Copyright and IP
Copyright, trademarks and licensing
Intellectual property is owned by whoever the paperwork says owns it, which is frequently not the person who paid. GO LAW drafts assignments and licences and reads back the ones you have been sent, so the ownership line is one you chose.
Three ways to get this done
GO Draft
Assignments, licences, work-made-for-hire clauses and confidentiality agreements.
Draft a documentGO Review
Upload a licence or a contractor agreement and see what it does to ownership.
Review a documentTalk to an attorney
Ask a licensed attorney about registration, infringement or a licence you were offered.
Talk to an attorney
Questions people arrive with
Who owns work I paid a contractor to make?
Usually the contractor, unless the agreement says otherwise. Work made for hire is a narrow statutory category, so most contracts get there by a written assignment instead. Without one, a payment buys a licence at best.
What is the difference between an assignment and a licence?
An assignment transfers ownership permanently. A licence is permission to use, on terms, for a time, and everything not granted stays where it was.
Do I have to register a copyright?
Protection exists without it in most places. Registration is what makes enforcement practical, and in the United States it affects which remedies are available at all.