Who Owns the Copyright of a Joint Work?
When it comes to copyright law, provisions governing joint authorship have strict application. Joint works and their authors enjoy the same protections and rights as those of individual authors. There may be some confusion as to if a work was jointly authored, or if another author prepared a derivative work. However, the determining factor is the authors' intent when creating the work.
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What Is a Joint Work?
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Title 17, U.S.C. defines a joint work of authorship as a work "prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole." A joint work of authorship has only one copyright. For example, a book that has two co-authors or a song in which one author writes the music and the other the lyrics. When it comes to a joint work, the key word is "intent." Both authors--or all authors--must agree to collaborate to an end. This pertains to all of the subject matter that can receive a copyright: literary, dramatic and musical works; pantomimes and choreographed work; pictures, graphics and sculptures; audiovisual works (film, television); sound recordings; and architectural works.
Duration of Joint Ownership
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A copyright lasts for the duration of an author's life, plus another 70 years. However, a copyright of a joint work endures 70 years after the last co-authors demise. If an author dies, his copyright may be passed down to his heirs, who would then own the work jointly. Similarly, if one of the authors of a joint work dies, his copyright would be passed onto his heirs, who would then share joint rights with the original author or authors.
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Joint Ownership Rights
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Joint authors enjoy the same exclusive rights that would be given to a sole author. Each author has the right to copy or reproduce the work and sell it to the public, prepare a derivative work based on the original, or perform or display the work, without getting permission from the other author or authors. However, if an individual use results in one author receiving a profit, he must share it with the other author or authors. There is a presumption that both or all authors contributed to the work equally, and therefore, a presumption that any income the work yields with be divided among the authors equally.
Licensing Issues
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A co-author can give another party permission to use the joint work by granting them a nonexclusive license. However, one author cannot grant an exclusive license to another party; both (or all) authors must agree to grant an exclusive license, and they must put it in writing.
Derivative Works
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At times, there may be a misconception that a derivative work is a joint work. For example, an author may write a book or write a song, and later have another author add illustrations or lyrics, respectively. Again, intent governs: at the time the work was created, the two authors did not work together to one end. Therefore, the original author owns the copyright, and the other author has created a derivative work. The author of the original has rights only to what he authored--not the other author's contributions--and cannot use, reproduce or perform the derivative work without first getting the other author's permission.
Joint Authorship v. Contribution
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When creating a joint work, both or all authors must put forth substantial effort from start to finish. Simply making a suggestion to an author or giving him directions does not a co-author make, even if the contribution is significant.
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References
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