Copyright Ownership

Copyright vests initially in the author or authors of the work. Copyright also is transferable by agreement or by operation of law (as is the case in bankruptcy or when a copyright owner dies without leaving a will).

Ownership of a physical object does not carry with it ownership of the underlying copyright in the work. When you purchase the latest bestselling novel, you own the book itself. The author retains the rights to reproduce it, adapt it, and so forth. Unless the copyright owner expressly transfers all rights in writing, the exclusive rights given to copyright owners are retained, although a physical object (sheet music, a painting, a manuscript) is transferred.

Works may be jointly owned, as is the case when a work is prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into a unitary whole. The parties' intention at the time the work is created governs ownership. Thus, if an author and illustrator work together on a book, it is a joint work. If the author of the book intended it to be complete at the time it was written but later decides to allow another party to add illustrations, the work is not a joint work. The author owns the copyright for the book and the illustrator owns the copyright in the derivative work, the illustrations.

It is important to determine whether a work is a joint one because the determination has long-ranging implications. First, unless the parties agree otherwise, courts presume that joint authors contributed equally, and thus profits will be divided equally. If the parties want some other arrangement, they must enter into an agreement specifying such. Second, the copyright for an author's work exists for the author's life plus seventy years. If the work is a joint one, copyright protection lasts until seventy years from the last surviving coauthor's death. Third, each joint author has the right to use the work, distribute it, adapt it, and so forth, without seeking the other's permission (although each must account to the other for profits arising out of such uses). Finally, any joint author has the right to grant a nonexclusive license to a third party to use the joint work without seeking permission of the other coauthors. However, the granting of an exclusive license does require consent of all coauthors.

The author of the work or the copyright claimant (or their agent) is entitled to submit an application form. A copyright author is either the person who created the work, such as the author of a book or the composer of a song, or, if the work is a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared. A copyright claimant usually is one who gained the copyright through a transfer or through bequest by will. A copyright claimant can also be the owner of exclusive rights, such as the exclusive right to distribute or perform a work.