Source: https://www.mccarter.com/Joint-Ownership-And-Assignments-Of-Intellectual-Property-Rights-Part-II---Copyrights-05-27-2011/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 03:30:27+00:00

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In our last newsletter we reviewed joint ownership and assignments of patents.1 Here, we turn to a review of some of the significant issues surrounding joint ownership and transfer of copyrights. Both copyrights and patents are based on the same constitutional foundation and grant the owners similar rights.2 However, the rights granted to joint owners of patents and copyrights differ in several important aspects.
Joint owners of both patents and copyrights are free to exploit the property without the consent of their joint owner(s) absent agreement to the contrary. However, only joint copyright owners are obligated to account to each other for any profits earned from licensing or use of the copyright.
A brief review of the copyright ownership rules is worthwhile before reviewing a few cases in which the joint ownership of copyright rules have been applied.
However, an initial difference between copyrights and patents is that copyright ownership arises automatically at creation. In the case of patents, an affirmative act of filing a patent application is required to initiate creation of the right.
The rights granted to joint copyright and patent owners to exclude and license are similar except with respect to the right to use issue, for example. The copyright law grants the owner[s] of a copyright the exclusive right to use the copyrighted work, so long as there has been independent creation thereof.14 This right is broader than rights given to patent owners, which do not include a right to use the patented invention — only to exclude others from use - and the patent owner cannot use "independent creation" as a defense if commercializing the invention also happens to infringe upon the patent rights in the invention of another.
Notwithstanding the similarities on the issues of creation, transfer and joint ownership for copyrights and patents, the rights and duties of coowners of a copyrighted work differ substantially from those for joint owners of a patent. Joint owners of a copyright have an obligation to account to the other coowner[s].
These default rules strongly suggest that a suitable ownership agreement between joint owners of copyright may be beneficial, and, depending on the facts of a particular case, it may be desirable to define in writing the rights of the respective coowners as to use, license and accounting prior to creation of the work.
The default rules allowing a joint owner of a copyright to use the work without consent — yet be under an obligation to account — allows for unintended consequences. This is true especially in the case where one co-author contributes a substantial portion of the work. Thus, it may be beneficial to address allocation of the respective use and ownership rights to an income stream by written agreement at an early time in the relationship, and such an agreement may best be in writing.
* This article was prepared by Michael I. Wolfson, who is a former partner of McCarter & English, LLP. Michael Wolfson can be reached at miwolfson@aol.com.
1 See Joint Ownership and Assignments of Intellectual Property Rights, Intellectual Property &Technology Update Vol. 5, No. 3 (2010). Click here to read Part I.
2 See U.S. Const., Art. I, § 8 ("The Congress shall have Power…To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries[.]").
3 See 17 U.S.C. § 201(a).
4 35 U.S.C. § 116.
5 Erickson v. Trinity Theatre, Inc., 13 F.3d 1061, 1071 (7th Cir. 1994).
7 H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476 at 120 (1976).
8 See 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a).
9 See Goodman v. Lee, 78 F.3d 1007, 1012 (5th Cir. 1996); Oddo v. Ries, MME, 743 F.2d 630, 633 (9th Cir. 1954).
10 17 U.S.C. § 201(d).
11 17 U.S.C. § 204(a).
12 See 35 U.S.C. § 261.
13 See Oddo, 743 F.2d 630 and Edward B. Marks Music Corp. v. Jerry Vogel Music Co., 140 F.2d 266, 268 (2d Cir. 1944). The law on this point differs in foreign jurisdictions, and, in many countries, all coowners must join in licensing to a third party. In the United Kingdom, for example, one joint owner may not even exploit the copyright without the consent of the other coowners. See Melville B. Nimmer and David Nimmer, NIMMER ON COPYRIGHT §6.10[D] (Mathew Bender, Rev. Ed.).
14 See 17 U.S.C. § 106.
15 35 U.S.C. § 262.
16 Oddo v. Ries, MME, 743 F.2d at 633 (internal citations omitted).
17 35 U.S.C. § 262 (emphasis added).
18 H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476 at 121.
19 See 17 U.S.C. § 204(b).
21 See Oddo, 743 F.2d 630.
22 Goodman, 78 F.3d 1007.
23 Gaiman v. McFarlane, 360 F.3d 644 (7th Cir. 2004).
24 Janky v. Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau, 576 F. 3d 356 (7th Cir. 2009).
25 See Oddo, 743 F.2d 630.
26 Goodman, 78 F.3d at 1013.
27 See Janky, 576 F. 3d 356 (citing 17 U.S.C. § 201(a)).

References: § 8
 § 201
 § 116
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 § 1338
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 § 201
 § 204
 § 261
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 § 106
 § 262
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 § 262
 § 204
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 § 201