have a bunch of actors, lots of people that contribute to the creation of an independent film.

Richard: Right. And unless all of these contributions are either made by employees or are under a written agreement with either an assignment or a work made for higher provision. You could have multiple rights holders with the power to block distribution or demand royalties later.

Scott: That’s right. And that’s not just film where that can happen. In music, co-writers need to agree on splits and ownership early. Same thing with a music producer. In the influence or creator economy space, creator content, video editors or collaborators may claim rights if terms are not clearly spelled out. All right, so let’s talk about some best practices. Here are some takeaways. Always have written agreements. Use work for higher language in all of your agreements, I say, and also have assignment language. For joint works, if you intend to hold the copyright jointly between two authors, clarify, split, and make sure it’s really clear that the agreement is really clear on who has the authority to do what with the work. Also, don’t assume that just paying someone automatically gives you copyright ownership. It does not. While it may give you the right to be deliverable or the end product, it does not vest you with the rights that are vested in a copyright owner. You might find that all you own is the copy what was delivered to you, but all the underlying rights are not yours.

Richard: All great advice. I’d add one thing. If you’re hiring freelancers, make sure that your agreement covers intellectual property, even if you’re just collaborating casually.

Scott: So thanks again to my co-host, Richard. Richard, always great to have your insights. And thank you, our listener, for joining us on The Briefing. If you found this episode helpful or interesting, please take a moment to subscribe, like, and share with your network. We’d also love to hear from you, so leave a comment or a review and let us know what topics you would like us to cover in future episodes. I’m Scott Hervey. I’ll see you next time on The Briefing.