Contractors, Employees and copyright

If one of your employees creates an original work while working for you, the copyright usually belongs to your business. If you use contractors, the situation can be more complex.

Unless you specify otherwise in a contract, it is likely that a contractor who creates original works for you will retain the copyright. If you use contractors on a regular basis, you should consider including copyright surrender as one of the standard terms in your contract. In any event, you should make the copyright situation clear in writing if you use a contractor to:

• design your webpages
• write or design your promotional material
• write software for your business
• take photographs for your business

If you want to own the copyright of original works that a contractor creates for you, a good contract can save you the considerable expense of copyright disputes. It can be worth seeking legal advice from your solicitor.